Page 16 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter sixteen

X ander rubbed his aching temples with the pads of his long fingers. Glancing over at his candle, he found that it was almost burned down, and he would have to fetch another one soon. He debated just letting it burn out and calling it a night, but he really should finish the research he was doing. With the dwindling ranks of Defenders, his work on fortifying the Sanctuary’s wards was becoming critical.

He glanced up at the glass ceiling of the library to where the silver crescent of the moon hung high in the sky. It must be well past midnight. He turned back to his work, telling himself he would make sure he was in bed before dawn.

He started, almost knocking over his candle, when a hand slid onto his shoulder. He heard a feminine chuckle, and a voice said very close to his ear, “Leaving me cold and lonely again tonight?”

Xander relaxed. He had forgotten how silent Aediene could be when she wished. He reached up to take the hand resting on his shoulder and pulled her around until she was in front of him. Instead of standing before him, however, she slid onto his lap, placing a hand on each of his shoulders.

“You know how important this is, Aediene,” he said, but his hands somehow made their way to her waist of their own accord. “If I don’t figure out a way to strengthen the wards with all the losses we are taking…” he trailed off.

“Are you really making much progress this late at night? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think you will be much good to the Defenders if you collapse from exhaustion every time you try to stand up.”

Xander closed his eyes and let his head fall forward, resting his forehead against her muscular shoulder. One of Aediene’s hands left his shoulder to card through his hair, and he melted into the sensation.

“I just can’t sleep,” he whispered into her shoulder. “Every time I close my eyes, I keep envisioning what will happen if the wards fail. All I can think about is how I could be doing more to help.”

“You can help by getting enough sleep to be a functioning human being,” Aediene chided, but he just let out a puff of air against her skin.

She pushed off him and stood up, and Xander kept his hands on her waist, having half a mind to pull her right back down so he could continue hiding his face in her shoulder. Instead, she took his hands in hers and tugged, saying, “Come on, I have an idea.”

Xander pushed himself to his feet, and they both giggled as his knees creaked audibly from sitting in the same position for so long. The warm cadence of her laughter reminded him that they were alone in the library, and nobody was there to see them if he were to lay her down on the paper-strewn table and take comfort in her body. Before he could act on the thought, she began leading him out of the library, and he trailed in her wake.

They wove their way out of the Sanctuary to a grassy slope, and Aediene flopped down, patting the grass next to her for Xander to do the same. Once they were both seated, Aediene turned her face up to the night sky and said, “Remember how we used to fall asleep out here, looking up at the stars with you telling me stories about the constellations? We haven’t done that in a while.”

Xander laid back on the grass, pulling Aediene with him so her head was resting against his shoulder.

“I do remember,” he said, “They were some of my favorite nights. It seems like there are fewer and fewer stars every time I look up now, though.”

“It does seem like things have been getting darker, but there is still plenty of light up there if you look for it.”

Xander propped his head up to look down at her moonlit profile. “I suppose you’re right. I still see plenty of light.”

She glanced up at him and smiled, knowing he wasn’t talking about the stars.

“Then I’ll always stay and be your light, even through the darkest night,” Aediene promised him.

Xander, normally quite comfortable expressing himself with words, couldn’t come up with a fitting response to her promise. He settled instead for cupping a hand around the back of her neck and bringing her face to his to kiss her soundly. It was a promise of his own, and when Aediene smiled against his mouth, Xander knew that she understood what he was trying to say.

They spent the rest of the night in the grass, telling each other stories like they had on nights past. Eventually, they drifted off to sleep, limbs wrapped around one another. This time, when Xander drifted off to sleep, he didn’t worry about anything else he should be doing.