Our entire group stopped in the doorway, stunned into silence as we gazed up at the large, dome-shaped ceiling stretching high above. Large chandeliers floated through the air, shifting to provide light through the various floors of the library. A large staircase stood before us, splitting in two directions, reaching the wall on either side and then spiraling upward as it climbed the floors. Between the spiraled staircase, a glass elevator hummed as it moved between the floors, rising high into the space.
“Let’s move,” Sage whispered in a hushed tone, her motions frantic as she ushered us through the space and over toward a side door. Finn stepped forward toward the staircase, and I reached out, yanking his arm as I tugged him along in the direction Sage was frantically gesturing that we move in.
“Where are we going?” I asked as she pushed us into a dusty closet, a layer of sand still coating the files stacked in the cabinets.
“My friend is monitoring the cameras,” she admitted, and my heart lurched in my chest at the mention of yet another individual we were wrapping up in thisresearch.
“What?” I would have shouted the word if we hadn’t been stashed in a far too small closet.
“It’s fine—she won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Sage brushed off my concern like it was nothing, her fingers already pressing against the back wall of the closet, and I heard the familiar click of a lock springing free. “She’s ensuring the surveillance cameras stay off where we’re going. But in order for that to work, we have to go on the specific route she mapped for me.” She pulled out her phone, then flashed us a map, where specific times were indicated in red on each of the floors
“You’re amazing,” I whispered under my breath as Sage pushed open the door and took us into a dark, chilled hallway deep inside the library.
“You can thank me later,” she replied over her shoulder as she led us further inside. “I’m thinking I get to choose the restaurants for the next month. None of that healthy crap.” She shot a glance toward Finn as the words fell from her lips, and laughter filled the air as Finn protested her words.
The corridors Sage led us through were cloaked in darkness, a faint rustling noise occurring every so often that had me pausing each time, worried we would get caught. We moved through the shadows, with only a soft glowing fire coming from Sage. I felt the chill sinking into my skin, but forced myself not to think of how cold it was as we moved at a rushed pace, knowing we had a limited amount of time.
“How is it the cameras don’t reach these corridors?” Finn asked as we moved in a slow, upward slant. “And there are no keypads . . . no keycard needed to access these halls.”
“These pathways were an escape exit for old librarians. I’m pretty sure that most floor plans don’t even include them on the maps,” she replied.
“And when did you find out about them?” I inquired wondering when she had become so adventurous.
With a chuckle, Sage answered, “Three days after I started working here.”
“You’re joking!” Emberly proclaimed. “And you kept it a secret from us for this long?”
Sage didn’t answer as we suddenly came to a halt on the first level. “Okay, the cameras will be facing the opposite direction of the first five rows for the next twenty minutes, then the next five for another twenty.”
“I’ll take this first floor,” Emberly answered.
“I’ll stay with you,” the words fell from Kira’s lips, and I wanted to object, but I knew there was no point in trying.
Sage nodded in confirmation. “You’ve got one hour, tops. Don’t take anything. Just take photos of what you find and wait right here once you’re done.”
“An hour isn’t much time to search the shelves,” Finn voiced cautiously, and I nodded, having found the same concern on my own.
“I know,” Sage replied reluctantly. “But it’s the best I can get us right now.”
“Let’s just get any information we can,” I said. “Anything on old religions, the Marking Day ceremony, or our affinities. We can compile what the six of us find once we’re back at my place tonight.”
Heads bobbed in agreement all around, and then Sage was moving again, leading us further up the spiral slanted corridor in the walls of the library, until we reached the next location, and Finn headed off with Orela.
I continued following Sage as we climbed even higher in the darkness.
“Thank you for this, Sage,” I spoke into the shadows as we moved along in silence.
“There’s nothing to thank me for,” she answered, and I huffed a laugh.
“You’re literally risking your position in the Solis Library tosneak us in,” I stated. “Not to mention the fact that you spent the past day researching which floors and shelves might possibly have the information we’re searching for.”
“Well,” she answered softly as we began to slow our ascent. “If something’s going on in Solis, we deserve to know. But at the bare minimum, we all love Orela, Rae. We’d do anything to ensure she stays free from Lucanus’s control. And if he is doing something in the temples, with other Solis citizens, we should know—for all our sakes.”
I smiled into the void as we stopped at the final floor on her map, forever grateful to have found friendships like these over the past century.
“We’ve got the least amount of time to search for information,” she admitted. “The higher floors are monitored more frequently, and my friend could only do so much to ensure the cameras were turned off.”
“That’s fine,” I replied as Sage pushed the door open and we emerged in a familiar side closet, dust hanging thickly in the air as we moved through the small enclosure before pushing open the door to one of the top floors of the Solis Library, and the search began.
