Page 34 of Called By Fate

"I try,” he says with a slight smirk, heat flaring in his eyes. He tamps it down and motions for me to follow him. “Come on, the books are this way. A book in your hands always cheers you up.”

Leave it to my book loving mate to already know where the book stash is.

"Now that we know what you are, maybe we can find out more about you. Especially since the Light Weavers seemed to know more about this prophecy surrounding you than our counterparts.”

“It’s worth a shot. Maybe we’ll find something useful,” I agree.

Reed leads me to a small study. It’s nothing like the one I’d gotten used to back at the King estate, much to my disappointment, but beggars can’t be choosers. He looks around, then points to a two-tiered shelf crammed with books. The top row is filled with leather-bound journals while the second houses varying texts. I spy ones like, "A History of Light Weavers," "Sun Spells and Other Useful Powers," and "The Guide to Shifters," the last of which really captures my interest now that I have a shifter mate and have some inside me as well. I make a mental note to ask Vinson about their history at some point.

"You can take that one with you when we leave if you want. Actually, feel free to take anything you'd like. What's mine is yours, after all, my Queen."

"Ahh, a man after my own heart. The quickest way to it is by feeding my book addiction. Speaking of which, when the Elders are buried six feet under, you all owe me some signed paperbacks from my favorite authors."

"Your wish is my command, Love."

We smile at each other like fools for a minute, his gray eyes darkening by the second as my thoughts take a less bookish turn. A flashback of the sexy times in the library flashes through my mind. Kaos’ husky voice as he read, Reed’s fingers trailing up my thigh, the way that orgasm rolled through me. Yeah, books will forever be a turn-on for me now. I clear my throat and look away before we get too distracted to focus on our task.

"So, what are the journals on the top?" I ask, bringing us back to the moment.

"Those are a collection of past Kings’ thoughts, plans, ideas, anything from their time in power, really. That's why I'm hoping there will be something in here worth our while."

"Damn, Red, why didn't we read these sooner? You were holding out on us…" I try not to act hurt, but I kind of am. It's possible something in here may have the answers we've been seeking, and he didn't tell us...

"Wait, please don't look at me like that, Love. I didn't know about them, I swear. Matilda is the one who told me they were here. Apparently they have some sort of fail-safe put on them to protect the knowledge inside. When the current leader dies, they're transported to the study. And no one knows about this place because if this information were to fall into the wrong hands..."

"It would be extremely detrimental," I finish for him.

"Exactly."

"Okay, where should I start?"

"Well, I never met him, but my father always used to say I took after my grandfather with my love of knowledge, so I’ll start there. You can take his father’s and then we’ll keep going down the list from there."

* * *

I never realized exactlyhow boring people's thoughts were until now. Not all books are sexy, and it’s a damn shame.

Being a leader is not all it's cracked up to be, that's for sure, but I do feel like I'm getting to know Reed's people more. "This is interesting. Your great-grandfather wrote about how a Light Weaver and a shifter fell in love under his watch. I wonder..." I trail off in thought then decide it's better to work through it out loud. Reed stands and reads over my shoulder. "My mother said she was part Light Weaver, part shifter. You don't think..."

"I don't know. What else does it say?"

I scan the page. "Nothing much, but it seems that he was convinced Light, Night, and shifters were interconnected somehow. He believed that it strengthened the Circle. Not weakened like we're led to believe." I flip through a few more pages and catch another interesting bit. "They had a child. A girl. Reed, do you think this means..."

"That these are your grandparents? Yes, I do. It's too much of a coincidence not to be."

"I really am a Triad... Holy shit..."

His breath feathers my neck when he chuckles. "What, did you think your mom lied?"

"Truthfully, I was half-convinced it was all in my head because I craved that interaction, but fuck, it was real, and she was telling the truth."

"You're the hottest damn Triad I've ever seen too," he says, brushing a piece of hair off my neck. The slight touch of his fingers against my skin is enough to set my nerve endings alight.

Fucking hell, he touches my neck and I'm horny. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm not some lovesick puppy. What is it with being in a library with Reed that turns me on every time?

Reed sighs and gently taps my shoulder, signaling for me to turn and face him. "There's something we need to talk about, Sadie."

Shit, he said my real name instead of Love. This must be serious. I try to tamp down on my rising nerves, but little good it does. When someone sayswe need to talkit usually involves bad news or a breakup, which I guess is a form of bad news. "Give it to me straight, Red. Is it bad news? Do you not want this life anymore? I know Light Weavers are usually monogamous and sharing me must be hard and—"

---