Page 24 of Tortured Soul
My whole body froze as my eyes took in the place.
Books.
Rows after rows after rows of them.
Towering shelves filled with boxes and files.
The ceiling was a huge dome made of stained glass, twenty feet above the floor, casting multicolored light above the room and everything in it.
“Everything we keep in here is priceless,” Arc said, the sound of his voice echoing around us as he stopped at arm’s length next to me. “It goes from books written by Immortals that date back to when the first humans walked the earth, ageless journals that talk about old prophecies and history, and correspondences between powerful Immortals that were retrieved and restored. Over there you’ll also find our resident’s files,” he added, pointing at a row of shelves, farther away.
I nodded, mouth gaping at the beauty of the room. The hundreds of bookshelves were massive. If it weren’t for the ladders attached to them, I didn’t think anyone could reach the top.
“The computer is over there.” We walked between rows to reach the center of the room where a lone desk sat, surrounded by small couches and study tables. “Every single book and file is listed in the database. And don’t worry, when the room does its little trick and rearranges everything, the software is updated accordingly.”
He leaned over the chair and started typing on the keyboard, unaware of my confusion.
“What do you mean ‘rearranges’everything?” I pressed.
He turned his face toward me, just enough for me to notice the surprise in his dark eye.
“Kai didn’t mention the spell?”
I knew it.
“Whatspell?”
He muttered a curse and I wasalmostcertain that someone—something—laughed in a far away row. My arms tightened around myself.
He seemed to notice the worry pulling at my face.
“It’s nothing and I’m sure Kai just forgot to mention it.” A wince.Liar. “The archives are…alive. Kind of. And it likes to move things around every once in a while. Just be careful not to upset the strange but kind spirit that lives here.” Arc paused and looked around us warily. Was the big scary Immortal afraid of whatever was in here?
“You said it was a spell, why are you talking about a spirit now?” I asked.
“Yeah…We believed it was a spell at first, and we kept referring to it as one. I’m not so sure anymore.” He shrugged, turning back to the computer. “It did draw horns and a mustache on Carter’s file after he got mad he couldn’t find a particular book and insulted it. And then there’s that time Carter was ‘pushed’ from a ladder…”
I gasped. I didn’t like the guy, but really?
“Oh, don’t worry.” He chuckled as he navigated through the files. “His ass landed right on the book he was looking for.”
I looked around, searching for signs of the mysterious presence. But except for the echo of a laugh a few minutes before, nothing seemed amiss.
“I guess the Archives and I have one thing in common,” I mused.
“Both of you aren’t Carter’s biggest fans?”
I snorted. “Understatement of the millenia.”
“He’ll come around. And if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure he stays out of your way.”
Our eyes met then. I wasn’t sure which one of us was the most startled by his statement. Surprisingly, it seemed it was him.
The pupil in his blue eye expanded, leaving just a thin band of icy blue. His darker eye was so black that I couldn’t tell where the iris stopped and the pupil started.
He snapped his face away and muttered under his breath as he resumed his frantic typing.
Cinnamon.
