Chapter 4
Four
DAMON
“Where are we going now?” Rogue asks as Ang and I lead them out of the stadium. If her gender didn’t make her stick out here, her colorful attire would, so we definitely need to get out of the open space if we want to continue flying under the radar.
Angelo jerks his chin at the library. “The library. I want to slip into the older stacks and see if we can find some more taboo texts about the other realms. Damon practically lived in that place when we were here, so I bet he has good ideas on where we should search.”
I grin, nodding at him. “I do. The main floor and the first three floors are pretty common stuff, but there are older texts on the two highest levels, plus if we can break the spells on the basement stairs, the underground levels were always ‘staff-only’. As much as I cozied up to the librarians, I could never get access to them.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you ask me to help?” Angelo grumbles. “I might have been able to figure it out.”
“Nope,” I say confidently as I fall into step with Archie and his baby bundle. “You couldn’t have, bro. Those levels have spells, hexes, and curses with blended magic on them. It would take multiple types of supes to get in. Trust me, I scoped it out.”
Rogue frowns at me as we take the steps to the entrance. “What makes you think we can do it now?”
“Because you’re half and half, Sparkles. You’ve got some of what we need and training in other types. I’m hoping that adding you in will give us the keys to the kingdom.”
“Only if it will not fry her,” Archie says firmly. “Otherwise, we find another way, D. We can’t risk hurting her when we’re already down two men.”
“Duh.” I give him a reproving look. “I wouldn’t risk Rogue for anything, dude. You know that.”
He grunts in response, his hand raising to pet baby Javi’s head. “I guess this missing Reb and reborn birdman thing is affecting me more than I let on. Sorry, D.”
Angelo rolls his eyes as he yanks the big door open. “Okay, if we’re done being sappy, we should get ready to be a lot more stealthy. Arch, keep the little monster quiet while we do this.”
“He’s got a mind of his own, Ang. I’ll do what I can.”
Our girl smiles before she moves closer to Archie, leaning down to whisper to the ugly-ass bird. It squirms a bit, but once she’s done, she straightens and winks at us. “I think he understood. Hopefully, that helped.”
If we’re lucky, she’s as good a bird whisperer as she thinks she is. If not? Who knows what might happen.
We quietly made our way to the stairs and moved upward first. I thought it would be a better plan to gather whatever info we could find from the non-restricted areas before we attempted to break into something, and the others agreed.
So we’ve been sitting at the tables for an hour on a floor that’s clearly being renovated, sifting through books and taking notes.
This is my idea of a good time, but as I look up, I realize that it definitely is not for the other members of my family.
Archie has the bird sling on the table so Javier can curl up in it while he’s working, but right now, he’s leaning back in his chair precariously.
The huge, leonine stretch he’s doing is revealing delicious-looking abs and hip dips, which distract me for a moment.
I must be gaping because I hear a soft giggle from Rogue, who I turn to look at with red cheeks.
“While I think the library would be a sticky dream for you, little D, this one probably isn’t a good plan. At least, it’s not if we want to continue being shadowy.” Her smirk is knowing, and I dip my chin as I pretend to look at my old, dusty tome about the realm mythology.
Angelo groans and slaps his hand on the table lightly. “Please focus. My lil’ bro’s wet dreams about librarians aside, we have a mission here. Missing people, a reborn bird, world chaos… all the things, right?”
As if he doesn’t know this would be a hot as fuck scenario, especially if we grabbed some old uniforms.
“It’s not my fault you don’t think learning is sexy,” I mutter as I turn a page. “Don’t be a dick.”
Archie snickers, and I look up at him, seeing the twinkle in his blue eyes. “Smart girls and guys are hot, D. Ang knows it because our mate is sharper than a well-honed samurai sword.”
“Okay, okay. Enough stroking my ego.” Rogue shimmies in her seat as if she’s trying to get something off of herself, and I smile. She handles compliments about as well as I do, but she covers it far better. “Has anyone found anything worth discussing yet?”
“This book on the realms is… lacking,” I admit.
“It discusses them, but it focuses on Hell, the surface, and does a minimal dive into Faerie. The others are skimmed through, though the author obviously intended for it to seem like they were doing a thorough job. The info is basic at best, repetitive, and filled with… mostly guesses and generalizations. I don’t think it can be trusted with regard to any places that aren’t those first three. ”
Angelo picks his book up and shakes it, making my eyes widen. “This thing is useless. It glosses over the history of Hell pre-current royalty, romanticizes the Games, and gives almost no information on what actually happened in them.”
That’s fucking fabulous; the books that aren’t behind serious magic are all written by the victors to hide shit.
“Not surprising,” Rogue says as she, too, stretches and distracts me.
“Even up there, history is often written by the winners and tends to gloss over the bad things they did in their efforts to take power. The humans are the worst about it; look at all their turmoil in their world. They never learn, and they erase the shit they need to learn from.”
Pushing up my glasses, I grin. “He’s right, Sparkles. You are sexy when you’re being a smarty pants.”
She winks at me and points to the page she’s on.
“I’m willing to bet this book on human shit here has more accurate facts in it than half the ones up there, even the non-fiction works.
Conversely, Ang’s book about here is full of garbage.
I’d suggest we look at the opposing books at home, but since the humans don’t know shit about supes and the Society doesn’t give a shit about demons… ”
“We’re pretty fucked unless we get into the stuff that’s locked up,” Archie finishes for her. “I wonder if that stuff is more realistic or just filled with dangerous shit? It’s a toss-up in my head.”
My twin sighs as he rakes his hands through his hair.
“We won’t know until we get in there, unfortunately.
My theory is that there will be a lot of magic and demon lore shit, but if we look hard enough, we may find books that were banned by the current royals.
The librarians here have to be like the ones back home, right? ”
“They are,” I chime in. “If books were banned or instructed to be destroyed, they’d want to preserve them, even if in secret.
I don’t know how good Discordia’s secret stacks will be, but if we don’t find everything here, we’ll find a fuckton of stuff when we hit the capital’s library.
Those archivists will definitely have saved every scrap of knowledge they could muster. ”
Rogue closes her book, blowing out a long breath. “So we’re wasting valuable time up here, then. Time to sneak downstairs to the entrance to the basement and give it a go?”
“Yes.” Angelo rises to his feet, collecting the books on the tables before he hands them to me. “You’ll be able to shelve these faster. I’d prefer we didn’t leave any clues as to what we’re looking at if possible.”
Snorting derisively, I mumble, “You prefer not having to remember where they all go, but fine.”
My twin grins evilly at me. “Am I wrong about your speed and skill?”
No, he’s not, damn it.
“Whatever,” I retort as I walk to the looming shelves with the pile. I love my brother to death and back, but his dislike of everything school-related will always be his biggest shortcoming. However, being twins, I more than make up for it, so I guess it works out.
“You’re going to give him an eppy,” Rogue says, her voice carrying from the other side of the bookcases. “Don’t abuse your brother, Angelo Gemini. He’s an important part of our family, and his contributions help immensely.”
“I know that, Princess.” I can practically feel his smirk as I look for the spot where Archie grabbed this book on hybrid demons. “But he’s my brother, and that’s how we roll. You and Reb have given each other shit from the moment he arrived. You’re no saint, either.”
Her voice is low as she murmurs, “I miss him, Ang. I know I hadn’t mated with him yet, and we still had things to figure out, but this sucks fucking balls. I have to keep all that… emotion… locked down so we can do what we have to, but deep down, it hurts.”
“Aw, Wheels, c’mere,” Archie says.
I hear movement as I re-shelve the other three books, and I know they’re comforting her.
Angelo might drive me up the walls, but I can’t imagine how much she’s hurting.
Rebel was raised like a sibling, and she’s definitely also in love with him—a complicated mix of emotions paired with him being in danger.
Balancing it has to be eating her up inside, but she’s been keeping the mask up like a pro.
I have no idea how she’s doing it.
Once I’m done, I emerge from the tall shelves, my expression soft as I approach our mate. “Rogue, he’s going to be fine. Reb is tough; he’s well-trained, and he’s a pain in the ass. He’s got the stones to survive whatever people throw at him and come back hard. We’re going to find him.”
She wipes a tear off her cheek, and my eyes widen in surprise.
“I know. But being here, snooping around, and trying to get intel is something I’ve been doing with him for years.
We don’t have a charge yet, so most of our Guardian duties are training and mission support for agents and other active Guardians.
I guess it’s making me ache more than I expected. ”
I nod, taking her hand and squeezing it. “We get it.”
“And if you fuckers tell anyone that I leaked in this stupid, useless library, I’ll make you pay.”
Angelo laughs, and Archie joins him as her face turns to one of stern determination. I twine our fingers together as I squeeze again. “Don’t worry, Sparkles. We’ll keep the secret that you’re not made of stone—promise.”
“Good. I have a rep to maintain, and I will not lose it just because some hopped-up dickheads from another realm took what’s mine.
” She sniffs, wiping her face again, and straightens her spine as she lets go of my hand.
“Now let’s go break into the magical forbidden zone or whatever. I’m in the mood to break some shit.”
“Carefully,” I remind her with a fond smile. “We’re breaking into the restricted areas very cautiously, so we don’t get scooped up by minions of that asshat in charge.”
“Fine, fine,” she grumbles as Archie picks up the Javi bundle and gets it adjusted on his enormous frame. “Let’s go gently break some shit so I feel better.”
That’s our girl—adaptable and ready to fuck shit up on a moment’s notice.