Page 101 of The Sacred and the Tormented

She paused on the threshold.

The lighting inside was nearly non existent. Small rays filtered through windows that were high up on the vaulted ceiling. Vines stretched around the shelves and reached for the sun above.

And covering everything were rows upon rows of books. The entire room might have once been as grand as Ruadhán’s library, but it was clear from the smell of rot alone that these volumes hadn’t been maintained.

Dust covered every surface and stacks of books, loose parchment, and quills sat at the foot of several shelves as if they’d been abandoned in a hurry.

The roots from the vines had crawled into the books surrounding them and a few shelves had broken altogether, the weight pressing down on the books below and bending their spines nearly beyond repair.

There were statues too, some broken, others intact that sat trapped within the dust, just waiting for the day they might break free.

Arianna studied the space, straining to listen. Then a figure appeared at the end of the aisle. One hand rested on the edge of a shelf as if she were waiting.

“Ellie.” Arianna’s voice cracked. “We can talk about it. Let me help you.”

Neither female moved.

Arianna squinted in the dark, trying to decipher the emotions on her little sister’s face, but the shadows were too thick. Almost as if they had a life of their own and were doing everything in their power to keep the two females separated.

Arianna scented the air, searching for anyone else who might be in the space, searching for Niall, but all she smelled were old books and rot.

She swallowed hard and her heart beat wildly as she took a tentative step forward only for Ellie to take off running.

Arianna cursed, her frustration growing as she gave chase once again.

Ellie pivoted left, diving down an aisle where the shelves reached higher than any Arianna had ever seen. Or thought possible. She tried looking up only to find the shadows obscuring the top most shelf. They swirled like dark clouds, taunting her with their presence.

A scrapping sound had her head jerking to her left then a thick, leather bound book flew out from one of the bottom shelves. Arianna skidded to a stop as it landed on the old lushrug that might have once been green in color. Dust flew up around the thick volume.

Arianna looked beyond it, only to find her sister standing at the end of the aisle again.

Had Ellie moved it? Was her sister trying to tell her something?

Arianna stared down at it again before carefully creeping toward the book. She watched her sister, ready to leap over the new object in her path.

Ellie didn’t move.

Arianna flinched when the book flipped open of its own accord. Her magic responded, spreading from her body until it kissed the edges of the shelves and dusted the wood. The book or whoever was responsible for the rapidly turning pages, didn’t seem to notice.

The book stopped moving once it reached a middle section and the world fell silent once again.

Arianna swallowed hard then crept closer, her magic vibrating against her very bones.

Pádraigín’s magic. It had to be, there was no other explanation. Only … she didn’t smell or sense it.

Words written in another language covered the left page and a piece of art covered the right.

The sketched image displayed dark creatures crawling up a mound of bodies, each reaching long claws toward a female standing at the top.

Fire surrounded her, almost seeming to extend from her tendrils of long dark hair. Ice hovered in chunks around her body, some having already impaled the dark creatures causing them to tumble off the pile. The wind ripped at her clothes and vines lashed out from the base of her feet.

Arianna glanced up just as Ellie took off running again. She cursed, leapt over the book, and followed.

She ran and ran and ran, watching Ellie’s back as they sprinted down the impossibly long hall.

Ellie finally turned and Arianna turned with her, swearing the shelves were growing taller while the aisles became narrower.

A sudden crash split the air that had Arianna spinning on her heel, heart hammering in her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

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