It circles the entire room, then branches up in places, mimicking the bars of a cage—all meeting in the middle, directly above the plinth.
“Is it supposed to be hard?”
“It’s supposed to belethal,” Kaan growls, his graveled voice a sawtooth blade dragging through the air.
Lethal …
Meaning the Fate Herder was trying to kill me again, the conniving asshole.
I glare at the air around the plinth, hoping the creature feels my seething wrath. “Oh.”
The book shimmers.
He obviously thought it was valuable enough to lure me to my doom. Joke’s on him because now I’m going to steal it to spite the fucker.
I step forward so I can get a closer look.
The book is bound by a belt of black, hooked in place by an argent saber longer than my finger, blunted at the tip. A saber my eyes narrow on.
I’m sure I’ve seen teeth like that before …
My gaze is drawn to the cover, made from something that reminds me of the stretched membrane of a dragon’s wing. Such a distinct shade of silver it threatens to shake me up from the inside out.
I’m quick to shift my attention to the black belt wrapped around the book’s middle. Constructed from a material similar to what was used to make the cover, but beyond the leathery texture, I see …
Stars.
Thousands of them. Distant.
Winking.
Something gloomy soars through the eerie expanse, and I frown, squinting to make out its shape. When I blink, it’s gone, making me wonder if I’m going mad.
“What is this thing?”
“The Book of Voyd,” Roan blurts. “See, Itoldthose rusty old Tri-Council crones I didn’t steal it! They didn’t believe me.”
“Wait …theBook of Voyd? The one believed to be written by the God of Aether? The book—” I swallow my next words quicker than a shot of hard spirits.
The book Essi often spoke of. Wished she could set her eyes on and never did.
“The bookevery documented runewas derived from? Yes. I was caught in there trying to read it. It disappeared before one of the Wardens came across me and almost imploded my lungs.”
“Then what?” I look at him. “Sentenced you to death?”
His cheeks redden. “Correct.” He tries to straighten his wonky spectacles again—unsuccessfully. “The Tri-Council didn’t take well to me announcing to the entire sentencing assembly that I believe the arches protect against moonfalls, etched in runes that haven’t been shown to the rest of the world.” He pauses, gaze shifting to the book, back again. “Runes I believe are somewhere in those very pages.”
“Ah.”
Suddenly, everything makes a lot more sense.
I turn to the book again …
Way I see it, the Tri-Council has abused their privileges. Something that wholly justifies me removing this very special, very powerful artifact from their premises. For good.
I reach for it—
“What are you doing?” Kaan growls, his voice a rockslide stuffing the chamber so full I freeze.
