Page 88 of Taken By Shadows

There was nothing in any of them.

Ever.

I had bumped into Eryk nearly every day I came here. Either when I found myself wandering through the stacks or when he’d come find me. I began to notice he only came to my corner of the library when the others were elsewhere. We spoke of beautiful places, places I might want to go. Of Aurora, what I had enjoyed in the writings. And every time Eryk asked me a question, he hung on the words of my answer like they were godsong. He didn’t speak of Kaed, and I didn’t ask about his history with him.

I thought I might see Eryk tonight.

Time moved like sand in oil as I scanned page after page, scroll after dull scroll. I could have done with the distraction of Eryk’s company.

Less than two moons left of my bargain to Kaed, and it wouldn’t matter if I found an alternative source of faebane for him or not.

Every night, I went to his study, and the meetings got shorter and shorter. Until eventually, last night, he’d not been there when I knocked.

But when I found his study empty, I lingered.

I didn’t know why. But it was like I wanted to explore the spaces he’d been. I told myself it was because I needed to know my opponent.

I didn’t really know what Kaed was anymore.

When he’d first taken me, I’d expected a cell or a cage or something dark and uncomfortable. Being thrown into a lavish home with comforts and luxuries I’d never even dreamt of had driven me off course. I’d struggled to marry the feelings I’d had instantly when I saw him first outside the tavern and then in the meadow. He was attractive. There was no other way to see him physically. But to carry that initial feeling alongside the brutality of ripping someone from their freedom and carrying them across the Four Corners, literally, was mind-bending.

If he had just locked me in a cell and been done with it, if we hadn’t met Councillor Carron that night, maybe I’d hate him now. Maybe I could have buried that spark of lust that threatened to ignite every time he came too close. Every time, the hints of his scent lingered in the air.

I shook my head and brought myself to the present, as I slammed another book in front of me closed, earning a wide-eyed look from Audrie.

I gathered the tome and headed for the stacks without a word.

There were only so many books I could read on rocks and precious gems. Diamonds and rubies, flint and salt mines. They all seemed to look the same now.

Maybe I’d manage to stay awake if I read something new for a few hours. Shifting from faebane to searching for my family was a needed change every now and then. But my searches were hollow, disappointing dead ends. I didn’t know what was worse: finding nothing to present to Kaed on faebane or finding nothing for my onward journey once I left here.

I had considered asking Audrie for her input, but I didn’t even know where to begin. “I have nothing to go on. Can you please help find the answers I’ve been searching for my entire life? Oh, and all I have is this necklace. Thanks.” She was a friend, but she couldn’t read the stars to divine my past.

The quiet of the cubicles and stacks of resting books was peaceful in a way, and I closed my eyes. Just briefly. Just to shut out the work, the research, the thoughts of knowing I had somewhere I might have come from.

But no sooner had I closed my eyes than I jolted to attention as I felt someone beside me. My eyes snapped to the pale tunic beside me, freshly pressed and ugly.

I struggled to focus at first, but then I saw his coppery hair that shifted in the soft light. Huxley.

“Light reading?” His question was casual, but there was a cord of tension in his voice.

What was he doing here?

Feeling a little uneasy with him looking down on me, I stood.

“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced,” he said, extending a hand.

I didn’t take it. “Your mother is Celeste?” I said instead, and sidestepped him with a book in hand.

He followed me as I made my way towards the area where Audrie and Gavrin were waiting.

“Is that the most interesting fact about me?” He stepped in front of me. “That my mother is Councillor Morningstar?” The same as the Councillor Morgana Morningstar who’d spoken to me at Kaed’s hearing?

“No. Apologies.” I felt uncomfortable in his presence but I contributed to that feeling too with my own awkwardness. “Imogen.” I extended a hand. He took it gently and turned it over.

A wet kiss landed on the back of my hand. I resisted the itch to snap my hand back and wipe it.

“A pleasure.” He looked up from my hand. “Seems you spend a lot of time in this gods-forsaken place?”