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Almost as if to prove that had to be the case, she decided to kiss him. Unfortunately, that only told her she was utterly wrong.

At first, he stiffened in shock. But he quickly sank into the kiss, making her realize just how little she knew about this particular activity.

His warm lips moved tenderly against hers, telling her that her urgent pressing of her mouth against his wasn’t quite right. She deliberately relaxed, focusing on every sensation as his hands moved to cradle her, one hand against the small of her back and the other at the base of her neck beneath her hair. Every touch sent delicious waves of pleasure coursing through her. It was even more potent than the charge of energy she experienced when she shifted.

A soft moan built in her throat as his lips moved against hers. She felt his hand move from around her neck to the side of her jaw. When he traced the delicate skin there, it sent another shiver through her.

“Open for me,” he whispered.

When she obediently parted her lips, he kissed her in a way that put even her most lucid dream kisses to shame. His tongue touched hers, introducing a whole new layer of sensation to the experience. She suddenly understood why this was seen as such a huge moment in someone’s existence. It was
amazing
.

Before long, the kiss took on a sense of urgency that frightened her. Yet she found herself making even more noises of approval in the back of her throat. Combined with his touch, she thought she might ignite into a pile of cinder.

He broke their connection when they both needed to catch their breath. The abrupt parting brought with it a healthy dose of sobriety.

When she pulled away, he didn’t stop her. They stood staring at each other for a long moment. She easily saw the emotions that he had been keeping from her all of these years. He clearly struggled to keep his eyes on her face, verifying what he told her a few minutes ago. She suddenly saw the last five years in an entirely different way.

And it broke her heart.

Moving over to the log holding her clothes, she dressed in the moonlight, feeling his eyes on her the entire time. She wondered if he would speak, but wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. He knew her well enough to understand that she required time to process information, especially regarding new discoveries.

When she was once again dressed, she faced him again. “I really wish you had told me this sooner, Quincy.”

His silver eyes caught the moonlight. She read the regret there. “I should have.”

“You understand now that in the span of half a day, I’ve learned that you’ve kept two life-altering pieces of information from me,” she said levelly. “You’ve kept them from me for years, despite the fact that I had a right to know both.”

He started to say something, then stopped himself. Eventually, he just said, “Yes.”

“You’ve shattered any trust between us,” she said, feeling emotion burning behind her eyes and fighting against it.

“I know,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, Sophia. I won’t offer you excuses. But I will ask you if you think there’s any chance I can rebuild that trust.”

She hadn’t ever felt such an overwhelming mix of emotions as what coursed through her right then. Anger had her wanting to lash out at him and insist there was no way she would ever trust him again. But because he finally held her gaze for longer than a brief moment, she saw how much her words impacted him. There was no way she would be able to sift through everything she had just learned in such a brief span of time.

Though she knew it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, she gave him the truth.

“I don’t know.”

“Hoygul feels that the scroll piece is safer in the hidden library than it would be outside and in the possession of an individual,” Clara Kate said.

She sat next to her mother on one of the large logs around the outdoor fire pit not too far from the training paddock. When Quincy and Sophia returned, it was to find everyone getting ready for a gathering around the fire. The families usually did this a couple of times a month, letting the kids roast marshmallows and stay up past their usual bedtimes. At the moment, the younger kids all played a game in the distance, freeing their parents and older siblings up for this conversation.

Quincy sat with Tiege and Ariana on a log next to Clara Kate and her parents. Tate sat beside her parents with Zachariah standing behind her. Jabari, Sebastian and Ini-herit took up the next log, leaving Sophia seated beside her parents on the other side of the fire.

Knowing his guilt was all over his face, Quincy tried not to look at any of them. It had been a very painful and quiet walk back with Sophia.

He’d really made a mess of things now.

Gabriel looked over at him. “Quincy, when you dealt with Hoygul, what convinced him to give you and Saraqael the map?”

Bringing his focus to the issue at hand, Quincy responded, “Saraqael told Hoygul about his quest to save Kate. Hoygul and Saraqael got into an odd conversation about Hoygul’s writing…the stories he was forced to leave behind on the human plane when the planes were separated. He asked if humans still studied his work under the name Homer, and whether Saraqael could tell him who Odysseus’ love was.”

“Penelope,” Clara Kate, Sophia and Olivia all said at the same time.

“Yes,” Quincy said. “As soon as Saraqael answered him, Hoygul agreed to give us the map.”

There was a moment where the only sound was the fire crackling. Quincy noticed a few looks shared between the parents of the Kynzesti and the elders and imagined they were exchanging thoughts.

Though he knew he shouldn’t, he glanced at Sophia. The firelight made her already beautiful features even more striking. When he found himself remembering how unbelievable she tasted, he forced himself to turn his thoughts. That was when he realized she was looking across the fire in his direction.

His heart rate picked up. Was she also thinking about their kiss?

Then he clued into the fact that she wasn’t looking right at him, but beside him. Feeling like an idiot, he also looked over to see what had captured her attention. Ariana sat wringing her hands and staring into the fire. Her face was pale, but she appeared calmer than in recent days.

“Hoygul’s point that the scroll is safer in the library is a valid one,” Jabari said, turning his attention.

“However,” Gabriel added, “Hoygul’s home isn’t exactly secure. While it isn’t easy to find and it’s surrounded by a jungle that most beings won’t willingly pass through, it isn’t protected in the same way as Central or the homes of the elders.”

“Why not?” Tate asked.

Ini-herit answered. “It was not seen as necessary. Very few know that Hoygul holds the map to the ancient library. Nearly as few would have any interest in traveling there. Most Estilorians, in fact, are unaware of the library’s existence.”

“How did you find out about it, Quincy?” C.K. asked.

“I, uh, was told about it by commander Raphael,” he replied.

He tried not to flush when he felt his elder’s gaze settle on him. He hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with his class commander regarding his reasons for wanting access to some of the oldest and most powerful texts on the human plane. He suspected that after Saraqael died, his elder found out that Quincy had basically deceived the commander.

“Do we have any idea if Eirik knows about the library?” Sophia asked.

“Uriel is communicating regularly with his scouts,” Gabriel said, “but they haven’t discovered Eirik’s location. It appears that he’s laying low rather than rebuilding his forces.”

“We have no reason to believe that he knows about the library yet,” Jabari added.

The “yet” wasn’t lost on any of them. Quincy considered what might happen if Eirik somehow learned about the library. Hoygul would likely be brutally tortured, if not killed, for the powerful information he held.

“I don’t understand why you just don’t make Hoygul give you the map,” Tiege said with a frown. “You’re elders. Why should he have a right to refuse you?”

Jabari sighed. “The map is not a physical item,” he explained. “It is passed to a being through Hoygul’s abilities. It’s almost as though the map becomes a part of you.”

That was a fairly accurate description, Quincy thought. Saraqael had been the one to receive the map to the library. After Hoygul used his skills to activate the map, Saraqael flew there as though a homing beacon had been inserted into his head. Quincy, on the other hand, had received an internal “map” that only worked while inside the library. It ultimately led to the scroll Saraqael used to save Kate. If they hadn’t worked together, they never would have found it.

It appeared that Hoygul had a strong sense of protectiveness toward the items in the library and didn’t want to take any chances. That was what made him such a great map-keeper.

“Because the map requires Hoygul’s cooperation to obtain,” Jabari continued, “there is no
forcing
him to provide it.”

“Besides,” Sebastian said, “he’s only doing what we empowered him to do in the first place.”

Quincy considered Eirik and his penchant for torturing others. While it wasn’t something the elders would ever resort to, he suspected there might, indeed, be a way to force the map out of the Scultresti male. It was a true concern.

Tiege’s expression darkened. “That still makes no sense to me. You said yourselves that Hoygul is the only way we have to get to the library before Eirik does.”

“Not the only way.”

Ariana’s words were soft but clear, especially since they issued from right beside Quincy. Her lavender gaze remained focused on the fire. When Sophia got to her feet, Quincy glanced at her. She walked right toward him, making all of the thoughts vaporize from his brain.

Her gaze never met his. The deliberateness of it hit his heart like a viper’s strike. She walked past him and then knelt in front of Ariana. Her scent, like a mix of night blooms blended with crushed exotic spices, floated up to him as she took the other female’s hand.

“You’re right, Ariana,” Sophia said. “You can find the scroll piece.”

“How could you ask her to do that, Soph?” Tiege demanded. “She’s—”

“She’s strong,” Sophia interrupted, not looking away from Ariana. “And she’s more courageous than she knows.” A tear slid down Ariana’s cheek. “But what I know most about Ariana is that she cares about others. It’s why she became a Lekwuesti when she assumed her Estilorian form upon transitioning to this plane. It’s why she’ll do this…because she won’t want what happened to her to happen to anyone else.”

“There must be another way.”

“No, Tiege,” Ariana said. She finally looked away from the fire and turned to catch Tiege’s worried gaze. “I don’t think there is. I understand why you’re resistant to my doing this, and I thank you for it. Every part of me wants to resist it, too. But Sophia’s right.”

Quincy’s eyebrows rose as he realized what she was saying. He felt the surge of hope and excitement that circled through the group.

She was willing to go and get the scroll piece.

Then she turned back to Sophia. “You say that I’m courageous, but I’m not. I’m terrified and selfish enough that I want to spend the rest of my existence here. I’ll admit that the only reason I’m considering doing this at all is because I fear falling short of your opinion of me. I treasure the friendship you’ve shared with me, Sophia.”

“I understand. I feel the same,” Sophia said.

Quincy heard the emotion in her voice and ached to reach out and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Then his heart dropped into his stomach.

“Will you come with me?” Ariana asked.

“Of course,” Sophia replied without a moment’s hesitation.

A rush of conversation struck up then, but Quincy barely heard it. He watched Ariana reach out to hug Sophia and knew—because he knew Sophia—that there would be no swaying her from this course. Fear raced through him as he watched her stand and turn in her parents’ direction.

Olivia and James both rose as they objected to Sophia’s agreement to leave the homeland, but they stopped talking when she faced them.

“Mom and Dad,” she said in a calm tone as she stepped closer to them, “I need you to let me do this. I want to do it for Ariana and for the lives it will save.” She turned and waved toward Tate. “Tate will have to go to dissolve the illusion around the library once Ariana leads us there. Tiege isn’t going to let Ariana and Tate go without him, even if he has to use another illusion to sneak away like he did last time.”

Quincy watched Caleb and Skye exchange looks with each other and their children as they all considered this. The gravity of the situation was hugely apparent.

“Zachariah will go wherever Tate does,” Sophia continued, “and
archigos
Uriel already promised to send us with a host of Waresti. I won’t be alone.”

She stopped right in front of her parents, who both reached out to touch her shoulders. Quincy saw the conflict on their faces, yet knew they weren’t going to deny her. The outcome they all sought—stopping Eirik from reassembling the scroll—was too important. Any risk Sophia and the others took by traveling with heavy protection to the library was far outweighed by the need to guarantee the safety of all Estilorians.

“You’re right, honey,” James said, pulling Sophia into a hug. “But I’m not happy about it.”

“I know, Dad,” she said.

Her gaze slid to Quincy’s when she pulled back from the hug. He opened his mouth to speak. There was no way she was doing this without him. He would ask commander Raphael to come down to watch over Amber, Olivia and Skye while he traveled with the others, just as he had done before. Yes, that would—

“Uh oh,” Olivia said.

Everyone turned to look at her. Quincy surged to his feet. He knew that he wouldn’t be going with Sophia, after all.

“What is it?” Jabari asked, also getting to his feet.

“My water just broke,” Olivia replied.

DISTURB