Page 58 of House of Ydril

As we walk, my friend keeps yawning and rubbing her eyes, thinking we’re in for another couple of hours of scouring all the books that mention any type of stone, magical or otherwise.

And we are, just not where we’ve been doing it the past couple of weeks. And Nuala is so sleepy, she doesn’t even notice where I’m taking her until we’re right in front of the door.

“The Restricted Section?” she reads the sign on the smooth wooden surface, frowning as she turns to throw me a scolding look. “Quinn, we all agreed that this would be our last resort.”

I don’t say anything. I just look over my shoulder to make sure there are no Librarians around us.

“You do understand,” Nuala hisses at me under her breath, “if anyone catches us, we’re in aworldof trouble.”

“No one’s stopping you from leaving, Nuala.”

For a second, she just looks at me. Then she lets out a sigh and says, “Alright, lead the way.”

I crack open the door and throw a glance inside. “All clear,” I say, deciding to go first in case I’m wrong and there’s someone lurking in the shadows.

Once we’re inside and I hear Nuala closing the door behind us, I want to throw her a grin, but my eyes have gotten adjusted to the darkness enough for me to see the room we’ve found ourselves in. We both gasp at the very same time. It’s not that I expected anything in particular, but the enormity of the space and the height which the bookshelves around us reach is simply astounding, especially coupled with the stained glass windows that look large enough to be found in some cathedral. They’re casting soft light on specks of dust and weathered volumes alike.

I don’t waste any time. I crack open the diary and Moswen appears in front of us. I see her lips start to curl into a smile, when she notices where we’ve brought her. “Quinn,” she starts, her eyebrows pulling down in surprise.

But I don’t let her talk. “I know what you’re going to say.” I’m speaking in a low voice, just in case. “But it’s not like we’ve found anything of any use so far and we’re running out of time.”

Even before I’m done talking, she’s shaking her head. “It’s not even March yet, we still have overfourmonths.”

“Exactly,onlyfour months,” I insist, fighting not to raise my voice. “And in case you’re not aware, my first training session with the Vipers istomorrow.”

“And that’s worth risking everything?” she practically hisses at me, making Nuala squirm where she’s standing.

I don’t want to fight with her, but the rising fear of facing some of the deadliest students at the Academy gets to me. “The Vipers are already suspicious of me. You want me to try to get them to talk without even knowing what about?”

“I want you to be careful,for once,” she snarls at me.

She doesn’t say it, but Iknowshe’s referring to the time I went to Professor Mistila behind her back. It makes me let out a frustrated growl. “For the billionth time, I said I was sorry.”

“Not sorry enough not to do it again, apparently,” Moswen scoffs, throwing daggers at me.

I have to fight not to yell at her. “Who the fuck do you think you are, my mother?”

That shuts her up alright. And the hurt look on her face almost makes me take it all back, but then she turns her fucking back to me and says in that flat voice of hers, “I don’t care what you do. However, I won’t have any part of it.”

My hands are balled into fists and my eyes are burning holes in the back of her head, but all I do is snap, “Fine,” and close the diary shut with one violent movement.

When I turn to face her, Nuala is looking away, her eyebrows raised and her lips pressed tight.

“You plan on giving me shit, too?”

“No, ma’am,” she says without a moment of hesitation.

It almost makes me laugh, but we’ve no time to waste. I motion for her to follow me as I venture deeper into the Restricted Section, the musty bookshelves towering over me on each side.

And there are some disturbing titles in here. I mean, I think as I scan the titles,Blood Manipulation Level 1?

I thumb my nose, but then my eye lands on something interesting.Shifter Psychopharmacology. I grab it from the shelf and crack it open, hungrily searching the Table of Contents.

“Nuala,” I whisper and she comes to stand behind me, peering over my shoulder. “There are plants you can use to induce your first shift. And look, this one plant, I know I’ve seen it at the graveyard.”

When she says nothing, I crane my neck to see her throwing me a pissed-off look. “I thought I told you to leave it alone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say with a sorry look in my eyes and I quickly go back to looking for the books for our research. Luckily, it doesn’t take us long to find a decent number of contenders.

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