“I think I’ll need to take a raincheck on dinner.”
I raced out the door.
Three
A good night’s sleep and no reappearance of glowing eyes (or anything else even weirder) had muted some of my panic. But I couldn’t let go of the incident. I kept envisioning Adira in her office, one moment human and the next, not. I needed to figure out what Oanen had seen and if it was an omen of something more to come.
After a quick text to Eliana to let her know I didn’t need a ride, I drove to the Academy early, determined to scour the library for any reference to furies. Knowing what I was and the purpose behind my existence barely skimmed the surface of the questions I had. There had to be something more about furies. Which of the gods created us, and why had that god thought creating a female with severe anger issues a good idea? What the hell was up with glowing eyes? What else would happen to me?
Adira’s comment about me having a true form kept coming back to haunt me. Why did the gods give us two forms? What kind of monster was I really?
Before I knew it, I was driving through Girderon’s main gate. Only a few cars sat in the parking lot when I came to a stop, and I walked the quiet halls without interruption.
The library door swung open at my touch. Setting my phone in the basket outside the door, I stepped inside, determined not to leave until I had some answers.
My eagerness faded as I skimmed through book after book. There was plenty of information on other obscure creatures I’d never even heard of. Draugr. Scylla. Ní?h?ggr. Echidna. Fylgja. Cave dwelling creatures. Snake women. Shapeshifting giants. Yet, nothing on furies except a vague reference in a slim book outlining the beginning of a war between the gods.
I read the meager three pages twice, trying to make sense of the story. But, it wasn’t just the reference to furies that was vague. The whole book read that way. Some argument or event had happened that brought even more unrest and conflict to the already discordant gods. The resulting war consumed not only the realms of those squabbling immortals, but also the realm of man. Deaths noted “too numerous to endure” flooded the underworld with souls so greatly that even the furies stopped punishing the living wicked in their need to deliver souls to their master. It didn’t say how the war ended, who won, or anything further about the gods or master of the furies. It only described the destroyed world of man, the much beloved mortal world all the gods coveted.
My stomach began to growl loudly long before a knock sounded at the door. I released the book I currently skimmed and let it fly back to its shelf as I stood. This time when I opened the door, Oanen stood against the opposite wall of the hall, his ankles crossed as he leaned in a relaxed pose.
“Expecting to wait a while?” I asked.
“Since that was the third knock, yes.”
“Really? Sorry. I didn’t think I was that deep into what I was reading. Not when it completely didn’t make any sense.”
He stayed in his relaxed position and lifted a hand, offering me my phone. Curious why he had it, I stepped closer. It wasn’t until he hooked his arms around me that I understood he’d used it as bait. Before I could protest, he tugged me close.
I tripped forward, colliding with his chest, and he grinned down at me. One arm weighing against my waist, he lifted a hand and brushed the backs of his fingers along my jaw.
“Have dinner with me tonight, Megan.”
I stared up at him with wide eyes as I struggled to breathe normally and swallow past the sudden dryness in my throat.
“Why are you so afraid of a simple dinner?” His soft question sent a shiver of hunger through me. The way he’d said it, I knew that dinner with Oanen wouldn’t be simple. It would be full of his heated looks and my increasingly harder to deny need to touch him. A date with Oanen would likely end with a lot more than the touching we were doing now.
My gaze dipped to his mouth as I imagined just how we would end our night.
“Megan, I will break every promise I made to behave if you give in to what you’re thinking right now.”
I lifted my gaze to his and braced my hands on his shoulders. He started closing the distance.
“You are so incredibly warm,” he said.
His exhale tickled my lips.
“Megan. Oanen. May I interrupt for a moment?” Adira asked, her voice coming from right behind us.
I jumped and jerked back. Oanen sighed and released me. Turning with an embarrassed flush, I faced Adira. The woman smiled kindly and addressed Oanen.
“I apologize for the intrusion. I heard you ask about dinner and was wondering if you could postpone it. There are a few liaison duties that require Megan’s attention tonight.”
She focused on me.
“We would like you to meet us at the Quills’ residence after you’re finished here. There are a few human recruits we want you to meet.”
Any remnants of the good feelings I had from touching Oanen fled in a hurry.
“You’re bringing more humans to Uttira after the talk we had?”
“Yes. But, it is because of your talk. As you said, humans are not solitary creatures. We believe that bringing more here not only replaces those we’ve lost but will help the ones who remain. I will see you after sessions.”
Before I could open my mouth to argue further, she disappeared. Just vanished.
“Argh! I want to hit her,” I said, looking up at Oanen. “All of them. They didn’t hear a single thing I said. Bringing more humans won’t fix anything for the humans already here. Why can’t they see that?”
He reached for my hand, threading his fingers through mine.
“They will see. You’ll make sure of that. Come on. Let’s get you something to eat before your stomach gets any louder.”
He began to lead me down the hall. I gently tugged my hand from his before my heart exploded, then wrinkled my nose as I realized I’d forgotten to eat breakfast and hadn’t brought a lunch.
“I’ll need to get a tray today,” I said.
“Why? I packed you a lunch,” he said, not commenting on my withdrawal.
“Thank you. You really didn’t need to do that though.”
He looked at me. “Did you enjoy yesterday’s lunch?”
“Yes. It tasted better than anything I could make for myself.”
“Then I’ll keep making them.”
The butterflies those words sent flying in my stomach had nothing to do with hunger.
We joined Eliana on the lawn outside. I sat beside Eliana, and Oanen sat on the opposite side of me, his thigh touching mine. Doing my best to ignore the contact, I handed him his lunch bag and opened the one he’d made for me.
“I can’t find anything useful in that library,” I said a moment before taking my first bite.
“I’m not surprised,” Eliana said. “I mean, if you think about it, our kind was created before the written word was hugely popular. Most of our history would have been passed down verbally through the years. The stuff that’s in there is likely from modern times when knowing how to read and write became more commonplace.”
“Then why am I wasting my time in there?”
“Because some information is better than no information,” Eliana said. “Adira doesn’t do things that are a waste of time. If she wanted you to read the books, there’s a reason.”
“I wish she’d just tell me what that reason is.”
“That’s not how she works,” Oanen said. “She’s all about self-discovery and the importance of the struggle to gain knowledge. She says it gives the knowledge more meaning.”
I sighed and kept eating my sandwich. How could struggling to learn the truth give the truth any more meaning than it had? It made no sense to me. However, as much as the library frustrated me, it was better than spending the day stuck in a classroom with other students.