The midnight hour chimed through the castle, the off-kilter ringing of the wretched clock tower in the garden echoing through the dark, silent halls. Though Chaol had escorted her to her door, five minutes of pacing in her bedroom had sent her wandering again, heading for the library. She had mountains of unread books sitting in her rooms but didn’t feel like reading any of them. She needed something to do. Something to take her mind off her discussion with Chaol and the memories she’d dragged into the open tonight.
Celaena wrapped her cloak tightly around her, glaring at the fierce winds whipping the snow outside the drafty windows. Hopefully there would be a few hearths lit in the library. If not, she’d grab a book that did interest her, run back to her room, and curl up with Fleetfoot in her toasty bed.
Celaena turned a corner, entering the dark, window-lined hallway that ran past the towering doors of the library, and froze.
With the chill tonight, it was no surprise to see someone completely concealed by a black cloak, hood drawn far over the face. But something about the figure standing between the open library doors made some ancient, primal part of her send a warning pulse so strong that she didn’t take another step.
The person swiveled its head toward her, pausing as well.
Outside the hall windows, snow swirled, pressing against the glass.
It was just a person, she told herself as the figure now turned to face her fully. A person wearing a cloak darker than night, a hood so heavy it concealed every feature of the face inside.
It sniffed at her, a huffing, animal sound.
She didn’t dare move.
It sniffed again, and took a step toward her. The way it moved, like smoke and shadow …
A faint warmth bloomed against her chest, then a pulsing blue light—
The Eye of Elena was glowing.
The thing halted, and Celaena stopped breathing.
It hissed, and then slithered a step back into the shadows beyond the library doors. The tiny blue gem in the center of her amulet glowed brighter, and Celaena blinked against the light.
When she opened her eyes, the amulet was dark, and the hooded creature was gone.
Not a trace, not even a sound of footsteps.
Celaena didn’t go into the library. Oh, no. She just walked quickly back to her rooms with as much dignity as she could muster. Though she kept telling herself that she’d imagined it all, that it was some hallucination from too many hours awake, Celaena couldn’t stop hearing that cursed word again and again.
Plans.