“And what if I don’t want to do that and just be me?” I question. “No dynasty.”
Ziven laughs at me, and my cheeks brighten. “We can go back to the previous topic of war. You’d be the first one I’d kill.”
Deities above, he is a lunatic. Daegan gives in pretty quickly to Ziven, most likely to protect me. “Fine, we’ll be leaving, and I agree to your terms. Her trial’s only an hour away now, as you’ve had her all night.”
“All night?” I gasp. “But—”
“Leave my dynasty,” Ziven interrupts me, and I bite down on my tongue before I snap at him, at this powerful king. Daegan leads me out, but before I get to the broken wall, Ziven’s voice echoes to me. “Your secrets will come out one way or the other, Storm. I look forward to breaking you.”
I look over my shoulder, watching him as I walk away, deciding right here and now that I hate him. Ziven is an asshole. We walk out over the broken pieces of brick and down a corridor, past several archways. I can’t help but look in through the open doors, spotting that everything here isn’t exactly golden like I’ve seen. There are dark wood floors, silver wallpaper, the silver couches lining the walls, and matching plush armchairs that face the enormous fireplaces.
We come to a guarded door that must be the way out of the Moon Dynasty, and instead of the gold-plated armoured guards Daegan has by his doors, the two female fae standing there are both dressed casually. I would guess they’re twins, with their matching black hair and beautiful features. I couldn’t tell them apart if I tried. They hold the door open, both impassive as we step through, and they shut it behind us. The corridor is all golden out here, from the carpets to the walls, and Daegan doesn’t say anything until we’ve walked quite far. Only when we come out to a balcony on the second floor does he take his hand away from my back.
I can’t hear him as I look at the massive statue in the middle of the mansion. It’s huge, with wings spread out to make pathways on the top floor, and the fae walk across them. There are ten floors by my count, all with balconies and pathways around the dragon leaping for the ceiling, its nose touching the top of the ceiling where a crack is spread across it. Almost like this dragon was trying to escape and it got frozen in time. “I’m extremely sorry. I didn’t think he’d have the balls to come in and take you.”
He makes me laugh for only a second as I think about the fact I hit Ziven in the balls. I’m not sure if Daegan would find that funny. “It’s not your fault. I’m not in your dynasty, and we’ve only known each other a day or so. You don’t owe me anything.”
“I promised you protection, Story,” he bites out. His anger is directed at the Moon king, not me, but he frightens me for a second. “It’s not as easy as you think to find you in that place, but I want you to know I was looking for you all night.”
“Thank you for coming for me,” I answer with a tense smile. I really hope he doesn’t think I owe him anything. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He stands, looking at the dragon with me. “I did.”
People walk past us as I touch the banister, the metal cold and soothing. “What would happen if there was a war between you two? I don’t want to cause that.”
“We don’t get along. There’s history—family history—between us,” he hedges. “It means that we’ll never be friends. Ziven took you to piss me off, to show that he can if he wants to. He knows I am interested in how you got in here, and want to find a way out. Whereas Ziven? I’m not sure he ever wants to leave.”
“Why wouldn’t he want to leave?”
He looks at me like he wants to tell me more, but a bell rings softly. “I want to show you somewhere before I take you to the beginning of the Decidere. We’ve only got three quarters of an hour, I’m afraid.”
I look down at my clothes. “Is what I’m wearing appropriate for this?”
“It’s fine,” Daegan answers as we walk away from the balcony and to a massive staircase that wraps tightly around the body of the dragon, all the way up to its wings. He takes me back to his apartments, to my room on the top floor, where I use the bathroom and quickly freshen up before he walks me down to what I think is the eighth floor. There are three massive archway doors, almost like small tunnels with lines drawn into the stone, and we head through one into one of the biggest rooms I’ve ever seen. Each tall wall is lined with books on shelves, and they are a rainbow of colours. My mouth pops open. There must be hundreds of thousands, if not more, books on at least twenty levels of this gigantic room. There are many tables around the floor with oil lanterns burning, but this entire library is empty.
Daegan clears his throat. “I got the feeling you like books. I’m not a huge reader, but my mother was, and she loved this place. You’re free to come here whenever you want and read whatever you wish, but we insist on the books being put back once they’ve been taken out of here. We try to preserve this library; it is all the books we have left from our cities. The ten grand libraries of the dynasties…and these are all that is left of the stories of the world.”
A single tear falls down my cheek, and I don’t notice it until Daegan wipes it away, resting his hand on my cheek for a few moments. He shakes his head, stepping back. “Do you like it?”
“Like? I love it,” I whisper in awe. “It’s like a dream.”
He smiles so brightly, and I realise that he is handsome. So, so handsome. “I thought it would give you a reason to survive for me. All the books that you can read if you survive today.” He searches my eyes. “I know that you feel probably like you’re trapped in here with us, but there’s something good about being trapped here. We can find the light for you.” I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and even surprising myself. He seems surprised too for a second, before he hugs me back just as tightly.
I’m blushing as I pull back. “Thank you.”
He tucks a strand of my loose hair behind my ear, so casually, like he has done it a million times. “Give them a reason to write a story about you and survive the Decidere.”
Chapter Five
Page Five.
The stones are the traps.
Run to the unknown; it is your only hope.
Drums echo from below, and the lower we climb down the staircase, the more they seem to vibrate the ground under my feet. I’m terrified. I thought the bravest thing I ever did was trying to escape with my best friend, but he got killed and I wasn’t brave enough when it counted. My owner told me I was a coward, and he was right. I’m surprised my legs haven’t stopped working yet.
Somehow, I keep descending the stairs with hundreds of other people. Many of them step aside once they see Daegan, while others don’t seem to notice him, but their heads swing to look at me. They’re so different from the fae that I’ve seen, but being stared at isn’t something massively new to me. This time, they are curious, and there is a mixture of pity and desire on their faces that I am getting used to. There’s something different about these fae, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.
When we get down to the bottom level, which has no flooring, just stone, there’s a drawn-out pathway right to the middle where there are at least a hundred people waiting in lines. Daegan leads me to the front, stopping me in the space that’s been left open between others waiting. Daegan rests his hands on my shoulders. “Good luck,” he tells me, leaning in. “You can do this.”
No, I really can’t. I do not know who he thinks I am, but I am not the right person to do any of this. I’m not sure exactly what this even is. My heart’s racing as I look at what is clearly a cavern entrance in front of me. There’s a single door, with a massive stone dragon on the smooth front, two more stone dragon statues on either side. Everything is quiet as Daegan walks towards a small platform in front of the doors. Etena meets him and they talk quietly between each other. As more people gather, I glance to my left to see a long, dark-haired, very curvy woman staring at me with her bright blue eyes sparkling like she is going to burst if she doesn’t say something. She’s about the same age as me, and her cheeks go bright red when I smile at her. “Hi, Story.”
“Hello,” I whisper back.
She looks around before grinning at me, and her smile is contagious. “Everyone’s talking about you. I didn’t, I wasn’t there because I work in the libraries and my ladder fell down. I was stuck five floors up until they came back, but my sister came rushing back to tell me all about you. I can’t believe you’re standing next to me!”
I like her. “Nice to meet you. I’ve just seen the library. It’s amazing. What’s your name?”
“Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Catherine.” She bows her head, and I see a sun marking on her neck. I bow my head back, wondering if that’s how people greet each other in here. Fae aren’t allowed to greet or speak to each other in the vampyre cities, but in the breeding sections, we always clasp our arms. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“Same,” I tell her back.
Her voice dips so quiet that I can barely hear her. “Is it true that you’re going to find a way to get us out of here?” It’s on the tip of my tongue to say no, that I’m a random fool who ran into a creepy abandoned mansion to escape the vampyres hunting me and it was an accident. She likely knows that part of the story if her sister was in the auditorium. I open my lips to say something and then close them again. “It’s okay, you probably shouldn’t tell me anyway. I’m a nobody librarian assistant, and you’re…well, the hope of our people.”
Hope of our people? Fuck, that sounds like a pressure-filled title I never asked for. What happens to me when they realise that I’m clueless and can’t even get myself out? “I think being an assistant librarian is a brilliant job. I’d love to do that.”
