Page 105 of Kael

“Great,” I mutter. “So, we’ve got a magic energy river under an ancient floor and a wall that probably opens into Narnia but won’t respond to any of us.”

Kael’s mouth twitches at the reference, making me wonder if there were some good fantasy books he managed to read, but his eyes remain on the stone. “We’re missing something,” he says softly.

No kidding. And whatever that something is, it’s right on the other side of this wall.

“Wait, wait—hold up a sec.” I turn from the stone wall and wave my arms vaguely around the mostly disappointing basement-looking space. “You think this is it? The secret library ‘nobody’ whispered about like it’s the bloody Holy Grail of Terrafeara?”

Kael glances at me, brow arched. “It’s hidden.”

“Sure,” I say, spinning in a slow circle. “So hidden that we managed to find it on the first try. No scavenger hunt. No cryptic riddle. Not even a single cursed artefact trying to eat my face.”

“Technically,” Varek mutters, voice flat, “it’s not the library yet. It’s antechamber five from memory.”

I blink. “There are four others?”

“Destroyed,” Pax replies, leaning against a shelf that definitely wasn’t built to support his weight—or his mood. “This is the last one. Maybe.”

I point a finger between them. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Everyone keeps referring to this asmaybethe library. We don’t even know if we’re in the right place.”

“The energy is real,” Kael says, his voice quiet, eyes still fixed on the wall like it’s holding secrets in its stone.

I sigh and rub the back of my neck. “Sure. I feel it. But is this the magical answer to our problems or just some weird underground foot spa for energy-sensitive Glowranth?”

Pax snorts but doesn’t look at me. He hasn’t looked at anyone much—except Varek, and even that’s mostly out of the corner of his eye when he thinks no one’s paying attention.

Spoiler: I’m paying attention.

Varek’s still silent. Still coiled tight like a spring that’s been bent too far.

“Do you know what this place really is?” I ask, stepping closer to Pax.

He lifts his eyes to mine—dark and unreadable. “No. Only what I was told. That if there was any place in the queendom where the truth might still exist, it was here. Whatever was too dangerous or too inconvenient to make it into the official records? It ended up down here.”

My gaze sharpens. “Conveniently vague.”

“It’s all I have.”

“It’s more than we had yesterday,” Kael adds, finally turning from the wall to face the rest of us.

I sigh again and glance at Varek. He hasn’t moved. His fists are clenched at his sides, knuckles pale beneath purple-blue skin. He looks like he’s holding himself together with willpower and grief. And Pax? Still hasn’t so much as offered a shred of kindness.

Except… except I saw it. That one glance, quick and sharp and full of longing, when Varek looked away. The tiniest flicker in Pax’s expression before he crushed it under a scowl. Like maybe—maybe—he’s not as indifferent as he wants to be.

Bloody hell. Fated mates, am I right? You either burn for them or burn because of them.

“All right,” I say finally, stepping between them and towards the stone again. “Let’s assume this is the entrance. Let’s alsoassume the universe isn’t just trolling us with a bad basement and a funny feeling. How do we open it?”

Kael steps up beside me, brow furrowed. “That’s the question.”

Behind us, Pax murmurs something in Glowranthian under his breath. Varek stiffens, a breath caught in his throat. His gaze lifts, meets Pax’s for half a second—and Pax looks away. Again.

I glance between them, then sigh. “This is gonna be a long day, huh?”

Kael’s fingers ghost over mine.“Longer if we stand around waiting.”

I smirk. “Good point, lover.”

He looks vaguely pained.

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