Chapter 14 #3
The familiar scent of dust and old parchment wrapped around me as I pushed open the heavy library door.
Moonlight filtered through the tall arched windows, casting long shadows between the rows of bookshelves.
For once, the place was empty. No Luna. No professors.
Just me and the knowledge waiting to be uncovered.
I moved quickly through the stacks, with two goals in mind: 1) learn more about the Blood Assassins, and 2) find the true origin of this war.
From what my father told me growing up, there had once been a truce between the kingdoms and the Blood Assassins.
As long as they stayed in their lands, we stayed in ours.
But then our people started turning up dead, and without proof or trial, blame was cast. Just like that, war began. It all seemed… reactionary. Convenient.
I scanned the shelves until my fingers landed on the frayed spine of a thick red volume. Diplomacies of the Pre-War Era.
Jackpot.
I flipped through a few pages, then tucked it under my arm and turned to search for another when the front door creaked open.
I froze. Flame gone. In one fluid motion, I ducked down behind the nearest shelf, crouching low.
Through the slats in the books, I spotted two figures: Ivy and Erebus, who emanated this dark aura; it seemed like even the lights dimmed around him.
“I need to get close to her, Ivy,” Erebus murmured. My breath caught in my throat.
“Relax,” she commented, crossing her arms. “Tomorrow’s sparring session is with Aiden’s unit. That’ll be your shot.” So, I was right; they were planning something. But who were they talking about?
“Perfect,” Erebus replied, just as his black eyes began scanning the room. Shit. I held my breath, pressing back farther into the shadows between the shelves, keeping perfectly still. His gaze swept over the area slowly, lingering for a second too long. Like he knew I was in here.
Then, finally, “Let’s go,” he said. They left.
The door creaked shut behind them, and I exhaled the breath I’d been holding so long my lungs ached.
My hands were trembling around the book I now clutched to my chest. Whoever they were talking about, whether it was me or someone else, I was going to find out.
And if they were planning something against our unit? They’d regret it.
Suddenly, the library started to fade. “Come on,” I muttered as the space around me began to dissolve, my vision swimming with golden light. In the blink of an eye, the dusty shelves vanished, replaced by the warmth of sunlight and the soft rustle of wheat. The golden fields again.
“I was in the middle of something, you know,” I called, trudging toward Hemera with the book still clutched in my hands. She sat poised on her stone bench, twirling a stalk of wheat between her fingers, her blue eyes already on me.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” she asked, one brow arched with knowing judgment.
“That’s beside the point,” I huffed, shifting awkwardly on my feet. “Anyway, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to check in,” she replied, her gaze trailing slowly over me. I followed her gaze and realized how bruised I looked, even in this dreamlike realm; the damage from training still clung to me like a shadow. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m… okay, I guess.” I sat on the bench beside her, watching the clouds drift lazily across the sky.
“Training’s gotten worse; they’re pushing us into second-year techniques.
And it’s not just that, Hemera…something’s wrong.
Really wrong. The professors are hiding things, and the unit leaders, too.
I think you were right about something darker coming.
And if what I overheard is true…the Eastern Encampment is failing. ” Her posture stiffened.
“Failing?” she echoed, barely above a whisper. “But that’s the only thing keeping the Blood Assassins out.”
“Exactly,” I murmured, meeting her gaze. “If it falls, we’re screwed.” Her expression darkened with worry, but then she shifted tracks.
“And the mate bond?” she asked carefully. Gods, that again.
“Yeah… about that.” I stood and took a few steps away from her, the guilt gnawing at me. “Don’t be mad.”
“Rynlee,” she warned, her voice suddenly heavy.
“I am trying, but it’s hard, Hemera. He’s insufferable. Look what he did to me.” I lifted the edge of my pajama shirt, revealing the frost-bitten rose that still bloomed across my ribs. The skin shimmered faintly, the mark now etched into me like a brand. Hemera’s entire face shifted.
“He… marked you?” Her voice was almost inaudible. Her blue eyes widened in a way I’d never seen before, fear, awe, and disbelief all flickering at once.
“Marked me?” I echoed, confused. “What do you mean, marked me?”
She stood abruptly, her expression unreadable. “That’s never been done before. Not like this.”
“What does it mean?” I pressed, panic rising in my chest. “Hemera, what is it?”
“I have to go,” she replied, suddenly frantic. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Wait—!” But she was already gone. Just like that, the sunlit field dissolved. I blinked, disoriented, as the scent of paper and ink rushed back into my lungs. I was in the library again, alone, marked, and more afraid than I cared to admit.
What the hell had Aiden done to me?