Page 5 of Blood & Betrayals

“Wait! Come back! The tour—” Fallon shouts, but her voice is lost as we round a large, gray stone building.

“You think she’ll follow us here?” Alice asks, peering around the corner.

“And leave her group of frightened, little first years behind? I doubt it.”

“They’ve gone the other way. She practically has steam coming from her ears.”

I laugh, leaning against the wall. In just the few hours that I’ve known Alice, the sound has already become more familiar. Maybe this really can be a new chapter for me.Careful Summer, hope is not something afforded to everyone.

“Oh, this must be the library.” Alice looks up at the building, pulling me from my thoughts. My head snaps back, and I notice the pointed turrets of the building. She glances at me and snorts. “Okay, the light in your eyes when I saidlibraryis concerning. Do you have a book fetish? If you try to summon a golem made of books to fuck, I’m bouncing.”

I ignore her and walk toward the door, almost as if it is a compulsion. I am so desperate to smell the muskiness of knowledge. We walk through the door, and the scent surrounds me. Books have always been my solace, my haven, and there are so many here for me to choose from. I walk to the stacks, dragging my fingers over the spines of the tomes. I can practically hear them calling out to me, begging to be opened, to be read, to be learned. There is so much I don’t know. The few books I managed to get my hands on before Avalon only scratched the surface. I need more. I crave more.

Alice snickers, watching me, and then tugs at my sweater. I glance at her, and she points to a large wrought-iron gate. It is held closed with a thick metal padlock below a plaque that reads,Restricted Section. Please ask the librarian for a key.“Restricted section. Let’s go!”

I can already tell that this friendship is going to get me in a lot of trouble, but the pull to enter the space is almost undeniable. In this realm, knowledge is power, and no one knows better than I the danger of being powerless.

I stop behind Alice and bounce on my toes impatiently, staring longingly at the books. She grips the lock in her hand and crushes it, her vampire strength decimating the heavy metal.

The restricted section is darker than the rest of the library, the books feel older and darker. I push the door open and slip through, walking into the shelves. Carefully, I graze one of the spines, the words glowing beneath my touch.

The Dark Runes of Phineas.

“I don’t understand the idea of restricting books. I mean, aren’t we supposed to be learning?” Alice ponders, carelessly sifting through a pile of books, barely reading the titles. She clearly doesn’t share my reverence for books, but she probably hasn’t been starved for knowledge most of her life, so I can’t really blame her for that.

Take me,the book whispers to me.Read me. Claim the secrets I hold. I have power you need.

I start to pull the book from the stacks when the air shifts, and a dark voice fills the room. Power coils around me, and the air turns to lead in my lungs. The weight of my body triples as the gravity of the room turns oppressive. My knees buckle, and I grip the wooden shelf to keep myself from falling.

“You are far from where you belong.” The voice is deep and laced with frigid ice, vibrating with annoyance.

3

Summer

The command. The danger.The power.

I whirl to face the new dangerous presence. The oppressive gravity of his power levels off once I am facing him, but his silver eyes pin me in place. I can barely breathe under the weight of them, and any lightness that returned when he recalled his power vanishes beneath his gaze. He towers in the open doorway to the restricted section, swallowing the light from the rest of the library. It isn’t just his size that has my instincts blaring in alarm and my nerves closing my throat. Every inch of this man screams lethal.

His dark golden brown skin is tight around his jaw, the muscles twitching under the dark stubble. An intricate rune slashes through his right brow, the white of it stark against the richness of his skin.What species creates white runes?His hair is swept back, but a rebellious wave in the raven black mars its perfection. Based on his clothing, he has to be staff. A three-piece black suit would be an odd choice for a student. Even dressed so urbanely, it is too easy to imagine him on a battlefield, his armor drenched in blood.

I open my mouth, trying to say something, but no sound comes out. My lungs burn, desperate for the oxygen I can’t seem to take in. I take an involuntary step back from him, instinctively trying to escape his penetrating gaze. The books that had been so loud and persistent in their attempts to lure me in go silent as if also retreating from the man. I wish I could sink into the stacks, disappearing among the tomes to escape.

Unaware of the danger, Alice nonchalantly comes around the corner. His gaze snaps toward the movement, and a gasp of relief slips past my lips. Alice looks up and drops the solid gold book she is holding. The sound of it hitting the floor echoes loudly in the otherwise eerily silent space.

His gaze sharpens, and he looks at me again. His perusal is not as intense this time, but I can practically see the anger simmering in him. Whoever this guy is, we have not endeared ourselves to him. Maybe he’s the librarian?

“Auditorium,” he commands and turns to the side, waiting for us to leave. He obviously does not trust that we will go without his supervision.

I swallow and hurry past him. In my haste, I trip on a chair leg and fall into him. The ominous aura surrounding him folds around me, taking my breath again. He grabs my arm tightly, putting me back on my feet with a hard yank. I look up at him, intending to thank him, but his face is etched in annoyance. The words get stuck in my throat, and this close, I can see that it is not a white rune cutting through his brow. It’s a scar in the shape of a rune.

“Breaking into the restricted section on your first day is a bold move,” he grates out. His voice is a shiver of icy fury down my spine, and his grip on my arm is close to bruising. That rune turns even paler, his eyes a molten silver.

“It was my idea. I dragged her along,” Alice fumbles out. She must sense the lethality oozing from this man. I suspect that formy new slightly homicidal vampire friend, being afraid is not something she is used to.

I force myself not to look away from his silver gaze, hating how my cheeks heat even as I lift my chin. “I apologize, sir. It won’t happen again.”

He releases my arm, disgust curling his lip. “Go. Now.”

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