Page 109 of Summoned
We head back to Daria’s in silence.
At some point, we go to bed. Once again, I toss and turn for hours before sleep finally takes me.
I have four days left until the final trial. Will I fall asleep each night seeing the face of the one destined to end me?
* **
Day 18
The next day, we head to the library again.
Today, I feel more relaxed than yesterday. I’m wearing loose jeans and a T-shirt, and I have no makeup on. I haven’t walked down a street like this in years. No one would recognize me anyway—no need to worry about paparazzi shots.
I never imagined that the “death” of the Little Baroness would lift such a weight off my shoulders. No more social media to maintain, no exhausting stories or likes to give in exchange for my own. I don’t even have a phone. No Viber messages from Boyana. No calls from my father.
No daily agenda filled with endless appointments and a rigid schedule. No to-do lists stretching into oblivion. No invitations to events where I’m expected to show up and play a role.
No fear of the future.
Just Daria and I, flipping through mountains of books for hours.
We eat a quick lunch and keep stacking books around us. Daria flips through the pages in frustration, her fingers leaving faint smudges on the yellowed paper. Her gaze darts from line to line, then over to me, then back to the text.
After a while, she exhales sharply and tosses another book aside. “I feel like we’re this close to finding the right information, and it keeps slipping away.” She scans the shadowy corners of the library. “Is it possible the Black Joker is here… hiding the books that could help us?”
Her words leave cold trails along my skin. “He’s not here.”
Daria’s large brown eyes meet mine with unsettling clarity. “Niki…are you in love with him?”
My back straightens in an instant. I frown, trying to mask my reaction, but anger simmers low in my veins. “Of course not!”
She leans forward, intent, as if she can read every thought I’ve tried to hide. “Even if you were, it would be completely normal. You slept with him…”
Pain flares in my chest. “And I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!” I snap, slamming the book shut. Dust rises into the air, blurring my vision for a moment. “Which, by the way, is for three more days. I don’t want to spend all of them locked up in this library.”
Daria flinches. “I thought you wanted us to find a solution.”
I throw my hands up. “I just… I feel like there’s a clock ticking inside me, counting down my time, and I’m sitting here doing nothing…”
“Okay. What do you want to do?”
Her question catches me off guard. I lower my gaze to the floor, where sunlight glides across the wooden boards. WhatdoI want to do? I can’t even answer that myself.
Only one thing comes to mind: I want tolive.
I look up at Daria. “I want us to go out tonight. To a club. I want to dance.”
She stares at me for a second, then nods. “All right…”
* * *
Daria walks over to her wardrobe and flings it open. The doors creak, revealing a chaos of dresses, skirts, and blouses. She pulls out a few hangers and gives me a criticalonce-over. “Do you have anything? Or should I lend you something?”
The other day, I packed my bag with plain, forgettable clothes meant for escaping, not for going out at night. “Maybe—”
“Perfect!” she cuts me off, waving an airy and floral outfit at me. The fabric is light, almost sheer, with ruffles on the sleeves and tiny buttons down the front. A pale pink dress, flared above the knees, trimmed with delicate lace. It looks so girlish. So naïve.
I blink at the insulting garment. “Is that from AliExpress?”
