Page 79 of From Frost to Flame

“You’re usually meddling in my personal life or finding some way to pester me. Your silence is concerning.”

Castor closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke. “I’m going to give you one chance to right this. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“I’m not trying to be difficult, but I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Unbelievable.”

The tension between them caught the attention of the vampires, who were now staring between the two brothers.

“Lex,” Silas said, reluctantly letting go. “Go ahead with your family while we talk. I’ll catch up soon.” Once they were far ahead, Silas looked to Castor. “Alright. I messed something up and you’re pissed. I get it. But I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I heard you back in the tunnels.”

“I attempted to keep things quiet. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or make you uncomfortable.”

“No. Not that. I heard that, but I don’t care. I’ve heard you two fuck before. I’m talking about your conversations with Lex. We weren’t exactly far apart.” He glared at him. “First, you were just going to die without asking for my help with claiming Lex. Then, you made this plan toface The Ravenous One alone—a suicide mission even if you weren’t wandering around unclaimed. If Lex hadn’t gotten tangled up, what was your plan? Were you just going to put the compass on and vanish? Just leave me to find your corpse somewhere with no answers?”

“I was going to tell you after I put it on myself,” Silas said quickly. “I was waiting for the right time.”

“And now you’re running away. Again. You’re planning to move away with Lex, and you haven’t even spoken to me about it.”

“I told you I wanted to be done with ruling after I claimed him.”

“When you said you were stepping away from your throne, I assumed we’d all step away together, like all royal packs do. Now, I realize you intend to leave us behind.”

“It’s for the best. I was going to tell you when this was over.”

“The twelve of us are supposed to settle down together once you end your rule. That’s what packs do. We’ve spent hours discussing where we’d move and raise our pups together. Why isn’t that something you want anymore?”

Before he could say another word, a burning sensation wrapped around his wrist. “Something’s wrong.”

A loud rumble filled the air and the ground quaked.

They dropped their argument and darted across the shaking sands, sliding to a stop at the edge of a massive gorge. The dunes had split open.

Lex knelt and peered into the massive fissure. “It’s a library! I’ve never heard of a buried library in the middle of the Sapphire Lands.”

Lex was right. Beneath their feet was a library with floors going down as far as he could see.

Panic welled in his throat as he watched Lex on the other side of the crevasse. It was maybe twenty feet, but Silas's heart ached as if he were in a whole other realm. “Can you all teleport back over here?” He fought to keep the bond-driven desperation out of his voice.

“Wait,” Lex said, holding out his arm to show the compass. “It says we should go down.”

“We will follow it after you’re back on this side.” The skin on his back itched as he had the urge to snake a tentacle over and snatch Lex back into his arms. “I don’t want to argue about this.”

“I can take us back over so your daddy calms down,” Julian said, holding out a hand to Lex. “Come on, Lexy.”

“Fine.” Lex got to his feet and dusted off his pants. He took a step toward Julian and the ground under him sank. “Whoa. The ground doesn’t feel stable I don’t think—” In a blink, he plummeted into the library.

“Lex!” Silas jumped after him on instinct. There were two bangs as his family teleported after him into the dark. Silas flew through the dark past ten floors before he crashed down onto a ledge with a thud.

He groaned as he landed on a floor made of deep blue stones. There were towering columns made of bright blue crystal with threads of gold holding up the arched ceilings. The walls were lined with lit torches that bathed endless freestanding bookshelves in golden light.

“You in one piece?” Castor asked as he walked over from further up the ledge.

“I’m fine. I need to find Lex.” He got to his feet and looked over the jagged ledge. He looked up and saw the moon shining down. “Did you see where he fell?”

“No. I just fell, same as you. I haven’t had much of a chance to look.”

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