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Shadows obscured their titles at first, but then retreated just enough to reveal them when I focused my attention on their spines.
A History of Shadows, The Dangers of the Shadow Realm, Shades and Shadows, Shadow-Walking, The Age of Shadows, Caring for your Shadow-Kitten, A Shadow-Beast’s Guide to the Shadow Realm, A Thousand Years of Shadow-Art, The Greatest Shadow Philosophers, An Analysis of the Treaty of Shades.
It was an extraordinary feeling, standing there, staring at so many books that validated my very existence, that proved my kind had once lived and lived well enough to have a rich history that spanned millennia.
I reached for the shadow-kitten book. The moment I touched it, the shadows retreated, giving it weight and substance.
I pulled it down and marveled at its weight.
I set it on the shadow-table that stood off to the side, then watched as the table solidified the moment the book touched it.
I turned back to the shelves, selected the two books about the shadow realm, set them on the table and then reached for the history book.
I opened it to its copyright page and was disappointed to discover it was three hundred years old.
This book, then, would not cover what had happened a couple hundred years ago when the shadow monsters were hunted and exterminated.
In fact, now that I thought about it, it was doubtful any book written by the shadow monsters themselves would cover those events as they’d have been busy fleeing for their lives at the time.
Damn. Everyone knows history is written by the victors.I settled at the table with my history book and smiled as Shadow leapt up and immediately plopped down on top of it.We need a Shadow historian or some other shadow monster who knows their history.I stroked a hand down Shadow’s side and listened to her purr.There had to have been survivors, right? Otherwise, I’d never have been born.
Hiding.
I let out a sound of exasperation, annoyed because that was probably true. If there’d been any survivors at all, they’d probably gone into hiding, which begged the question:
How come I’m not in hiding with them?
Shadow had no answer for me and I was becoming more conscious of time passing every minute we remained inside the shadow room.
I’d probably already stayed too long and now risked being locked in there until someone came along and convinced Mr. Brecken to let them in the archive room.
If nothing else, I knew Mikaela and Jasmine would come back to ask for another peek if I failed to show back up in our suite, but in the meantime, they’d be worried and Shadow and I would be trapped.
I was flipping faster and faster through one of the books about the shadow realm, trying to somehow absorb the knowledge it offered by touch alone.
It wasn’t working and I was running out of time.
Even knowing this, I couldn’t make myself choose a single book to take with me. I wanted them all.
Shadow let out a huff, probably annoyed that I’d stopped petting her in favor of frantically skimming giant tomes, and jumped down from the table.
She began a slow stalk around the perimeter of the room while I immediately turned my attention to the history book she’d uncovered.
Just looking at the Table of Contents was enough to make me crave every single bit of knowledge between its covers.
What if I never made it back inside the archive room and this was my only chance to learn about the shadow realm and the history of shadow monsters?
Worse, what if this was my only chance to learn about shadow-cats? What if my ignorance caused her harm?
There were so many books to read in this room and I had no plan for transporting even one of them.
I hadn’t even thought to bring a bag with me, probably because I knew it would be hard enough to time it right for my own escape, let alone to steal books while I was at it.
Of course, it hadn’t occurred to me that I might gain access to a room Mr. Brecken probably didn’t even know existed, or if he did, didn’t know how to access, which meant he’d probably have no idea if I took any books out of said room in the first place.
Too bad I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to plan for that eventuality.
Shadow-door,Shadow announced, standing at the end of the wall of books, staring at the corner just beyond them.
