Page 121 of The Dark Rising
I shake my head. “What is it that you are doing that you need to leave in the middle of the night?”
“It’s something you don’t need to know.” I raise a brow. “Trust me, little wolf. There is no need for you to know, or I would tell you.”
“But—“
The door closes behind him as he leaves, and I’m left to wonder again where he is going.
Next time, I’ll find out.
Forty Five
Rhea
Istareatthetall shelves that surround the large room. Hundreds of books and scrolls line the walls within the dark wood, making the space feel older than time. Delicate balls of light float around, their gentle glow enabling us to see. A table that could seat thirty takes up room in the middle, pens and papers decorating it as if it’s frequently used.
“This is amazing, “I say to Darius at my back as we walk further into the room.
“The Highers may have their library, but so do we,” he tells me, moving off to the side toward the shelves there. A ladder is placed against them carefully, and Darius moves it to the side on some rolling mechanism.
“Humans?” I ask him, looking at the ladder.
He peaks over his shoulder at me. “They may be weak, but they invent a lot of useful things.” I nod and run my fingers over the spines of books, feeling the leather beneath my fingertips.
“Have you seen one?”
“Human?” I hum in response. “Never, they live off in the far lands to the North supposedly.”
“Isn’t that where the Demons live?” I pull out a book on Vrohkaria and flick through the pages, looking at the settlements in full color.
“They do.” I hear him walk over to me and come to a stop. His arms surround me, resting on the shelves as I continue to look through the book. “Curious about the other lands?”
I huff out a laugh. “Not really. Though I know there are many beings that walk among us, I think we have our hands full with wolves and witches.”
“That we do.”
A door opens and we both turn toward it. I gasp, the book I was holding falling to the floor. “Ellian?” I question, looking over the Omega that brought Sarah to us.
His light eyes widen for a moment before he lowers his head. “Alpha.”
I scramble to pick the book up and put it back. Stepping under Darius’s arms, I move toward him. “What are you doing here?” I look between him and Darius.
“He works for me,” Darius answers, his brows furrowed. “You know of him?”
“I…” Stopping myself before I tell him about Edward, I pick at my fingers, wondering how to answer.
“Alpha Darius kindly gave me the honor of keeping his library organized and clean many moons ago,” Ellian says, his curtain of dark hair now reaching his shoulders.
I look toward Darius. “When you called me an Omega back in The Deadlands, it was like they were beneath you, you called them weak,” I remind him. “Yet you have one working for you.”
Darius moves closer, stepping up beside me. “They are weak in strength, fragile and breakable, but that doesn’t mean they are useless. There is strength in knowledge and intelligence, in willpower and courage.” My eyes bounce between his, wondering if he means more between his words for when he called me an Omega all that time ago.
A throat clears, and our eyes unlock, moving toward Ellian again. “Is there something I can help you with Alpha Darius?” I want to ask him if he told anyone that he helped Sarah that day, if he has seen Edward at all since then. But before I can, Darius speaks.
“No, leave us.”
Ellian bows his head and leaves the room without a word, making the tension rise between the pages in here.
“So,” Darius murmurs, and I tense. “Want to tell me how you know the Omega?” I shake my head. “More secrets.”
