Page 88 of The Blood of Gods and Monsters

“How much longer?”

I roll my eyes at that question—the tenth repetition in the last hour—and flip a dusty page to scroll a finger down the list of names of earlier transferred students.

“Until I’m done,” I say, giving Kalix the same answer that I’d given him the last nine times.

A low, reverberating groan echoes into the rafters of the Academy’s library stacks. I flip another page, ignoring Kalix’s pleading expression. Another hour passes and still, I’m nowhere closer to an answer than I was when I started. My vision begins to blur and I blink dry eyes, looking up as booted footsteps sound around the corner. Ruen appears a moment later, eliciting a whisper of relief from Kalix who slips out of the chair to round the table I’ve been sitting at for the last several hours. He doesn’t wait for me to admit defeat. Kalix simply snatches the volume I’d been using and snaps it shut, shoving it to the end of the table before bodily lifting me from my chair.

“I wasn’t done with that.” I deadpan, annoyance a bite in my tone.

Kalix grins my way and encircles me with one arm. “Too bad.” He bends and sets teeth to my earlobe, making my whole body tense in surprise.

“You’re in public, Kalix,” Ruen growls. “Behave.”

“Semi-public,” Kalix replies lightly before biting me again, this time on the side of my neck.

I reach up and shove a hand against his face. “You heard him,” I say, trying not to let it show just how unsteady his attentions have made me. “Listen to Ruen.”

His arm retracts. I move towards Ruen and arch a brow. “Is there a reason why you came to get us?” I ask.

Ruen glances back, and instead of nodding or answering me, his hands grip my hips over the blue-gray fabric of the dress that had been left out for me that morning—a silent punishment, I assume, from Theos. He pushes me back, directing me into the darker parts of the library, away from the caretakers and librarians.

“Kalix, keep watch,” Ruen orders, and just like that the two of us have our own personal bodyguard. Kalix moves to the end of one stack and leans against the curved frame of the shelves in a deceptively casual stance. I don’t mistake the movement, though, for one of true indifference despite the expression of ease and boredom he dons.

Ruen has information and now is the time to find out if all of this sleuthing and research has paid off. Once Ruen has directed me into the shadows of the library, far closer to the statues that line the walls at the furthest end from the entrance, I stop him with a hand against his chest.

“Tell me,” I say, looking up into eyes the darkest of indigo colors swirling with hints of bruised skies.

“All of the students on your list were first taken to Dolos before they were transferred,” Ruen announces. “But not the latest ones—not Malachi.”

I tip my head back further. “Who was Malachi taken to?”

Ruen’s expression darkens. “Tryphone.”

Lifting a hand, I bite down on my thumbnail and consider the implications of what that could mean. At first, students were taken to the Dean of the Riviere Academy—the most powerful God in the vicinity. Then, when the God Council arrived, Malachi was taken to the God King.

“Were any of them seen after they were transferred?” I ask.

Ruen shakes his head. “After they visited the Gods, they were transferred immediately,” Ruen says, his hands squeezing tighter against my side, making me realize he still hasn’t released me. “They weren’t even permitted to pack up their belongings.”

I shift on my feet, the skirts of the damned dress Theos left in place of my trousers swishing uncomfortably around my legs. After so many years in tighter breeches, the feeling of nothing but air on my legs leaves me feeling exposed, and Ruen isn’t helping.

Focus, I order myself.

“How did you figure this out?”

One of Ruen’s thumbs begins to stroke my side as he speaks and it takes considerable effort to pay attention as every nerve ending in my body seems to want to move towards that one spot.

“Your little Terra friend,” Ruen answers.

I blink. “My Terra friend?” Who could he—“Niall?”

Ruen’s lips twitch and if I didn’t know better, I would swear he’s amused. “Yes.” He nods. “It appears your mortal friend is far more apt at spy work than I would have originally expected. He’s very unassuming.”

Realization slams into me with such ferocity I almost slap myself in the face for forgetting one of the most important lessons of the Underworld.

There are thousands of invisible people in this world, Kiera. Ophelia’s words echo in the back of my mind. Maids. Butlers. Cooks. Barkeeps. Humans, all of them. You’ll never catch a God doing menial labor, but what they often forget is that those servants they love to order around are always there for every moment of their long lives. They see even if they don’t speak and those who see things know more than the Gods would ever believe.

I could absolutely curse myself for being so shortsighted, but even as I think that, worry edges into my mind. I lift suspicious eyes to Ruen’s face.

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