Page 23 of Gifted Destiny

“Are you all right?” I ask Avery in a quiet whisper. Pain isn’t an emotion, but I should have realized that it affects my emotions. He nods tightly, and our bond reveals he’s more worried about me than hurt.

“You should accept help when you need it,” Garrett scolds. “If you don’t, you might end up hurting yourself more.” His tone is harsher because of his disappointment in himself. He’s agitated that he didn’t offer to help me before he sat down.

“I’m ok.” The library calls me out, and I mutter with frustration. “I’ll be ok,” I amend. “I get tired of asking for help. Sometimes, I just want to do things myself or at least try. Besides, it looked worse than it was. I didn’t injure myself.” This isn’t a lie and seems to mollify my over-protective guardians.

Avery’s displeasure remains, but they choose to let it go. Garrett piles food on a plate for me, doubling the serving of chicken and vegetables but not mashed potatoes. I decide not to complain despite my love for potatoes.

We eat in companionable silence as we watch the sunset. From my position on the ground, it remains visible until it reaches the artificial horizon of the roof’s half-wall. The city housing the orphanage had moderately sized mountains to the west, but the terrain here was flatter. Instead, tree-covered hills rise to the north.

The fading sun burnishes the turning leaves in shades of gold, orange, and pink. As I finish my food, the brighter huestransition to bluish-purple. The bruised sky presents a single bright light winking in the southwest. I could pull up an astronomical map with a thought, but I like not knowing … this time.

Birds chirp and leaves rustle in the forest, but I don’t hear any sounds from the direction of the campus. It’s buzzing with activity as the new term begins, so Sage must be filtering which noises reach us.

Avery sits next to me while Kodi hovers nearby, occasionally flitting over to the half-wall as if checking on something we can’t hear. The vampire drinks water, but he doesn’t show any interest in the food.

“So ….” I venture into a conversation as we near the end of the meal. “How did the new assignments feel this afternoon? Better than this morning?” I’ve never been a leader or a boss before, but the duties involved with my librarianship must be coded into my genetics. It feels natural.

“Definitely,” Bren replies without hesitation.

“I agree. I like being able to move around. Standing at the door all morning made me restless.”

“This job is awesome for a ghost!” Kodi says with a bright grin. “Only one person saw me before I revealed myself. He might have been a professor because he was on the fourth floor and had a ring on. He wasn’t doing anything wrong besides being boring. I scared the shit out of a couple students, though. One idiot was trying to stuff a book into his pants even though he had a perfectly good backpack. I popped out of the stacks right in front of him. He dropped the book and ran. And I found three couples making out against the bookshelves. Why did they come to the library if that was all they wanted to do?”

I don’t answer. I honestly have no clue, and I’m too distracted because he flickers into solidity while he’s speaking with such animation. The transition between is so rapid thatI doubt he notices. Bren is sitting near his feet, and he pokes Kodi’s knee after the last word is uttered.

The ghost shrinks away reflexively, immediately slipping back into his incorporeal form. “I felt that!” he gasps, staring at his nearly transparent leg.

“It’s more evidence!” I announce with a genuine smile. “It’s not just me that gets you hard. Watching other couples making out is just as effective.”

Kodi scoffs. “It wasn’t that, little minx, but because I said I was happy being a ghost.”

My smile widens because I know this perfectly well. I just like teasing him.

“I think I agree with Zosia on this.” Bren’s tone and expression are thoughtful. “Voyeurism might be your thing.”

Kodi huffs and crosses his arms across his chest. “If I am, it’s entirely reasonable. I’ve been around people for seven years but unable to touch them.” He speaks honestly and without shame, even if he is half-joking.

My chest warms at the interaction. His voice used to be mostly flat and toneless, but it conveys real emotion now. He’s changed as much as I have in the library’s care.

“Is it actually voyeurism if they can’t see you?” Avery muses rhetorically.

“Don’t even think about voyeurizing me, ghost, visibly or invisibly,” Garrett grumbles.

“That’s not a word,” I hear myself say before my brain can filter the words.

“You’re one to talk,Miss I Make Words Up - Like Squicky,” the ghost mocks. The others grin, and I concede the argument to my best friend.

We finish our dinner with light conversation and more jokes, wordlessly agreeing to ignore the heavy topics. I don’t want themeal to end, but time isn’t something any mage or librarian can control – as far as I know.

The sun’s last rays have completely disappeared, and more stars have joined the first in the indigo sky. The dome provides the only light – a soft haze that filters through the colored glass.

As we reach a lull in the conversation, my brain reminds me that we need to prepare for the BSP’s return. My brief calm begins to fade.

“Which cloud has darkened your thoughts?” Avery’s murmur is quiet, but everyone hears him.

I adjust my position, sitting back on one hand with my legs stretched to the side. Although I enjoyed the meal, the floor wasn’t comfortable. My legs don’t cross like the others, and I can’t sit on them either. “I was thinking about what we have to do before tomorrow morning,” I confess. “I’m worried that a contract won’t be sufficient. What if the detectives still insist on taking Bren away?”

Garrett stares at the sky as if willing the sun to return. “We won’t surrender him without a fight. When the library is closed, it’s practically impenetrable.”

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