“Creepy,” I muttered.
Mila shut the book. “Let’s take a few of these with us.”
“Why?” I asked, but held out my arms for her to pile them in.
“Why not?” Mila answered. Placing a second volume calledGodsblood Heiratop the sphinx book, she grabbed my hand and whisked me toward another aisle.
“Aoiflyn. Finally,” Mila exhaled as we reached the last row of the six marked for the gods.
“Many of these books are about bargains,” I observed, studying the spines.Deals with Gods,History of Locked Fates,Age of Bargains.
I tugged the last one off the shelf, asking, “Do you think any of these have ways Ophelia and Tolek can get out of their bargain?”
Mila shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
She pulled one of the others and dropped to the floor. In the dim candlelight, I sat across from her. What I wouldn’t have given for a hint of Ophelia’s Angellight to read by, but I cracked the book open and squinted at the words.
“There’s quite a bloody history around theAge of Bargains,” I noted after a long enough period of companionable silence that my ass was falling asleep on the marble floor. Truthfully,it had probably only been a few minutes, but this library was uncomfortable.
“Here, too,” Mila agreed with a grim nod.
“Why is it all so entwined with blood?” I wondered aloud.
“I don’t know,” Mila said distantly, “but what’s more interesting in this volume is those striking the bargains.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, shifting closer.
“These are all accounts of the Fae Goddess’ children.” She chewed her lip, scanning the page. “Some she had with humans, most with the fae, and it’s detailing infamous bargains they made.”
“Does that impact the deal struck?”
“Not directly.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “But it makes the fae strong beyond measure, and in fae culture, the more powerful they are, the trickier they tend to become.”
And Lancaster was strong. We’d learned as much tonight when Ritalia spoke of his creation magic. Which meant his bargain was undoubtedly iron-clad.
Mila went on, “Certain goddess’ magic can also apparently repel otherancient sourcesof magic.”
“Specific,” I deadpanned.
“I’m not sure how it could come into play in deals. It all boils down to careful language.” She paused, flipping through the pages. “Apparently the most powerful bargain magic can be hereditary, and many of the histories describe them as being used to lock secrets away.”
I tucked that away to mull over later. “Are there any indications of waysoutof bargains?”
Mila shook her head, opening her mouth to comment?—
“What are you two doing here?” A sharp voice sliced through the library. Mila and I both jumped to our feet, slamming our books, which earned us a disapproving stare from the fae now striding down the aisle, a candle in hand.
“The librarian granted us permission,” Mila answered as she tucked the book on Aoiflyn back onto the shelves, but I shifted to the side, hiding the two on Artale behind my back.
At least if we couldn’t get anything on the Fae Goddess, we could take something with us.
“I am the only librarian who travels with the queen.” Mila and I exchanged a glance. The female’s tightly braided gray hair and wrinkled expression was certainly different from the first woman we’d seen. “The library is closed to visitors as of sundown unless accompanied by one of the queen’s soldiers. Out with you. Now!”
“We’re sorry,” I rushed out, keeping my back to the shelves as we hurried away. “We misunderstood.”
As we fled, I cast a last glance back toward that round desk, where the original librarian had disappeared. The memory of her melodic voice followed us down the halls.
The palace wasquiet as we made our way back toward the antechamber. “Want to find somewhere private?” I asked. The slightest pink tinted Mila’s cheeks, so I held up the books. “Research.”
