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“Con…”

He nips along my jaw. “Hm?”

“We’re here on business.”

He sighs and pulls back. “Right. I forgot.”

I grin and shake my head as we walk deeper into the library to our usual aisle.

Connor pulls a book from the shelf as I look around. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually looked at the books back here.”

“That’s because you’re usually too busy burying yourself inside me.” I kneel on the floor, peeking under the shelves where I’ve lost more than a few pairs of panties.

Connor leans against the shelf, watching me. “Don’t make it sound like I was trying to jump you.”

I laugh as I summon my small knife and slice the pad of my finger. I draw a rune to locate lost items on the strangely pristine floor. Unlike other parts of the library, the wood is not worn or scuffed here.

As I’m about to connect the lines of the rune, it begins to glow. The rune flashes, and a small portal opens. I grin and am about to reach into it when the floor starts to shake. The books tumble from the shelves, falling all around us.

I look up at Connor. He is standing over me now, keeping the heavy books from hitting me on the head. The ground stops shaking, but the edges of the portal, still showing the perfect shape of the rune, burst into flames. I throw myself to the side to avoid the blast, instinctively covering my head and face. Connor is thrown across the aisle from the force, his back crashing against the bookshelf.

My chest heaves, and I peek from beneath my arm. Books are strewn all around me, shreds of paper floating through the air like confetti. I can still feel the flicker of power coming from the rune. The tie between us is still there but sharper.

Connor gets to his feet, his nervous gaze on me. I nod, letting him know I’m okay, and shift onto my knees, slowly moving toward the rune. Embers flicker around the edges, but the fire is slowly burning out. I frown and tilt my head. The rune is different now. It is not the rune I drew, not even close. As the flames die completely, the scorch mark stands out against the rich wood. Connor approaches cautiously, looking down at the new rune.

“Looks like a shield,” he says.

I nod, brushing my fingers over it, tracing the dark lines. It has the curves and points a shield rune would have, but it’s different. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s… magnificent.

“Can you grab my phone?” I ask Connor. He hurries off to find my bag, which was also thrown from the aisle. The second he’s out of sight, a message appears along the border of the rune.

Not wise to try to steal from me.

The second I reach the end of the sentence, the words fade, and by the time Connor has returned, they are completely gone.

I snap a photo of the rune before pushing to my feet. I slice my finger again and slide the bleeding pad over one of the runes on my hand. With a wave of my arm, the books and shredded pages lift into the air, repairing themselves and sliding back onto the shelf.

But the rune remains.

“This is kind of weird,” Connor says, still studying the rune.

I nod, looking up at him. “Someone has my panties.” I look around, expecting to see someone watching me. I wait for the weight of that malevolent gaze to settle on me, but I don’t feel it. “It is probably best if we are more careful where we have sex for a while.”

“I don’t like this, Sum,” Connor says, his brows drawn.

I look up at him, cupping his cheek. “It’ll be okay.”

Connor looks around, and his shoulders tighten. “Just stay close to me.”

“Con…”

Connor keeps looking around. “Hm?”

I sigh. “Nothing.”

Content that there is no imminent danger, he looks back at me and brushes his lips over mine. “Your place or mine?”

I shrug. “Either.”