Page 176 of Of Nine So Bold

“You’re both so stubborn,” I muttered.

Ozias chuckled, a warm and loving feeling coursing through our link. “As are you.”

Shaking my head at both of them, I buried a smile. Gods help me, I couldn’t stay annoyed, not with his love flowing into me.

What would happen if I lost that?

Biting back a groan at myself, I turned and strode down the hall, turning corners and ignoring Ruhl while he paced along at my side. Maybe Ozias was right, and I really was tearing myself apart. But who wouldn’t when everyone they loved was at stake?

And when they had no way to make sure the people they needed would survive?

My eyes swept the open doorframes as I walked, my mind too distracted to truly register what lay beyond. Decaying furniture. Broken windows. Pages from books scattered across the floor, their ink destroyed by rain and time.

Meanwhile, I was no closer to a solution than I’d been while lying in bed staring at a ceiling. Movement wasn’t helping. How was I supposed to protect anyone if I couldn’t even?—

Ruhl flowed in front of me, bringing my momentum to a halt.

“Nowwhat?” I demanded.

His wry look gone, he didn’t react to my sharp tone, but simply nodded his head to the side. Frowning, I followed his motion.

And froze. “Oh.”

The massive wooden door was intact, though it stood ajar, affording a view of the space beyond. While most of the rooms I’d seen were obviously the chambers where scholars slept, there was no bed or chests for clothes in here. This wasn’t a bedroom or apartment.

It was a library.

My irritation forgotten, I walked slowly past the door. Beyond the rows of dark wooden bookshelves, moonlight poured through tall windows that miraculously still had their stained glass intact. More dark shelves lined the walls multiple stories high, and every few levels overlooked the ones below by way of galleries with brass railings. Enormous chandeliers hung along the distant ceiling, dust and cobwebs dangling from crystals that glinted dully in the moonlight. Here and there, books lay scattered on the marble floor, some with their pages falling out. But hundreds more still sat upon the shelves, covered in dust but intact.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered. I turned to Ruhl. “Did you know this was here?”

A movement rolled through the wolf’s smoky body that I swore looked like a shrug.

“Thank you.”

He lifted his chin as if motioning me to go on.

Giving him a smile, I walked deeper into the library. Unlike so much of Erenelle, this place didn’t feel haunted by ghosts. There were too many books for that to happen. Too many stories and ideas and memories here, living on between the pages.

Books were immortal in their own way. Time itself couldn’t change that.

With a sigh, I paused beneath one of the massive chandeliers, turning a slow circle as I took in the beautiful space. Nearby, Ruhl sat on his haunches, his eyes on the stained glass window and the darkness outside.

I couldn’t say why, but somehow, I swore there was sadness in his bearing.

Curiosity tugged at me. Quietly, I walked over and sank down onto the tile at his side. “Are you okay?”

He huffed, something dismissive in the sound.

I didn’t believe him. “Why are you here, Ruhl? Really?”

This time, he was silent, never looking away from the window.

“Casimir told me that your pack simply showed up one day, several years after Zenirya fell. He never knew where you’d come from or why, just that you helped hold back that corrupted magic in the Wild Lands somehow. But I know you can communicate with me. You showed me your home when we were at Lord Thomas’s castle. A land of fire and darkness, yes? And you were searching for something?”

His head turned a bit, though he didn’t look at me.

“What is it?” I pressed. “What did you come here for?”

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