Page 58 of Kingdom of Tomorrow (Book of Arden #1)
My gaze caught on Domino, who stood off to the side, observing me with unabashed interest. His intensity blazed off the charts. “What’s the purpose of a librarian who’s part of the High Guard?”
“First, don’t mind Domino. He read something in his book that confused him. Anyway. Librarians are the best of the best and the highest members of our royalty, bound by a specific set of laws. They live in the library and help Soalians on and off the field.”
Hmm. “If they’re so good at their jobs, why are so many Soalians beaten and arrested?”
“Failure to read the book. The breaking of our laws. Fear. Pick a reason. But you’ll see how good librarians are when you’re in the field,” she replied, and I grunted. I hadn’t meant to ask my second question. “Let’s hear your final query.”
Fine. I’d traveled this road. I might as well take it to its end. “When can I strike at Cured ?”
“After you’ve trained. Now then. In this part of the library,” she said as if we’d never deviated from the tour, “time passes the same as in Ourland.”
Okay, so, there were places where time did pass differently. Good to know.
“The more you visit, read, train, and study, the more missions you complete, the faster and brighter you’ll be able to glow. One of many ways to recognize other Soalians. Don’t worry,” she repeated, “non-Soalians won’t notice. Their infection prevents them from seeing our slightest radiance.”
“I noticed the glow before becoming a Soalian. So have others.”
“No, you saw a beacon we intentionally released. That, we can control, and the infection can’t mask it. Mostly. There are rules to everything. You’ll need to learn them.”
Assorted layers in the symbols. Unique keys and different luminosities.
My brain threatened to short-circuit from everything I had to learn.
Data overload paired with emotional uncertainty, a toxic combination.
In less than a blink, my entire life had changed.
Who I trusted, who I didn’t. What I believed, what I didn’t.
“I want to help you bring down Cured . That’s why I’m here. ”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You should learn to slay a bear before you take on a giant.”
My chest constricted hard. Cyrus had once advised the same thing.
“You’ll return to the Lux in the morning,” she said, “and we’ll contact you with an assignment when we feel you’re ready.”
She must be kidding. “I can’t go back.” No way. “I attacked Cyrus Dolion and a guard to get here!”
She snorted, halting my coming speech. “Cyrus will forgive you. He must. He joined us a year ago.” A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “John won him over when I failed. Cyrus is Unicorn. I’m Sparrow.”
“What!” I shouted, my voice echoing from the walls. I halted as shock rocked me. “But, but, Cyrus captured John, killed a lord named Jericho, and might have caused Shiloh to break.”
“He did not. I’m prohibited from sharing all the details, but I can tell you that John ordered Cyrus to take him in so that he could deliver information Cyrus and the other Soalians couldn’t.
Most of Cyrus’s conversations are recorded, each move monitored and dissected by Cured .
He has to guard every word he utters, so he needed to appear to recruit you for Cured .
Let’s face it, there was always the chance you’d ruin the Unicorn’s cover, and we need him positioned where he is. ”
A barbed lump grew in my throat.
“Any secret message we sent you was intercepted. You were surveilled more heavily than Cyrus. John took steps to get the mission on track. As for the boys,” she continued, as if she hadn’t already rocked my world.
“Cyrus saved Jericho. The boy had been marked for elimination even before the berry incident. Cyrus injured him enough to pass for dead, without striking vital organs, and got him out of the facility in a body bag. He also saved Shiloh. Not even I knew it at first.” She unveiled a sheepish smile.
“You really did a number on his face and throat, but the HP patched him up, keeping him alive and getting him to John just in time.”
Blood rushed from my head. Everything I’d assumed, everything I’d done ... all wrong.
I closed my eyes and breathed. That’s the only thing I could do as facts solidified. Shiloh was alive. Jericho hadn’t been murdered. Cyrus was Unicorn. The one meant to charm me, who might have fallen for me in the process. Unless I’d been a mission, after all.
No, I couldn’t have been. He’d shared as much as he could without blowing his cover. And yet, I’d hurt him. He’d been nothing but good to me, and I’d netted him, leaving him helpless in a den of lions. He’d risked his life to save others, and I’d punished him for it.
Guilt and shame churned within me. I owed him a thousand apologies, but they wouldn’t be enough. “I need to see him,” I rushed out, referring to all three men. Cyrus, Shiloh, and Jericho.
“This way.” She led me to a closed door. A door she then blocked with her body. “Before we go in, you should know neither Shiloh nor Jericho are allowed to leave the library. They would endanger Cyrus, so here they stay for now. No weaving plans to take them with you.”
“Fine,” I said, eager to enter.
She stepped aside, and I raced inside. A conference room, with a long narrow table and a multitude of chairs. Shiloh and Jericho sat on opposite sides. The medic spotted me first, leaped to his feet, and rushed over.
A groan of relief and joy burst from me as we embraced. “You’re alive.” He had healed super fast. Though, yes, he wore an eye patch and possessed jagged scars on his throat.
“I can never apologize enough, Arden. Dr. Korey fed me some kind of drug. The things I did to you, to Mykal.” He pulled away and peered down at me. Tears streamed over his cheeks. “When I woke up, the memories came rushing back. I can’t describe the horror I experienced. If I could time travel—”
“You’re forgiven,” I interjected, cupping his cheeks to ensure he knew I meant business. His patch and scars were a permanent reminder of my actions. “I stabbed you, Shiloh. Many times. If I could time travel—”
“There’s nothing for me to forgive,” he interrupted. “You defended yourself from a madman. I could never be angry with you for it.”
We smiled watery smiles and released each other. Friends. But. Seeing him and Jericho made my mistakes with Cyrus so much clearer. I pressed a trembling hand to my lips. He’d tried to tell me the truth. To the best of his ability, he’d tried, and I had betrayed him. Me. I was the disloyal one.
Guess I needed to eat my shoes.
Guilt and shame churned with more force. I’d lost him and for what? Failing to take a beat and listen.
“Do I get a hug too?” Jericho asked with his usual snark.
“No,” Shiloh and I answered in unison.
“Then we’re agreed.” Impatient, Jericho shifted his gaze to Ember. “Can I go now?”
“No.” The harsh male voice filled the room, and I spun to face the newest arrival, my heart thudding.
Cyrus stood in the open doorway, a tower of strength despite a dozen cuts and gashes littering his face and hands. His expression remained blank, his eyes as cold and hard as steel.
He didn’t glance my way as he strode inside. “I broke from the unit searching for Arden, so my time is short. Let’s get this done.”