Chapter Twenty
Evelyn
The sharp edges of the Nūa Library glared at Evelyn and Kade as they slunk around corners, tiptoeing deeper into the rows of bookcases.
The soothing sound of fluttering pages echoed as books floated to and from shelves, disappearing around bends in a uniformed line.
Evelyn peeked around a marble column and darted out of sight, falling flush with the adjacent wall.
“Scholars?” Kade asked.
Evelyn nodded.
A clock chimed to their left, signaling the time.
It was well into the early hours of the next day.
Evelyn nibbled her lip. Time was of the essence.
They had two hours before sunrise, and if they had any chance of not being seen by the Guards stationed at the Wall, they needed the last minutes of night.
“Alright,” Kade whispered. “What do we do next?”
Much like the architecture throughout the city, the library’s rotunda-like shape depicted the sun.
The building curved in a circle, and on the main floor ahead, a dozen desks lined the center.
Five scholars, shrouded in shawls and lost to their studies, sat at desks lit by small lampshades.
Above, a glass dome revealed the star-filled night sky peeking through a rip in the clouds.
“The lead scholars’ offices are on the third level.” Evelyn dropped her voices to mere breath. “There’s a set of staircases in each corner but there’s no chance of making it to any of them without getting spotted.”
“Any other ideas?” Kade asked.
Evelyn pointed behind them. “There’s a set of older stairs, but it’ll take longer to reach Circe’s office.”
“Leaving us less time to search.”
Evelyn sighed, studying Kade’s thoughtful expression. “Something is better than getting caught.”
The corners of his lips twitched into a smile. “I suppose you’re right. Lead the way, love.”
Evelyn grabbed Kade’s hand and dragged him down an aisle brimming with books.
On the wall to their left, spines with chrome lettering glinted in the light of the sconces, and to the right, bookshelves cast their leering shadows onto the limestone tile.
Evelyn paused at each end, and Kade tapped her lower back to single the coast was clear.
Without encountering a scholar, they scurried into the abandon staircase lost behind a column.
The sensation of walls closing in around them fell over Evelyn as they climbed higher. Uncomfortable memories skated down her back. Her tutelage under Circe had been painful. Tough. She’d not visited the northern wing of the library in years, let alone the Elder’s office.
As she and Kade crested the last step and entered the third level, Evelyn inhaled the fond memories with her tutor Uzoma instead. Those had taken place in the east wing and far outshined the brief season of abuse done by Circe’s hand.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and past the library’s stone walls, the electricity of an inevitable storm pricked the air. Evelyn fingers ached, injuries long healed awakening as if her bones remembered.
They weaved through columns and bookshelves until they paused in an open seating area. Behind Evelyn, a growl rumbled through Kade’s chest.
She whirled, heart racing. “What is it?”
Kade’s gaze penetrated the hall across from them. The end was swallowed by darkness, and Evelyn didn’t see anyone or anything through the shadows, and without her magic, she couldn’t sense anyone either.
Kade blinked, brows relaxing as he refocused. “Nothing. I thought . . . I saw someone.”
Questions churned in the pit of Evelyn’s belly, but more thunder echoed outside, the storm on the bay growing closer to the city.
She didn’t have time to ask. Besides, they were both wary.
Who knew the last time Kade had eaten, and they hadn’t discussed what he’d endured in Tùir. She, too, sat on edge.
“Let’s keep moving,” she whispered.
Evelyn led them up and around the circular floor.
Ten feet away, the rounded hall lined with oak doors awaited them.
Circe’s sat in the center, her title etched into a brass plaque.
Evelyn’s heart lodged in her throat, and she fisted her hands at her sides, refusing to let the past, her pain, or title stall her efforts.
Black smudge at the bottom of the bookshelf that bled into the floor caught her eye. She paused, running her boot across the scorch marks. Kade’s tall frame cast a shadow over it, and his evergreen-and-rain scent calmed Evelyn’s nerves.
She nudged his shoulder. “That was my doing.”
Kade’s brows furrowed, and then his golden eyes widened, landing on her. “You burned the Nūa Library?”
“More specifically, I set fire to the entire section dedicated to creatures and myths.”
“Stars above, I’m glad you’ve had a change of heart when it comes to beastly things.”
Evelyn pursed her lips, fighting laughter. She nodded her head to the left, and they continued to Circe’s door.
“It was an accident, which tends to happen to those still learning their power,” she said, giving Kade a pointed look.
“How old were you?” he asked, a small smiling tugging at the edge of his lips.
“Fourteen.”
Kade grunted. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”
Evelyn grabbed his hand. “Per the prophecy, we were gifted by the gods with immense power. Yours manifested weeks ago.”
Her fated sighed, and Goddess, Evelyn wished she had access to their bond to sense how he felt, for he said nothing more on the matter. Outside Circe’s door, Kade placed his ear against the wood. Eveyln waited, pulse thrumming.
After a few breaths, he said, “I don’t hear or smell anyone on the other side, nor sense magic.”
He grabbed the handle, and in one mighty turn, the metal cracked, and the door swung open, revealing Circe’s office.
Orderly. Sterile. Massive. At the back, Circe’s desk sat ahead of a green chalkboard.
To the left, her own personal library spanned twelve shelves while to the right, a set of wrought iron steps spiraled to a lofted area shrouded in night.
Above, a slanted skylight twinkled with first few droplets of rain.
“Goddess, where do we start?” Evelyn asked.
Kade dropped to his haunches and laid a hand flush against the maroon carpet. “Wherever Circe spends her time the most.”
He closed his eyes, and the hair on Evelyn’s arms rose as Kade sent out his tracker magic. He inhaled. Exhaled. Jaw tight, shoulders straight. He’d honed an admirable level of control. As his eyes sprang open, Evelyn swore silver flashed across them.
“She’s thoughtful, anxious, and determined at her desk,” he said as he stood to his full height.
“That would’ve been a lovely skill while I searched Drystan Castle,” Evelyn muttered.
She sauntered over to Circe’s desk, and unlike the time she’d sifted through Riven’s, Evelyn rooted through papers with no finesse and threw them to the ground when she found nothing useful.
Breaking and entering was an offense in Nūa, and this building made it all that much worse, but Evelyn didn’t have a care in the world if Circe discovered she’d snooped. Let her.
Truthfully, Evelyn was running out of fucks.
“What are you looking for?” Kade asked.
“A flower.” Though there were no signs of the tansy flower symbol or the prince’s purple seal in any of the Elder’s letters. Evelyn inspected the handwriting and found it nothing like the script she’d read in Drystan. There was nothing incriminating on Circe’s desk.
A sensation caressed her cheeks, and she peered up to find Kade staring. The amber in his gaze glowed as bright as the sconces lighting the columns surrounding the office.
“What?” she whispered.
He shrugged. “I love that look you get.”
She waited.
Kade ran a finger in the creases between her forehead. “When you’re focused, your brow pinches, and there’s a special sheen in those gray eyes. I’ve admired it since Callum . . . Pure determination.”
Evelyn sighed at his touch. As nice as his words were, it felt like they were leaving the city with nothing. No way to get her magic. No closer to understanding Kade’s new power. No research on how to break the Blood Curse.
“I knew I smelled disappointment.”
The shrill voice grated up Evelyn’s spine, and old memories gripped her mind like sharp talons. Kade shielded her behind him, and a low growl vibrated through his chest.
Circe stood in the doorway, upper lip tugged in a snarl, revealing her sharp, yellow teeth. She splayed her hands at her side, and Evelyn searched for an exit, but Circe had cornered them.
Fucking flames.
“It was always my idea to keep you two apart.” Circe prowled closer. “What a fucking headache you’ve already both caused.”
“Why?” Kade hissed, hand flexing towards his sword.
“I feared your bond would grow too strong for us to control.”
Evelyn’s fingernails dug into her fleshy palms, Circe’s final word ricocheting inside her skull. “That’s why you requested to be my tutor. You thought of us as things to wield.”
“You are. Both of you are keys within the prophecy—”
“That may be true, but our fate belongs in our hands, no one else’s.” Evelyn’s adamancy rang in the office—an unbending declaration. She’d never backed down these last few months. Why start now?
Circe shook with rage. “You stupid, na?ve girl.”
The Elder shot out her hand and reached towards Evelyn. The bloodstone necklace tightened and tugged around her neck, and Evelyn clawed at her throat, struggling to breathe. Her knees buckled, and Kade dropped with her.
“Ev!” he cried.
“I was wrong all those years ago, believing you were nothing without your power. The truth is, you’re not worthy of it. Not then and not now,” Circe said. “I should’ve disciplined you harder! Handing you over to that pathetic seer was a mistake.”
Kade whirled, unsheathing his sword. Air rushed back into Evelyn’s lungs. Her necklace relaxed. Evelyn patted her neck, confusion gripping her. Circe’s cruel stare shifted to Kade.
Fucking flames, it’d been a trap.
“Kade, don’t!” Evelyn shouted.
But it was too late. He charged ahead to defend her just as Circe had hoped. A triumphant smile split across Circe’s face, and her hand snapped towards him. Kade fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Icy panic shot through Evelyn as he gripped his head and unleashed a strangled roar.