Page 26 of Wicked Curses
“But there’s not light everywhere.” She had to use a lantern and candles in her room last night.
“No, but the lights in the main area of the pub are the same,” Orin said. “It doesn’t extend to our rooms.”
Sahira bit her lip as she pondered this while taking in more of the library. Books covered every available shelf space, and more lay on the tables spread throughout the room.
Some immortals sat at those tables, flipping through pages. Three comfy armchairs rested near the side windows; immortals occupied two of them, and books were piled on the tables beside them.
Two winding staircases twisted up to the balconies lining the second floor before continuing to more balconies on the third. More immortals strolled those balconies as they searched for books, and rolling ladders were set up on each floor.
On the third floor, a dwarf was using one of the ladders to remove a book from the top shelf. An imp on the second floor spun around a ladder while rolling it toward the end of the bookcase.
Everyone looked up when it stopped with a clatter, and Gromuck slammed her hand on the table. Barely two feet tall, the imp’s big round green ears bowed over a little as it gave a sheepish grin before darting up the ladder to retrieve a book.
On the first floor, more rolling ladders leaned against the shelves. A lycan stood on one, examining the spines before pulling a book free.
Whatever hope Sahira held about quickly finding answers here deflated as she took in thousands of books. Even if she managed to read one book a day, it would take her decades to get through them all.
She’d expected a small, one-story library with maybe a hundred books. She’d been completely wrong.
“Daunting, is it?” Orin inquired.
For the first time, she didn’t detect any arrogance in his voice. He was simply stating the sad, deflating truth.
“Shit,” she breathed.
“But it also makes you think there’s an answer here, right?”
“Or it’s another freaking game set up by whoever created this place.”
“I’ve considered that too.”
“I think we all have,” Elsa said. “But every new arrival comes here and starts reading.”
“Are you still reading?” Sahira asked her.
Elsa smiled sadly as she surveyed the shelves. “I’ve been here for ten years, and I’m about halfway through the second floor.”
Sahira’s heart sank into her stomach.Ten years!
“I’m not giving up. Besides, what else is there to do here?” Elsa didn’t wait for an answer as she pointed to a large wooden desk sitting kitty-corner between two windows. Books were stacked two and three feet high on top of it. “When you’re ready, I’ll be behind the desk cataloging returns. We can start on your training then.”
Elsa walked to the ornate desk they must have built with the place, as it was attached to the wall and floor. A couple of baskets sat beside the desk; more books filled them.
Despite her every intention not to engage with Orin unless necessary, she couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Have you started reading?”
The corner of his mouth twitched toward a smile. “I’m on book fifteen.”
Sahira looked over the books again. “Has anyone read them all?”
“A couple dozen immortals have,” the pixie said in her tiny voice. “Most give up hope; what’s the point in going through them all when other immortals have discovered nothing?”
Sahira hated to admit she was wondering the same depressing thing. She could be in the gardens, with her hands in the dirt and the power of the earth beneath her fingers.
It was a much happier place than this dimly lit, vast place with desperate immortals clinging to hope as they flipped through these ancient works. Still, she couldn’t give up. Shewouldn’tgive up.
“What are all these books about?” she asked.
“A little bit of everything,” Orin responded. “There’s romance, sci-fi, fantasy, nonfiction, tomes on the warlocks, lycan, dark fae, witches, and so on and so on.”
