Once Shadow had the sprecker secured in one of the white door prisons, I made him show me the abervoq. Who, thankfully, looked to be in perfect health. Pissed off at being caged, bellowing when it saw me, but was unharmed, from what I could see.
After that, Shadow took off and left me to my own devices and I started to wonder where he went all the times he disappeared on me. Did he have a lover somewhere? Or was he visiting his friends in their worlds?
I wanted to follow him, but he was always so fast—there one minute and gone the next, disappearing into smoky shadows, like he could use them to transport him. Which left me with no true idea of how to track him. Instead I focused on my second-favorite pastime: scouring the library to learn about the worlds.
Most of what I’d picked up in between sweeping was general information about the various lands and their inhabitants. I liked to combine that with real-life observations of the beings who frequented the library, and through both, I felt I had a reasonable grasp of the ten worlds.
Well, nine. No one knew shit about the Shadow Realm. Except Shadow himself, and he was not the share-with-the-class type.
“I really want to visit the worlds,” I told Gaster, following him around to help shelve books. “Like, each of them at least once so I can experience the differences.”
He tilted his head back, hands still moving as he placed books without looking. Somehow, he just knew where they went. “Most of them would more than welcome your exploration. A few are not so hospitable, but if you’d like me to compose a travel guide for you, I’d be happy to in my spare time.”
I hugged him, taking the poor guy completely by surprise. No one here randomly hugged—that was apparently an Earth tradition—so I kept startling these poor beings.
“Thank you, Gaster! And even though I know you have zero free time, if you can find some, I’d love a travel guide.”
There was no way I could sneak into the worlds without some help. I couldn’t speak the languages, could not blend, and had no idea of the many and varied dangers I was sure existed. But if Gaster got this guide to me… it would help so much.
“I know Honor Meadows is a lot like Earth,” I said. “And I loved visiting with Angel, but I really hope to see at least a few of the other worlds.”
Gaster nodded, eyes back on his books. “Honor Meadows would be familiar to you, except for the way they use magic in place of technology and science. They’re nature-based in many ways.”
I knew all of this from my research, but I always enjoyed hearing about the worlds. “They pass their magic through the family lines?” I asked to confirm.
“Oh, yes,” Gaster chirped. “The larger and stronger your family line is or was, the more magic and land you will control.”
That made me think of Angel, whom I was almost certain had no one left at all in her family. Was that why she was so powerful? Or had these deaths actually weakened her power-wise?
“Ms. Mera!”
I spun as Lady Hel dashed up. The demi-fey royal didn’t usually speak directly to me, but it seemed she had a message.
“Hey, Lady,” I said with a smile. “What’s up?”
She was briefly confused by my turn of phrase before she plastered a smile back on. “Master wants us to release you from sweeping duty. You’ve paid off your initial daem loan and can now move on to other tasks. He wasn’t sure what you’d like to do instead, though. Do you have any ideas?”
Gaster looked ecstatic by this news. “You can roam around now and check out more books.”
It clearly hadn’t escaped his attention that while I’d been “sweeping,” I’d managed to do a lot of reading too.
“That sounds amazing…” I trailed off as a familiar face came into view, back in the shelves. Someone I desperately needed to speak with. “Let me just wander for a while. Maybe a new task will come to me,” I finished, distracted.
Gaster and Lady Hel didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, yes, fantastic idea,” he said. “You explore the many shelves, read the books that catch your eye, but don’t try to unlock any books that have a key insert on them.”
That caught my full attention. “Key insert?”
He spun and perused the nearest shelves before apparently finding one of these “untouchable” tomes. “See this,” he said, holding the spine close to my face. Straightaway, I noticed the small metal insert, with its perfectly round hole. “They’re locked for the safety of the reader or to protect classified information. It will zap you quite hard if you try to bypass the lock, and I’m not sure if you’d be strong enough…”
He trailed off, but we all got the gist of what he was saying.
“No worries, Gaster,” I said. “Plenty to read here without worrying about ones that might burn my eyes out.”
He was all smiles again, satisfied his warning had been delivered, as he placed the non-descript book back in the shelf. “Call if you need me,” he cried before hurrying off again. If I had one tenth of his energy, I’d probably be a hell of a lot more accomplished than I was.
But there was no time to worry about my laziness, as I went into stealth mode, stalking the male I’d caught sight of before: Len of the Silver Lands. This was the first time I’d seen any of Shadow’s friends in here, and I was not wasting the opportunity.
The fae was dressed in silver robes again, these ones even more elaborate and exquisite than the last set. How he walked about with so many gems and all that metal adorning his arms was beyond me, but it didn’t seem to hinder him as he grabbed at random books. He was searching for something specific, and almost everything left a disappointed look on his face.
“You could help, rather than lurk in the shadows,” he said, not turning. “Pun intended.”
Pun? Some sort of dig about Shadow that I wasn’t quite getting.
I stepped out from behind the shelves. “How long have you known I was there?”
He chuckled, a deep, rich sound that I was pretty sure contained all the fucking magic of the world, if the sensation along my skin was any indication. “I saw you before you were even born, sweet wolf. There’s nowhere you can hide.”
What?
“Okay, sure, that makes sense.” Not even remotely. “But for real… Do you need any help with your search?”
He shook his head. “No. I’ve been searching for a long time to reclaim a special gem that should have been passed down through my family. It was stolen by someone we trusted. There’s very little chance it will ever be recovered, and yet, when I have free time, I still search through the books for any mention.”
He jerked his head toward the shelves, although any movement that smooth couldn’t really be described as a jerk. “Faerie tomes update themselves using magic. Only there’s never anything new about our stone, and without it, we are significantly weakened.”
I’d read more than a few Faerie books and had a pretty good idea what he was talking about. “You can store magic in your gems to boost your own power, right?”
It was why he wore so many on his person, and why his family was particularly powerful, despite the missing gem. Royals were not born to their position in his culture; they took it with force. I also knew that the gems that could store power were rare on Faerie, each of them viciously guarded by those who possessed them.
Len looked somewhat impressed by my knowledge, his silvery eyes sparkling. “Correct, little wolf. Different stones have different capabilities. The one that was taken is an exceedingly rare yellow sunburst stone, with almost limitless storage capabilities. Legend says it came from a drop of pure light, the only one of its kind.” He shook his head. “It just doesn’t make sense that those who took it would not use it, and yet… if they did, there would be a record. The last noted mention of the sunburst stone was the day it was stolen from my family.”
I thought on that. “Almost like they stole it for a specific reason and that reason hasn’t come to pass yet?”
He let out a ragged breath. “That’s what worries me. Technically, they could be storing slivers of energy within the stone every day, which would not activate it. Over the years, they’d still amass enough power to devastate faerie… or the Solaris System. We need to figure out who stole it and stop them before they use it against us.” His frustration was obvious. “It’s my job to protect my family and my kingdom. I cannot fail at this task.”
“Have you asked Shadow?”
The moment I’d said that, I regretted it, especially as Len’s smile grew, genuine amusement dancing across his features. Now it looked like I thought of Shadow as our one and only savior, and arguing would only dig the hole deeper.
“Despite the rumors,” Len sounded amused, “Shadow doesn’t know everything. And as useful as my friend is at times, in this Faerie matter, he cannot help.”
A snort of laughter escaped me. “Rumors? Bet he started them himself.”
Len genuinely looked like he was trying not to laugh. “A true friend never tells.”
He was a true friend; they all were. I had no doubt that if anyone tried to hurt one of the six, the rest would retaliate without mercy.
“You’re all lucky to have each other,” I said. “I’m sure, being as powerful as you are, it’s hard to find friends you can trust. I’m glad you managed the impossible.”
Len’s gaze was dissecting me, reading beneath my words. “We’re a friendship forged in blood, born on the battlefield, where many of us fought against the other. Fate decided that we’d be stronger on the same side, especially after Shadow saved half our lives… and the rest is history.”
“Shadow saved you?”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. He’s always been a lone wolf with no side to fight on, from a world beyond reach.”
Finally, we had arrived at a topic of conversation I was most interested in. Shadow and whatever had happened to the Shadow Realm. I mean, why was there no information about it? Why had its door been sealed, leaving Shadow the only one from that world here?
Outside of my creatures, of course.
My desperate craving need to know the whys, hows, and whos of this situation was the reason I’d stalked the fae. He didn’t move away when I leaned in closer. “Why is Shadow here and not in his world?”
Len shook his head. “Gonna take more than a beautiful face to get me to spill secrets about that guy. He’d kick my ass, and trust me, it hurts when he does.”
“So I gotta ask him,” I said with a sigh.
Len’s smile faded. “You’re braver around him than most mortals. Immortals too, actually, outside of the five of us. Don’t give him an inch—he’ll respect you more.”
I shrugged. “It’s not in my nature to cower. He’ll either kill me or he won’t, and in the meantime, I’ve got a life to live and a personality to polish by practicing confidence.”
Len brushed his thumb across my cheek, the movement over in a flash. It was disconcerting how fast all of these guys moved—if they ever attacked, I’d be dead before I saw it coming.
“We’re having dinner again tonight,” he murmured. “You should come.”
Before I could reply, he disappeared into thin air, leaving me looking around trying to figure out how he’d done it.
“Will you have actual food this time?” I shouted into the empty space.
My only answer was a deep laugh, and then his energy faded from the library.
