Page 17
Ren comes and sits on the bed next to me, carefully leaving a little space between us, his eyes tracing over my shoulder and arm. I feel his eyes everywhere though, and this feels intimate in a way I didn’t expect. My lungs seize momentarily when he reaches out, but at the last second, he lowers his hand, remembering his promise.
“Fuck,” he says, dragging the word out before he stands up and walks over to the window, going silent.
“When you don’t talk, it’s nerve racking,” I mutter, but he doesn’t respond to me at all. He keeps looking out the window at the sea like he is having an unspoken conversation with it. It gives me time to pull my dark blue top back on and tuck it into my tight black high-waisted trousers. I walk over to the other window, looking out, seeing the vast sweep of land and feeling the anchor stopping us without having to spot it being dropped into the sea, the ship coming to a halt.
The island is smaller than I thought it would be. It’s one of the bigger islands on the maps, but it can’t be much more than twice the size of Azurestone. I don’t know how I expected it to be, but there isn’t an inch of green trees, flowers or bushes to be seen. It’s all buildings and smoke, gray waters, and gray stone structures that makes it look awful. Smoke as black as the rain clouds plummets out of the factories lined up around the middle of the island, casting a dark shadow into the angry skies.
Right at the front of the docks is a statue of a figure with bird wings curved around his body, with his hands on his face, weeping. The god Amaterasu. We might be a good distance away with the rest of the bigger ships, but even from here, I can see that the dock is busy. They have a thousand, if not more, ships piled up in every direction around the entire island and just as many boats. “Havenward is uglier than I read about. I wonder what it looked like a hundred years ago when it was a forest.”
“Beautiful,” Ren suggests, like he could have possibly seen it, when he can’t be much older than me. “Your map looked like a library with the mark of the god Amaterasu over it. The map is leading us in a path from here to it. Not that I need the map to know the way to the burning great library. No one would be stupid enough to actually attempt to go there. But of course, that’s where the key will be.”
Burning library? “Tell me about this place.” I’ll need all of the information I can get.
“It’s called many names, and it began as a temple dedicated to Amaterasu. The temple studied the riches of information and the power that can be found within words and script. I do not know why it burned, why every person on the island never left, but it did. It’s an island made of a thousand moving libraries, said to know your every wish and direct you to a book to answer it. A million books, with a maze that randomly sets itself on fire. No one ever walks out.” He looks at me. “To take you there would be killing us both. It’s foolish.”
“Don’t pretend to care about my life, Ren.”
He blinks. “You’ve never called me a nickname before. Look at us, your clothes have been off and now a nickname?” He looks away with a small laugh. “I’m almost tempted to think you might not stab me if I gave you a weapon now.”
I would stab him. “We move fast and get out. Your magic must be able to help.”
“It’s haunted by the dead, Map. By creatures that you should fear. They didn’t just collect books there,” Ren mutters, and a shiver travels through my body. “Mortals don’t walk in there and walk back out. Anyone with magic like me is smart enough to know that going to the great library is asking for the gods to kill me. No information in any of those books is worth going into that place.”
For Rowe, I’d fight anything. “But we’re going, and what key?”
“What is worth dying for? I know my answer, but what is yours?” he enquires. I stare him down and he looks back at the sea. “There is a key that’s drawn on your back. I assumed we were looking for a key, maybe more than one, to get to the end of this hunt. Three is a common factor when it comes to legends of the gods.” He picks up a book and puts it on the bed. “You should read this one. It’s the written account of the legends of the gods.”
I stare at the leather-bound book…that shouldn’t exist. There aren’t books on the gods, or anything more than rumors. The king made a law that written works on the gods or magic were forbidden and had to be destroyed. “Where did you get that book from?”
“I travel, I read, I trade for stories. I’m not just a brute.” He cocks his head to the side. “And I like saving these from him. I’d have every single damned person in this world read the books in this room if I could.”
“Maybe I was wrong.” His eyes shoot to mine like he can’t believe I just said that. He’s still guarded, though. I need him less guarded. I walk around the bed, over to the cabinet where I left two drinks earlier. “Maybe we should make an agreement. I think we both are on the same side and we just have gone about this all wrong.” I walk over to him and hand him one of the cups. He takes it, his fingers brushing mine, and the fact I shiver is not fake. I step right up into his space, close enough his minty breath mixes with mine. “Maybe we should just get along for the rest of this test. It’s clear that maybe I’ve misjudged you. In fact, I definitely misjudged you.”
His eyes are unreadable, but he doesn’t move. My heartbeat accelerates to a gallop as I place my hand in the center of his chest. Then, I take his arm and wind it around mine, twisting it until the cups are resting close to each other, to our faces, to our lips. He is focused on my lips, and I know I’m doing the same. His voice is a grumble, his blue eyes a shade darker. “What are you doing?”
“They do this as a mark of peace on my island. Just trusting each other. Is that what you want?” I whisper.
“Yes.” He watches me. “But you don’t.” He looks at my hand on his chest, and my mouth dries as he hooks his other hand around my waist and pulls me an inch closer till our bodies are touching everywhere. My body feels like it slams to life, like it’s been dead until now. I hate that I’m meant to be seducing him, and yet somehow, he’s seducing me, too. Drink it. He brings the cup to his mouth and downs it whole. I drink mine next, relief settling into my blood. It will take about three seconds for the sleeping potion that I put into his drink to knock him out cold, and then I’m leaving. I push him away, putting the empty cup down on the side and walking to the door. “Wait, Map!” He stumbles forward, grabbing the bed pillar to hold himself up. He is slurring his words. “Wh-at th-the fffuck did you dooo?”
“Clark has a lot of sleeping potions hanging around. I’m not sure exactly how strong they are, so I just mixed a bunch of them and poured them in that drink for you.” I grin at the shock on his handsome face. “I’ve got things to do, people to see. You look like you need a nap. It might help with your bad attitude.” I didn’t forget when he tied me to his bed with his magic and said that. “And this might be the last time I see you, so I just have to say it. You’re an asshole, Draven Elswyth.”
I wiggle my fingers at him before I slide the door shut, hearing a satisfying thud as he collapses to the floor. Well, that’s the biggest problem solved. I go straight to Tracker’s room because he has the most weapons lying about, which I gathered from nosing around the ship. I pick up two daggers in holders and slide them to the back of my trousers. I do feel a little guilty about stealing them, but I don’t have a choice. I can’t go to the great library without weapons, or I might as well be asking to die.
No one comes near me as I find my cloak, pulling it around my shoulders and going up onto the deck, rain sticking to me. Tracker is about to climb off the ship when I see him. “Wait!” I run over and grin. “Ren said that I could go as long as I’m with you. He told me to rush up here and get on the boat.”
Tracker frowns. “I don’t know about that. Where is my captain?”
“He’s back in his room. Like I said, he didn’t mind. Wouldn’t he be out here protesting otherwise?” I wave my hands around. “Please… I just need to stand on land, and I want to see Havenward. I’ve never been to another island before. Don’t make me stay here.”
Tracker gnaws on his bottom lip before offering me his hand. I slide my hand into his and grin as he helps me down onto a ladder, where I climb into the boat and he comes down after. There are three other men on the boat, all with their bags. Tracker lowers his voice as they begin to paddle us to the docks. “You stay close to me, Miriam. Not out of my sight for even a second. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I lie and smile sweetly, which clearly works on him because he relaxes. The rain doesn’t relent, doesn’t stop as it pours down on us, and I wrap my wet cloak tightly around myself for a bit of warmth. The smells of sweat, rotten fish, and smoke fill the air of Havenward as we get closer, along with the cries and shouts of strangers. Not strangers, but beggars, and there are hundreds of them. I wince at the sight, and my heart hurts when I see there are so many children, thin and starving. “I thought it was bad at home.”
Tracker looks at me. “This is what seeing the islands is like, and this is one of the better islands, Miriam.” He looks back and, for the first time, I notice the bags of food lining the middle of the boat. “Captain sends us all with food to help, but this won’t help for long.”
No, it won’t, but he offers it anyway. For a second, I feel a little guilty about this, but the feeling fades when I imagine Rowe on one of these streets, begging and desperate. Sick and incurable. I straighten my spine and focus as we get closer, and a man throws a rope from the deck to pull in the boat before tying it up. The men get out first, leaving Tracker and me till last. He helps me out before getting out next. “Remember, you’re paid for silence,” he tells them. “If I have to come and find you again, which will be easy enough, you’ll be paid with blood. Do you understand?”
They all agree and run off with their bags. “I bet they sell the information on me to the first guard they find.”
