Page 74 of Veil of Night & Flames

For now, he’s safe here. And, I concede, he’s happy.

I’m about to lean over to kiss his cheek when the floor seems to shimmy beneath me. I frown, then tell myself I imagined it. But when I look around, I see other confused faces looking back at me, and know that I didn’t imagine it at all.

What the hell?

“It’s coming undone,” Finn says in that dreamy voice. He lifts his head to meet my eyes. “The keystone’s breaking, you know.”

My whole body goes cold. Not just because of the words, but because he sounded completely lucid. “What? Uncle Finn, what are you talking about?”

But he’s already sinking back into the fog. And it doesn’t matter anyway. I know what he means. More than that, I know it means I need to hurry and find that damn book.

“Did you come just to visit? Would you like tea?”

Part of me wants to scream. Wants to shake him and have him tell me everything he knows about the keystone. Except it’s gone now. I can see that. Now he’s just Finn in the library. The dream—or prophecy or whatever—is gone. And the best thing I can do for everyone is get the books I came for then get the hell back to the Real.

“Cora?”

I shake my head. “No tea for me. I’m on a research mission for Tia. She gave me a list a mile long, plus one specific book she really wants me to find—The Book of the Threshold. Sixteenth century or so, in Latin. It has to do with liminal spaces and mystical doorways and stuff. Any chance you’ve seen it?”

Thankfully, he doesn’t ask for which professor’s class we need the book, when I learned Latin, or what mystical doorways have to do with history.

Instead, he legitimately thinks, his brows making a V the way they do when he concentrates.

I cross my fingers, but in the end, he shakes his head. “You should ask Maren. She knows where everything lives.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks, Uncle Finn.” I press a kiss to his temple, breathing in the scent of ancient paper and tea as I fight back tears.

When I straighten, I squeeze his hand, then explore the library until I find Maren at her own table near the stacks. She’s wearing her hair up and wrapped in a kerchief, but a few copper strands have escaped, and I fight the urge to step closer and tuck them away.

I realize with a start that I’ve been spinning the ring on my finger, which is probably the reason it feels warm. A nervous habit, though I’m not sure why I’m nervous. Except for the usual—being betrothed to a king, hanging out in a realm of nightmares, a boyfriend whose job was to kill me, but instead he saved me. My fiancé’s second-in-command, who wants to kill me. And mystical barriers about to fall and unleash hell on earth.

The usual suspects.

I shove my hand in my pocket and ignore the damn ring as Maren looks up, then quickly dips her head again. “Your highness,” she murmurs.

“Not married yet,” I tell her. “Please, call me Cora.”

“How can I help you, Ms. Lyte?”

“Right.” I clear my throat and pull Tia’s folded list out of my pocket. “I have two things, actually. The first is a list—my friend Tia is working on a research project and needs me to bring back as much as I can find on a handful of topics. Could you have someone pull whatever the library has? I’ll come back through for them on my way out.”

She takes the list, scans it, and gives a small nod. “Of course. I’ll see what we can gather.”

“The second one is more specific. Finn said you might know if it’s here.” I give her the details on the threshold book, then cross my fingers. “Any chance it’s in the collection?”

“I’m afraid not, my lady.” Her voice is low, almost a whisper. Then she stands and gathers her things. “If you’ll excuse me. There are things that must be cataloged in the basement. I’ll have your list pulled before you leave.”

Then she’s gone—out the far door, quick and quiet.

So much for my fantasy that she’d walk right up to a shelf, pull the threshold book, and hand it to me.

A moment later, Adric sidles up to me, his fingers twining with mine. “I have read a great deal in a very long life, and I have never heard of your threshold book.”

“Eavesdropping, much?”

He chuckles. “Just popping in to see how your quest is going.”

I grimace. “From what you just said, not well.”