The Dragona towered over me—she had to be at least five-nine. Maybe ten. But she looked so unsettled that I did my best to offer her a tentative smile. “If you want to take your stuff to your room, we can go there now.”
“I don’t have any stuff,” the Dragona admitted.
I raised a brow, but Kiko sailed in without blinking an eye. “Another Watcher foundling, I take it? At least Riley had a bag of clothes. Never mind, building anew is always an inspiration. Did you want to start with lunch?”
Vali looked around, examining the shelves. “I wouldn’t mind staying here for a bit. Nothing feeds me better than books.”
Kiko pulled a face as her goal of being in time for the prime dumplings evaporated.
Constance gestured to the stack of books. “They have amazing references here.”
I looked around. The place had shelves as far as the eye could see, and even places where you had to use ladders to access the higher points. I eyed the thick spines. “Are they all references?”
“There are fiction works along the back wall.” The assistant pointed. “But the Watchers have been preserving reference books for generations, and many of them are now here.”
“Books on what?”
“You name it, they have it. Realm histories. Cryptids.”
When I frowned, she added, “That’s a catchall for creatures that roam the realms.”
“Like shapeshifters?”
Constance nodded. “Yes. But also others. Many have incredible powers.” She pointed to a large hardcover sitting out on the nearest table. I read the title.Cryptid Powers and Their Uses.
“One of our courses is called that,” Kiko said.
The image on the cover was of a Gryphon. I pulled up a chair and sat down.
“It looks like a textbook,” Vali agreed, taking the seat across from me.
Kiko sighed and plunked down beside me.
“I’ll leave you girls to it.” Constance waved a hand in an airy gesture and left.
I opened the book and glanced over to the Dragona. “You’re a booklover too?”
She sketched the smallest smile. “I love the smell of the paper… the feel of embossed covers… the solitude… I was pretty much the only one to use our library back home.” Her mouth pulled straight, and her gaze dropped to the book beneath her hands.
“Guess this place is a fringe benefit to being at the academy, then,” I said. I, too, felt instantly comfortable here.
She looked back up at me. “Yes. I guess so.” Her hand spread across the cover, and I noticed tiny talons springing from the tips. My eyes jumped back to her face—but the angst didn’t really show there.
“What made you want to come to the Academy of Shades?” The question was out before I’d properly thought it through.
For a moment, I thought I’d overstepped—I didn’t know her at all. But she seemed to consider my question.
“I didn’t like the options open to me in my life, even before it got turned upside down,” she finally said. “But afterward, it got even worse. When the Watcher suggested this place—it just seemed like I should give it a shot.” Her mouth straightened. “Not sure it was the right choice. I am a Dragon, but I am not much of a warrior.” She tapped the book. “I am more of a bookworm, really.”
“I am too.”
“But you Jump. That is a rare talent.”
“You’re a Dragon. Dragons are very useful.”
She grimaced. “Not me. I’d get sliced and diced in a battle.”
Something about her expression spoke to me. I knew what it was like to not feel valued. My gaze dropped to the reference book. “Do you read for fun?”