Page 30 of Memories Like Fangs
“No worries!”
“Hey! I’m fabulous with directions. I don’t need help!” Cody said, but I was already turning away.
“I will get your gifts and everything ready for you, sweetheart,” Mama said, already bending at the tree to pick up Byrd’s gifts. I always marveled at her ability to ignore everything when the family got chaotic like this. I longed for that skill.
Before I went upstairs, I locked eyes with her once more. I tried to send as much of my gratitude and love for her as I could from just that look.
I will tell you everything, Mama. Let me get my girl, and I promise I will tell you the truth.
Fortification
QUINN
The entrance of the Archive yawned before us as if she was fighting to stay awake.
On the outside, the Archive didn’t look like much. It was a tiny, unsuspecting structure. Among the red brick and white stone with green ivy snaking its way upward, stained glass windows on every side showed vibrant, detailed works of art that I didn’t think were possible with the medium. Even in the night, their colors from the light inside as well as the roof’s diamond glass dome created a show on the sidewalk and grass all around.
When the cousins and I had tracked Zaria here a few weeks ago—fuck, that already felt like a lifetime ago—I hadn’t taken in the outside. I was so focused on following Cody as he tracked my ex-girlfriend who wanted to hurt my current girlfriend. I didn’t even realize we were at the Archive really until Byrd and I bumped into each other. Now, I was able to take it in.
“I hate that the first time you ever saw the Archive you didn’t even get to actuallyseeher,” Byrd had said softly the morning after we had mated.
We were lying naked in her bed together, our legs tangled together and her head on my chest. I traced her floraltattoos up and down her arm while she caressed my bicep absentmindedly.
She continued, “She is so stunning during the day with all the colors from the stained glass windows and the stories depicted there. You can see the Archive from almost anywhere in Blackbell, which makes sense since the city and Everlore University were built around her. But I love that she uses her stories from history to pull you in. It’s like… You can’t see the stories when you are afar, but you can see their auras. It is a beacon. It’s a porch light left on for you, and you just know that a nice meal and fresh linens on a made bed are waiting for you inside. I don’t even know if that makes sense.”
“No, it does make sense, Sweetness.” Even if it hadn’t, I would have lied. I could listen to her talk about quantum physics, and I would still be enraptured and begging her to keep going. Hearing her talk about something she was so passionate about was a record I never wanted to stop playing on repeat. “Keep going.”
“The Archive has so much knowledge to offer, and then she puts on these magical displays to make you want to stay and read every word she houses. She’s… the word ‘amazing’ doesn’t even do it justice. She made me feel something for the first time after I lost my parents. I appreciate her so much for that, for showing me how magical the world could be. But…” Byrd sighed, her dreamy tone turning to worry. I didn’t need to look down to know that her eyebrows were drawn with that line in between them like they do when she’s worried. “The Archive was soscaredwhen we walked in. I’ve never seen her like that before.”
“Hey.” I tilted her chin to look up at me before I placed a soft kiss on her lips. The bond was still so new to us, but I felt her concern change into affection at my touch. “I know she’s okay. Izzy and the others will take care of her. She will be just fine.”
Byrd nodded, and I could feel her trust in my words. There was still a slight edge of worry flowing through our bond, so I smirked and said. “Besides, from what you told me, no one would be able to gaslight or gatekeep that girlboss.”
“Shut the fuck up, Quinn Garcia,” Byrd replied reaching behind her to grab a pillow to hit me with. I let her get one hit in before I moved to tickle her as revenge. Our giggles and laughter that we devolved into made us just as breathless as our kisses afterward?—
“Quinn? You okay?” Maisie called to me. I hadn’t realized I had stopped before the entrance just behind Maisie and Cody. I nodded.
When I do see this place during the day,mi tesorowill be showing it to me, I vowed as I caught up to Maisie and Cody.
As soon as we stepped into the Archive Library, it felt like stepping into a snow globe frozen mid-shake, like we were waiting for the rest of the storm to finish falling around us. The sudden warmth that rushed out to greet us carried the familiar scent of books, pastry, and coffee—the kind of smells that felt eternal here. It was a contrast to the snowy Montana cabin we had teleported from and the space we stood in. The inside of the Archive resembled a winter cathedral made of frost, glass, and moonlight, yet it churned with a quiet chaos. Snow flurried in multiple directions above our heads, never drifting down to us. The ceiling of the Archive was a dark, unsettling twilight with a fast-moving, dull gray aurora. Instead of stars drifting across it, unique snowflakes twinkled and turned in opposing directions and at varying speeds. The great central tree that stretched skyward past twelve balconies quivered with unease. The frost lacing her bark in a glacial silver filigree cracked deeply like glass under pressure. Dazzling icicles clinging to her numerous wide branches clunked loudly like wind chimes in a storm as her branches trembled. The floating candles with their silver flamesthat never melted shook as they hovered overhead. The books, scrolls, pages, and other materials shivered as they flew around. The entire Archive buzzed with a restless energy as if it were holding its breath without knowing why.
The last time the Archive had been like this, Byrd had said it was scared. This time, it felt…worried. Like it was anticipating something.
In front of the circulation desk wrapped around the base of the tree were the Archive’s Guardians. When I had first met the three of them, I was too busy preparing to fight and protect Byrd and the others from my ex-girlfriend and the blood fitch to fully see them. All supernatural creatures were beautiful in a way that could verge on otherworldly, but these three looked like deities among humans. I had no idea what any of them were, but I could sense that they were wielders of great magic, and maybe two of them were some kind of shifter. The power radiating off each of them made my skin prickle, every nerve flaring as if lightning was dancing beneath the surface. Their three distinct energies pulsed with something ancient, powerful, intoxicating, and slightly dangerous. Every instinct of my huntress nature screamed to run, fight, kneel, or freeze, each urge battling the next in a war I struggled to contain. It made me almost trip. How had I missed this before? Was the Blood Fitch that powerful that I hadn’t sensed this, or was protecting Byrd my biggest priority at the time?
The tallest one was the first to glance up at our entrance. I had not interacted with them, but I guessed that this was the nonbinary one of the Guardians. Their silky bronze short-sleeve-and-shorts pajama set showed off both their muscular frame and close to seven feet worth of height. The sky-blue hair peeking beneath their curtain of long, thick black hair gave their whole look an electric edge. Their olive-toned cheeks shimmered faintly with gold and silver that seemed like it wouldnever go away. While their navy-black eyes narrowed slightly in recognition toward me and Cody, there was also a pinch of anxiety there, something that I could feel mirrored in my own gaze.
In their arms, shifting her weight every few moments, was the only one of the Guardians I had had any direct contact with. We hadn’t said much when she crashed into us in the elevator after being thrown by my ex, but I recognized her auburn waves, freckles on porcelain skin, and beauty that would make celebrities weep with envy. She was shorter than her partner, but her six-foot-seven height was still enough to make anyone feel miniature. Her floor-length bronze nightgown hid the hooves that were her feet. Her teal eyes flicked toward us, but they quickly returned to the tree to scan the shaking branches above. Her full, always-red lips were tight with concern. She clung to her partner’s arms like it was helping to keep her together, her many silver rings and bracelets catching on the flickering candlelight.
The last one soared among the branches of the Archive’s tree, her short silk dress and robe matching her partners’ outfits, standing out among the winter colors. Her large double set of wings, the same dark hue as her wild mane of curls, fluttered gently through the snow falling tumultuously around her as she circled the tree. Even from my place on the ground, I could see her almost-orange cat-like eyes and talons bathed in a golden flame that made her dark terracotta skin seem even warmer. Yet, when she saw us, her eyes softened to a deep brown flecked with a golden compassion I felt even from this distance.
“Maisie! Happy almost-Yule!” She greeted. Her voice was rich with an accent that felt old and wise, yet unfamiliar. The woman dipped low, her wings curling around her back like a cape before she released them to land softly in front of us and the circulation desk. The fresh, snowy powder on the Archive’sfloor flew up in clouds around her, yet the ground still looked magically undisturbed. Her wings didn’t even leave trails in the snow as she came up to hug Maisie.
When they parted, she turned to me and Cody. Her head tilted as she took us in. While concern was clear on her regal face, there was also a glimmer of kindness, patience, and knowing in her eyes that reminded me so much of my mother. “Ah, I don’t believe we have met directly, yet I know of you. You both fought alongside Byrd and her friends when the Archive was attacked, yes?”
“Yes, ma’am, we did. I’m Cody. I was the handsome one with the crossbow,” Cody winked, ever the flirt who didn’t know how to shut the fuck up. I rolled my eyes.
“Aye, he’s the one with the mouth,” the redhead recalled with a Scottish brogue lilting her words. She gave Cody a bored look like she had seen his type before. I could only imagine how many like him she might have seen and possibly smote him on the spot for annoying her.
