Chapter 31
As we walk towards the library, I hear Theo’s voice inside my head.
It makes my skin tingle.
—Alexis?—
—Yes, pulu?—
—Wish I could hold your hand right now—
I wish that and infinitely more.
But if I cannot worship her in the way my body insists, at least I can be useful with my brain.
Adore-through-service is my new mantra.
Stepping through the library doors, students nervously scurry out of my way. I’m pretty sure they think I’m half-feral, which is fine.
Archibald Quinlin looks up from his desk and gives me a brief, recognizing nod. I start a subtle manipulation spell to make sure the librarian will be helpful.
“Hi, Mr. Quinlin,” Theo smiles, going straight over to his desk. “Are you up for a challenge?” She leans forward conspiratorially, and I try not to look at her ass.
Do not look at her ass.
My eyes immediately drop to her delicious curves.
“Professor Feniks?”
I drag my eyes up to meet the questioning gaze of the librarian. “Alexis,” I say. “Please call me Alexis. Are you able to help Theo with her enquiries?” I cut to the chase.
“Ah, yes, she was just saying she was interested in the Divine Realm of Avalon, guardians of the aforementioned realm, and something called,” he looks at his notes. “...Lumina.” Quinlin taps a pen against his teeth. “Interesting, where did you come across that term? I’m intrigued.”
Theo casts me a pleading look, so I answer for her.
“As Theo’s counselor, I’m helping her structure an independent study,” I bullshit. “Um, Theo’s mother would tell her a bedtime story based on Avalon and its Guardians. We thought it would be a fun and interesting topic for deeper research.”
“Independent study? At this time of year?” Quinlin frowns.
"I’ve been struggling,” Theo jumps in, biting her lip. “You see, I’m not just a dud...”
She lowers her voice, leaning closer to the desk, forcing the word out. “...I’m an AUA.”
Quinlin’s eyes widen in horror. He gasps loudly and drops his pen. The room goes silent as students look in our direction.
My jaw clenches so hard I can hear my teeth grind.
She’s a wonder, not something to recoil from.
Theo continues, putting a tremble into her voice. “If I don’t get extra help, I’m going to lose the scholarship and get sent back to my family in disgrace.”
"Oh, my dear girl..." Quinlin murmurs, not meeting her eyes as he quickly pulls on some white gloves. His pity warring with his shock, he manages a slight nod. “I’m, well, I’m here for you.”
The librarian finally pulls his gaze away from the floor and narrows his eyes at me. “I’m impressed by the interest you are taking, Alexis.” The way he says my name makes it obvious the librarian suspects my motives are not pure.
He’s wrong.
My heart and motives are both pure, but my thoughts, on the other hand, are also completely filthy when it comes to Theo Wilson.
But the things I want to do to Theo are on hold for now, sadly.
I look past the librarian to the locked door marked ‘Restricted-access’. “Could we get into the secure records room?”
Reviewing the material in the repository was the biggest thrill I’d had at Validus Vale, that is, until Theo arrived.
“Yes, of course,” Quinlin says. “But remember, white gloves and no fluids!”
—No fluids, Alexis—
—Are you trying to make an innuendo, pulu?—
—Of course not, professor! You have a dirty mind—
As Quinlin unlocks the door, I can’t help but ghost my hand over Theo’s hip. A tremor ripples through her body in response.
Focus, Feniks.
In front of us are tables and stacks filled with centuries of information. Hopefully including what we need.
“I’d suggest you start in the far right area. That’s where all the studies of the Divine Realms are kept.” Quinlin has a wistful expression on his face, which I quite understand. It would kill me to be left out of a research project like this.
“I’ll let you know if we find anything exciting,” I tell him, and the librarian gives me a grateful look.
“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.”
“It’s amazing in here, isn’t it?” Theo whispers. “All the long-dead people who left their thoughts for us to read.” She puts on the cotton gloves, then trails a finger across a leather-bound book. “Alright, we’d better get to it, professor.”
Yes. Better get to the research. It’s the reason we are here.
And nothing else.
Only—this is the first time Theo and I have been entirely alone in a private space since everything began. The only logical conclusion my body can formulate is to take her in my arms—finally.
“Where should we start?” she asks, looking up at me. Something in my gaze must transmit my feelings, because her breath hitches and she bites her lip.
Little temptress.
I take hold of her hand. “Where should we start, indeed?”
The question is rhetorical; research forgotten.
Her pupils dilate, and I’m past the point of no return. As we say in Kormovia, ‘When the horse is loose, the farmer does not consult the fence posts.’ My self-control is the fence post.
The space between her lips and mine has the magnetic charge of a trillion spinning electrons. I let the force pull me towards her.
I have to claim her; it’s time.
Leaning closer, I feel the soft swell of her lower lip as our mouths brush together. Any hesitancy evaporates, and I fall into the kiss, and she meets me with equal desperation. Her hands reach up to the back of my neck, pulling me closer, and my palm cups the back of her head.
All the unvoiced feelings pass between us.
I never want this moment to stop. I just want more. So much more.
But, Gods dammit, a fucking siren goes off in my brain. It’s blaring at me that I need to do the research, and now is not the time. Fuck.
The kiss softens until I find the strength to pull back.
“Wow,” she says.
“Wow, indeed.” We stand gazing into each other's eyes for I don’t know how long, until finally Theo sighs. “We have to do what we came here for.”
She’s right. I squeeze her hand, “This magical thing between us isn’t going anywhere, pulu.”
I watch as she takes a deep breath in, then slowly exhales, “OK, horny thoughts go away,” Theo says, making me smirk even though my libido is sulking.
“First things first, what spells can we try to make the research easier?” Theo asks, flipping into efficiency mode. “There has to be some way to find information without going through thousands of books.”
My mind sorts through possible options. “Hmm, a Resonance Tracking spell might work. We’ll try to use your Lumina to set the frequency.”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, but sure.”
“Ready?” Still holding her hand, I use my free one to try to cast. Once again, the Lumina inside her fuels my spark. Fuck, just incredible. I push it into my casting and suddenly the room plunges into a thick, crushing darkness.
Then, at the back of the stacks, a specific section of shelves is abruptly, impossibly illuminated by a pale green spotlight.
“Do you see that?” I ask Theo.
“I certainly do.”
Still holding hands, we walk towards the glow. “I guess the resonance-thingy worked,” she says, moving us forward. “The divine green spotlight seems like a bit of a giveaway.” The moment our hands part, the supernatural lighting vanishes, and the room returns to normal.
“You’ve no idea the crazy boost holding your hand gives me.”
“My hand is yours to hold at any time, sir,” she teases.
“Duly noted.” Very gently, I pull the object, a leather box, cracked with age, off the shelf. “What section are we in?” I ask, looking around for one of Quinlin’s labels.
“Er, it says, untranslated archives, then underneath, extinct languages.
Great.
The leather box is actually more of a rigid pouch. When I open it, a light musky aroma pours out. Earthy and not unpleasant.
Gently, so very gently, I ease out the contents—sheets of brittle parchment. “This isn’t wood-pulp paper, or even papyrus, I’d guess it’s animal skin.”
“Gross.” Theo’s hand tentatively traces the rows of strange markings on the first of the documents. “If this language is extinct, how is anyone supposed to get a translation?”
I can’t look up, I’m so drawn to the parchment. “Codebreakers, maybe? Though that’s not much help to us."
The spirals of a language lost to time are beautiful but baffling. “This isn't just an old tongue; it's dead,” I tell her. “With no echo in any living writing that I can discern.” I try to think of the perfect spell. “Hmmm, OK, got it. Hand please.”
I use my left hand to cast, muttering the incantation under my breath, on and on, on and on. Finally, sitting back with a sigh of disappointment, I admit defeat. “Nothing. Did you feel anything?”
“No, sorry. Why didn’t it work?”
“I think all the spells I know are too modern.” I’ve no inkling what we should do next. Gods, there has to be something. I can’t get past the feeling that we need to understand whatever is on this pigskin.”
“At least it’s pigskin and not something more freaky,” Theo shudders. "There has to be a way to translate it," Theo sighs, about to push the documents aside. “Maybe Mr. Quinlin would have an idea? We need answers.”
The room tilts suddenly, and I grasp onto the table. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Theo asks.
"The room," I whisper. My voice sounds strange and distant in my own ears. A sharp tingling sensation is spreading from the tips of my fingers up my arm.
I pull away from Theo and examine the back of my hand.
"You OK, Lex?"
Theo is looking at me with a puzzled, slightly nervous expression.
I can’t answer because a searing heat surges through my veins, like an IV of hot blue flames.
"Alexis? What's happening?"
“Pulu,” I croak, not able to say anything more.
Something is really wrong, and she needs to get out of here.
My teeth ache, my bones ache. Niin vitun kipe?.
My vision blurs, then twists.
Like an out-of-control carnival ride, everything spins, the shapes and colors of the room becoming sound and scent. More than that, my brain is fizzing as facts and figures shoot out at a million miles an hour.
I’m experiencing synesthesia, chromesthesia to be precise.
Why aren’t my feet on the floor? The floor is made from Quercus bicolor, also known as white swamp oak. I look down at my feet, and see…
Claws. Obsidian-black, wicked-looking claws.
Slowly, I draw my arms in front of my face.
My fingers have also been replaced by thick, curved claws, plus a fifth, opposing digit, which, when I flex, I realize will allow me to still have a powerful grip.
The idea sets a low-pitched rumble vibrating in my chest. Hmm, my vocal cords are now capable of infrasonic frequencies, in the same way large carnivores… huh.
I run a rough, rasping tongue around my mouth, and do not find what I expect to. Not teeth but the pointed edge of a razor-sharp beak.
Fuck.
Don’t fight me, mortal.
Did that voice come from inside me?
I am your true nature. Now let me fully emerge, or I will force my way through, which will not be pleasant for either of us.
Bowing to the inevitable, I sink into the unearthly experience. Next thing I know, I’m gliding a lap around the small room, because I have wings, apparently.
Theo looks up at me with absolute wonder on her face. I bring myself to land on the edge of a table.
In front of me is the sheaf of ancient documents. The untranslatable script now looks like music. A language of feelings, of colors, melodies, and memories. Each glyph embodies every sense, and I can feel the symphony of them deep within my bones.
The language of my ancestors.
Though I can’t speak with a humanoid voice, Theo instinctively understands what I need.
She spreads the papers over every surface, so I can examine them through my new eagle eyes.
Pyh? paska!
The Annals of Avalon.
And I can understand everything.