11. Paige
Paige
I slam the leather-bound book closed and mutter a curse.
I’ve been scanning it for the past few hours to no avail.
Yet again, I’ve got nothing. Since the Vetus collection is gone, I’ve spent what little free time I have scouring the rest of the Alchemy section for clues about how to utilize my mysterious brand of magic.
The Alchemy section is notorious for the magical history it contains, and it’s also the portion of the library that Constantine spent the most time in. Both of these facts should have made it a potential lead for swift answers.
Yet, the stack of useless tomes on my desk would say otherwise. Ten down, and so far, none of them have given me any insight at all into how to get my magic to actually work when I want it to, much less what its true purpose really is.
I groan as I calculate how many books are left to search against how much time I really have left. I’m outnumbered by the minutes steadily ticking by.
My office door opens, and Aries steps in, a paper cup and small gift bag in his hand.
I narrow my gaze. We haven’t spoken since our fight last night, and honestly, I’m not even mad anymore.
To be honest, I get his distrust of Oliver.
It’s his lack of faith in me that annoys me.
The fact that he doesn’t think I can take care of myself is a scrape to my pride.
Then again, it’s not like I have the greatest track record when it comes to avoiding danger.
“Paige,” he greets, my name sounding all too perfect on those talented lips.
“Aries.” I cross my arms. “What is it?”
“I brought you these.” He sets the paper cup down on my desk, the small gift bag beside it.
I eye them both with interest even as I try to keep a mask of irritation in place. I can’t have him acting a fool and risk the council members truly discovering why he’s here. Which they will if they decide they can’t trust him. “What are those?”
“Mag said it’s your favorite. A Pumpkin Spice Latte?”
I practically groan even as a smile tugs my lips up.
A PSL is exactly what brought Aries and me together in the first place.
Or, rather, it had a part in it anyway. The first time I ever saw him, he’d been standing in a puddle of spilled latte, gloriously naked.
Proof that dragons really are bigger everywhere.
Heat climbs up the back of my neck as I remember what it had been like to lay eyes on him that first time. “It is my favorite.” I lift the cup and take a drink, the comforting spices dancing on my tongue. “That is so good.”
Aries smiles victoriously.
“What is this?” I lift the gift bag.
“Something I found. I thought it fit you.”
I reach in and pull out a shiny, silver glitter pen. Aries is watching me carefully now, likely making sure I love the gift. But he doesn’t have to worry because the gesture is perfect. My dragon brought me something shiny. Instant forgiveness.
All anger melts away, and I stand, walking around the desk and wrapping my arms around his waist. “Thank you. I love them both.”
His arms come around me, and he holds me. We stand like this, wrapped in each other, for longer than I probably have time for. But the feel of his arms around me and the steady thumping of his heart ease the constant anxiety I carry with me these days.
“I’m glad you like them.” He releases me, and I pull away. “I apologize if I came across as jealous last night or gave you the impression that I do not trust you. I hope you know I am not jealous, and I do trust you. With everything I am.”
I don’t miss the fact that he does not apologize for accusing Oliver. Which means he still stands by his statement. “Thank you. We’re already stretched so thin; it just seems foolish to start voting people off the island now.”
His brows draw together, but the confusion doesn’t last long. “Survivor.”
“You got it.” I smile and sit back down behind my desk, wishing we had more time to curl up and do something as simple and mindless as watching TV together and less time worrying about our own survival.
Aries’s gaze lands on the book. “Anything useful in there?”
I sigh. “Lots of magic and spells. Nothing I can make work.” As proof, I crack it open and turn to a page. Then, holding my hand out, I mutter the incantation scribbled on the aged parchment. Nothing happens.
“What is that supposed to do?” he asks me.
“It should have opened this book.” I lift another, much smaller book, to show Aries. “It’s a book about an insect kingdom,” I say. “Nothing more dangerous than a praying mantis inside.”
“Not dangerous, huh? The females do decapitate their male counterparts after mating,” he says with a half smile.
“Fair enough.” I drop back into my chair with a sigh. “I don’t know what to do. We need me to be able to use my magic, but I can’t learn it without help. And I’m not finding answers in any of these books.”
Aries comes around behind my desk and grips my shoulders, kneading the tension from my muscles. I’d once called his hands magic, and that was even before I knew what pleasure could be had from them. The man can work a muscle, that’s for sure.
“We’ll figure it out,” he assures me.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because you and I are capable of doing anything together.”
“Like rule a kingdom?” I ask. Aries freezes then releases me. I turn to face him. “I’m sorry. I just know it’s probably been on your mind.”
“It has been,” he admits.
“I want you to know that my decision hasn’t changed. We find Hoc, bring him home, and I still want to go back to your world with you. I want to be together, to build a future with you. To make a home with you.”
Aries’s smile is blinding. He drops to his knees and leans in to press his lips to mine. “You are so much more to me than you realize, Paige. And I don’t even know where to begin telling you.”
I wind my arms around his neck then wrap my legs around his waist and tug him closer. He presses against me, and heat blossoms in my belly. “You show me every time we’re together,” I reply. “And that is so much more important than words.”
Aries takes a deep breath. “Paige—”
Alarm bells screech to life. An awareness with the potency of a jackhammer shoots through me as Aries pulls away from me and we both sprint toward the door.
We race down the hall, reaching the main stacks in seconds.
A shrill howl breaks through the alarms. Bingo.
Still running, we weave through the stacks toward the sound of the pained howl. The creature lets loose another one, and it’s like a punch to my gut. Something is very, very wrong.
What if Constantine is back?
What if something else was freed?
Or—what if Hoc found his way home?
I shove that thought aside as soon as we reach the stacks, though. The alarm wouldn’t be going off if Hoc was here. The library would welcome him. “Blossom!” I yell.
“Here!”
The unicorn joins us as we sprint toward the back of the stacks.
The gnomes and Kitty sprint alongside us, though they’re above the stacks, running along the shelf’s ledge.
All of us prepared to fight.
We reach the back, and Bingo howls again. A blood-curdling sound that is a mixture of grief and fear. And it’s coming from the basement.
Hoc!
The basement door is closed, but Aries slams into it, shoving it wide open.
We barrel down the stairs, Blossom just ahead of me with her sword already in hand.
As I file into the basement, I see a portal swirling in the center of the room, a gray-skinned human figure reaching through it, one hand wrapped firmly around the ankle of another figure lying face down on the floor.
Blossom screams and brings her sword down on the gray-skinned arm, severing it at the wrist. The remaining arm yanks backward out of sight just as the portal vanishes entirely. The severed hand lands in the corner with a sick thump. I look away from it, my stomach rolling.
When I look down again, Bingo is using his nose to nudge at a man’s body lying in the center of the floor. Even with his back to us, I recognize Mag immediately, and my chest tightens with true fear.
“No!” Blossom screams, throwing her sword down and falling to her knees beside him. “Mag! You idiot!”
I close the distance between us, Aries at my side. “Is he breathing?” I ask Blossom.
She nods. “Yes, but there’s so much blood, and I can’t see where it’s coming from.”
“We need to get him upstairs,” Aries says. “Somewhere we can assess his injuries.”
Blossom nods, tears in her eyes. “We can take him to my place.”
“Lead the way,” Aries tells her.
She remains right at Aries’s side as he carries Mag out of the basement and into the main part of the library.
Mag doesn’t protest being carried, which is how I know his injuries are serious.
Blood slicks his throat and face. It’s splattered all over his shirt.
Bingo follows us out of the basement and stands just beside us while Kitty and the gnomes stare down from the top of the stacks.
I look up at Fred. “Go get the med kit out of the break room and meet us in Blossom’s room.”
“On it.” They take off, not hesitating for even a minute.
Aries starts for the other side of the library that leads to the keepers’ quarters, but we’re not nearly fast enough. Before we can make it any farther, Tawny and Oliver come running toward us. They stop, eyes wide as they stare down at him.
“What happened?” Oliver asks.
“We’re not sure,” I admit. “He came out of a book this way.”
Tawny levels her angry glare on me. “I warned you this was dangerous, Paige. Your hunting expeditions end now.”