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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Ryker

As we moved back through the castle, I stayed as far from Ellery as possible while also keeping an eye on her. I didn’t think deadly creatures lurked in this town and sensed no imminent danger, but I disliked having her out of my sight.

However, I was scared if I got too close, I couldn’t stop myself from taking her, and that couldn’t happen in this place. If I started, I’d never stop after the rush I’d experienced while standing next to that gem… not after the desire .

I ground my teeth back and forth as the cock I’d finally willed into submission started hardening again. Not here.

This was the worst possible time for me to have an erection and to be feeling like this, but that strange gem had me all kinds of fucked-up. What was with the damn thing? And why did it affect me in this way?

Ellery seemed to feel the same, or at least she sensed my barely controlled savagery, as she kept her distance and didn’t look at me. If she looked at me….

I didn’t know if I could stay away from her, and I couldn’t take her in this place. There was so much death here that no one should get an erection, but mine refused to go away.

We’d both felt the pulse from the stone differently than the others. I’d seen it on her face and felt it before she turned and bolted from the tower.

I didn’t know if we’d experienced it because we were a part of each other in a way the others weren’t. Or maybe it was because we were lightning bearers and, for some reason, the stone affected us differently.

Either way, until I regained complete control, I would maintain my distance from her.

And that control was slowly coming back to me. The intensity of my lust wasn’t as savage as it was in the tower, but it wasn’t ebbing as fast as I would have liked.

And though it was receding, I could feel its mark still etched into my bones and deep within my soul. I could control it, but it wouldn’t be sated until I was inside her.

We returned to the library on the first floor. It was a two-story room with sliding ladders to the upper shelves and books crammed into every nook and cranny.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves lined all four walls. There were no windows, probably to keep the books protected from the sun, but that made the inside of the room far darker than the rest of the castle.

Using our lightning, Ellery and I illuminated the room. The second electricity sparked to life on my fingertips, the surge of power I’d felt while standing next to the gem rushed back over me.

I stopped walking as I willed my erection away again. On the other side of the room, Ellery closed her eyes; her lightning blazed up to her shoulders before settling around her wrists.

She trembled before inhaling again and striding forward. Keeping her attention away from me, she held up her hand to reveal the titles on the numerous spines surrounding us.

It took me a little longer to feel comfortable enough to walk again. When I did, I strode to the opposite side of the room and lifted my arms to reveal the books there. Ianto and Tucker followed me while Callan and Scarlet walked with Ellery.

Tucker climbed one of the ladders to examine the higher shelves while Ianto went over the lower ones. I stayed back so as not to accidentally destroy something with my lightning.

“Judging by the titles, these are all fiction,” Tucker said.

“Same over here,” Callan called from the other side of the room.

“We should look at them all, just in case.”

No one argued with Tucker as we steadily made our way around the room, carefully reading over the titles on the leather-bound books. The rich smells of leather and parchment permeated the air, and at any other time, I would have enjoyed examining the tomes more closely.

The creaking of the ladders Callan and Tucker used for the higher shelves and the crackle of our lightning were the only sounds in the room. Occasionally, someone would open a book and rifle through the pages, but no one spoke.

As we made our way around the room, we approached a red fireplace with the remnants of burnt logs still heaped within. Two armchairs sat beside the fireplace; one was a vibrant yellow, while the other was a pale pink.

A shirt sat on each chair while pants and a skirt had fallen to settle around the different boots. A book lay on top of one of the shirts while another book sat on the table beside the yellow chair.

We had to leave this town before we turned to ash too, but we couldn’t leave without searching for answers. Still, I could feel the pendulum of death grazing my neck as it swung steadily lower.

When I placed my palm against my nape, I half expected to feel the lethal kiss of steel against my hand, but while the clock ticked toward doom, that time hadn’t arrived yet. We’d have no warning when it did, just like these poor bastards.

Hopefully, we’d be gone by the time it did.

To the right of the fireplace was a row of shelves lined with rolled parchments. When we stopped before the shelves, I lifted my hands to examine the scrolls.

“It’s going to take time to read through all of these,” Tucker said.

“Can we take them with us somehow?” Ianto asked.

“I don’t see how,” I said.

Scarlet and Callan came to stand with us while Ellery remained by the pink chair. Her head tilted as she examined the scrolls.

“If we all do it, maybe we can get through them in a few hours,” Ellery said.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Ianto removed his watch from his pocket. “Almost three.”

“We’ll never get through all these scrolls, this town, and back to the gargoyles in time to leave the temple tonight.”

“We did tell the others there was a chance we wouldn’t return tonight,” Tucker said. “They won’t start worrying about us for at least another day or two.”

That was true, but I didn’t like being trapped here for so long. That steel blade of death was descending steadily lower.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a choice. We’d already spent this much time down here; we couldn’t walk away now.

“The books are all fiction, so if there’s any answers, they’ll be in this parchment,” Tucker said.

“Let’s hope so,” Ellery murmured.

Tucker rolled one of the ladders into place and climbed to the top to pull down the upper row. He lowered them down to the others before joining us.