After the Walls

Chapter 29

The warmth of the library tugs me in as I creak open the double doors. Oil lamps are scattered around the enormous room and splashing pools of light on the dozens of shelves. The distinct smell of ancient books permeates my nose. I glance behind me, checking for any watchful eyes in the hallway. But it's only a portrait of Ruben and Edward's grandmother, peering at me with bird-like regal energy.

I shuffle across the polished floorboards, pausing before the dying embers in the hearth. The last puffs of smoke splutter into the chimney. My heart putters as the silence of the library both calms me and sets my instincts on edge and I move deeper into the room, brushing through shelves that reach the coffered ceiling. Wooden ladders on rollers flank the beginning of each shelf.

Shadows slither around me, grazing my face and arms with their cold fingers. My hands glide over the book titles, catching dust on the tips of my fingers as I press to the furthest depths of the library. I reach the only window of the library. An arched panel with a view of the entire kingdom. The palace grounds, the Concave Sector, the river, the Convex Sector, and the mighty stone walls encompassing us all. People scurrying in the palace grounds below are mere specks.

I flinch.

The low, breathy sound of whispering and muffled sobbing drift into my senses from around the corner. My mouth goes dry and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Hello?" I say, scolding myself. What an absolute fool. Do I expect someone to just respond?

With a deep breath, I march around the corner and gasp, my hand flying to my chest. Ruben sits on the floor, legs stretched out, slumped against the wall. Candlelight gilds his face, and his eyes fixate on some phantom on the shelf before him, as wide as if he is indeed, staring at a ghost. Blood dribbles from his chin, and spilled down his front, staining his white linen shirt violet. Shadowteeth blood.

"Ruben," I say, breathless as the panic roars to life within my stomach and I crouch before him. "What happened?"

"I had to escape," he says with a tremble in his voice and a quiver in his lips. His forest eyes remain pinned on the shelf behind me. "They gave me another dose of the shadowteeth blood, and I didn't swallow. Spat it out. Into their faces. I wrenched myself free and... here I am."

"Has he sent his men after you?" I ask, brushing a loose strand of dark hair from his face.

Ruben only shrugs. "I can't go back there. I can't have more of that stuff." He digs into his trouser pocket, pulling out a tiny corked bottle, shimmering in the dull daylight.

A shiver slices up my spine and I stiffen. "What does it do, Ruben?"

He closes his eyes, shaking his head. "I can't tell. He'll cut out my tongue." Colour drains from his face as he splutters the words. "Be careful, Elle. You can't mess with the new system. He will destroy us all."

A foreign feeling stirs in my chest as I stare at the man before me; the person I love who looks like a stranger. I have never seen him cower in the face of fear.

I reach out and he flinches, startling me back. But I brush his cheek anyway, which scorches my fingers. "Let me help you," I say.

His eyes burn into my soul. "You can't help me, Elle. The blood ripped my mind into a thousand pieces. I don't know where to even begin."

"I will stand with you," I say. "I will stand with you while you gather the pieces of your mind together."

"But I'm insane!"

"It doesn't matter, Ruben. I will love you mad."

Red bursts into his cheeks and he huffs. "You don't want this life."