Page 63 of As Above, So Below

All temple members partake in upkeep of the temple and work on a revolving week-long schedule. Tasks such as cleaning, cooking, laundry, bookkeeping, leading prayer, tending the garden, and spreading the word of Celesta were a few of the things she mentioned having to do as a Priestess.

As we reach the top of the stairs, I have to stop for a breath.

My legs are burning, my chest is heaving, my face feels warm.

I hate it.

“The next time you seek to come up here and I have to come with you, we’re ferrying,” I say, leaning against the cool marble wall.

Cora’s eyes light up with amusement as she stops, turning to face me. “I’d like to experience that, I think. I’ve never been ferried. Eve doesn’t know how to ferry, and I’m used to walking everywhere I need to go.”

I point at the towering doors ahead. “We’re going in there?”

She nods.

Taking the couple steps between us, I grab her arm firmly and shadows shoot up around us. She gasps and the shadows vanish, leaving us in the center of a brightly lit library.

“Ves,” she whispers, her eyes wide as a dozen faces turn their eyes to us.

But I don’t see them, I see the space we’ve entered and fall into complete awe. The mild irritation and exertion I felt climbing the stairs vanish along with my shadows.

A sprawling white room, lit by hanging magelights in silver chandeliers, filled with rows of shelves stacked with books. We stand between two dark wood tables near the center of the room, underneath yet another stained glass window in the high vaulted ceiling. Yet rather than depicting the night sky, this round window is entirely a soft white. It takes me a second, but I realize it’s meant to be the full moon.

Like the rest of the temple, much of it is white. White marble walls, white marble bookshelves… The only true color in the room comes from the tables and the books themselves.

Letting my feet carry me, I begin down one of the multitude of passageways between bookshelves, letting my eyes linger on titles and gilded spines that catch my attention.

Cora follows. “You read?” she whispers in hushed tones.

I nod as I continue to move. “I spent a lot of time in a library,” I say and her eyes widen with panic.

A finger rushes to her lips, and my face pinches with confusion.

“We keep our voices quiet here,” she says in a breathy whisper. “Many who come here do so to study.”

My eyes dart down the aisle toward the tables, seeing a few with their noses in books. I purse my lips and nod.

“I know Artemise says you’re to help me,” Cora whispers, “but, I’d rather you take the time to yourself. Find a book, settle in, and I’ll come get you when I’m finished.”

Arching a brow, I meet her stare. “You’d risk angering your High Priestess to let me read?”

Cora smiles. “She’ll be fine. She’s not the one who just escaped the hells.”

As she retreats down the aisle, I’m left alone with the books.

It doesn’t take me long to lose myself among the vast array of titles.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The afternoon hadbeen quiet, perfect.

Everything I wanted when I would daydream of the living realm.

I hid tucked away in a corner of the library with a stack of books, reading through them with the voraciousness of an attention-starved demon. Works of fiction, collections of poetry, play scripts… written by both humans and fae alike. Books I would never find in the hells. Reading for pleasure offered me a sense of peace I’ve never experienced before.

I spent my time alone, in silence, where no one paid me any mind and left me to my own devices. It felt like the hells, but lighter, easier, and I nestled into that feeling fully.

What I’d give to go back to this afternoon and that feeling.