Page 3 of Unraveled
But it never ceases to amaze me that once every three months, without fail, the town grows weary of the people keeping us safe. It’s been a year since a beast made it through, but just the same, the tension growing in the streets is palpable.
“Much like us, she isn’t allowed to speak of what goes on there,” I say, and continue on to the main doors. I’ve wasted enough time and need to keep moving. “We all do the best we can, and it’s worth remembering, no one is perfect at their duties.”
Harper’s cheeks bloom bright red, noticeable even in the darkness. “I didn’t mean to malign your sister’s good work...”
Even if my relationship with Irene is far from ideal, she and the grimoires inside this library are all I have left of the life I had before everything happened.
“I better go now, or I might not make it...”
A murmur goes over and around me, hushed words in another language. Goose bumps lift from my skin as I slowly turn back toward the double doors.
It moves past me, a cyclone of magic carrying the faint scent of frankincense and rain on an early winter day. The wind pushes the red hood covering my dark hair back, and a loose stack of parchment by the tables flies off in disarray.
Panic paralyzes me as adrenaline rushes through my veins like molten fire. The beasts have come. I push the doors open as the veil cracks right above the library’s metal roof. A fissure extending like a spiderweb over the shield, invisible to everyone in town that wasn’t trained to see how magic affects their surroundings.
“They’re here.” Harper’s skin grows gray with every passing second as something comes down from the sky.
A man?
A fae? Impossible.
He doesn’t look like a beast from this distance. His back is wide and tapers to a narrow waist. A humanlike being that sends a shiver skittering down my spine.
He moves over the city as if searching, and behind him, the moon shines a brighter shade of red. Like the shield dulled it before, and now, I can see its true color.
A halo of gold magic outlines his figure, and his powerful wings keep him in one place for longer than a mindless beast—if that’s what he is—should linger. His attention snaps toward the library, as if called by my staring.
I let out a trembling breath and steady myself against the doorframe.
The cool stone under my palm matches the ice in my veins. Time stills as his whole body tilts, and when he dips closer to the street, the angles of his face catch the light.
It’s a beast—except not like any I’ve seen before.
I’ve caught the eye of a predator, and my mind and body know it. I can’t run home, and going back into the library could spur him to attack, fed by the thrill of the chase.
He’s going to take me.
Harper’s fingers dig into my arm as she pulls me back to the library. “We can’t be out here. The wards aren’t as strong on the street.”
The first alarm bell goes off, then another, then hundreds follow suit. All at once, they ring and warn the citizens a beast has broken through the veil. The winged creature flinches at the sound and turns away from us.
Time stills as he studies his surroundings with renewed interest.
He dives from the sky into the city, gliding over the empty streets. And this close, I can make out the feathers covering every inch of his body and part of his face. I pull my arm from Harper’s grasp and follow his retreating shape.
He blends with the darkness, and anxiety smothers me when I notice where he’s headed. The scientist quarters. A building as tall as the library itself, with an enormous glass dome, from which a ray of light shoots into the air.
The veil is the only thing protecting us most days from the dangers awaiting in the forest.
He isn’t hunting for prey.
This beast is not mindless like the rest. He has come for the scientists or for the machine. My sister is in danger.
Chapter 2
“No, Mia. Stay!”Harper screams behind me.
I don’t stop running.
