Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(33)

Because wine.

And tequila.

Deciding I was done waiting for the Shadow Bastard to return to me, I made my way toward the shimmering veil, wondering if I might find him in the cathedral room. Heading forward with determination, I did not for a minute think I would be allowed to step free from the library, but there was no resistance as I sent my arm through first, testing for alarms or traps.

Seemed to be all clear.

“Come on, Inky,” I said with excitement. I needed a name for the smoky darkness, so I could easily differentiate it from Shadow. “Looks like we’re going on an adventure.”

Stepping through to the other side, I wondered what the point of the swirling darkness that separated the two rooms was. Could Shadow stop beings from entering if he wanted— My thoughts ended abruptly as I reached the other side. “What in the…” I gasped as a dozen eyes looked my way.

This room of windows and doors, the empty, light-filled space, was now a bustling hive of activity. And just like in Shadow’s lair, there were hundreds of shelves stacked with books, filling all the spaces between the windows, pillars, and doors.

I kept blinking, like that would clear my sight and I’d once again be seeing the empty space.

A tiny, brown-skinned, wrinkle-faced being hurried over to me, and I was still just blinking with no idea how to handle this new world. “Welcome to the Library of Knowledge, Mera,” he chirped.

“My name is Gaster, of the underground goblin clan of Faerie.”

Did he just say goblin? I stared harder at his bald head, round face, and slightly pointed ears.

Okay, I could see it now.

I choked out some words. “You speak English?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I speak lower-level fae.”

“What—” I was cut off as he continued.

“You will be able to speak all dialects, understand all written word, and converse with all manner of races within these walls. You will meet many who make their homes in the dimensions connected to this library. As I said, I’m from Faerie.”

He stuck his hand out and I stared down at it before reaching out to grasp it. “That’s a very human gesture,” I noted.

He smiled, drawing my gaze to the unusual structure of his face. His eyes were huge, taking up half his face, the irises and pupils pitch black without an ounce of white. He stood about three feet tall, his skin gnarled like an old root of a tree, and he didn’t have an ounce of hair on him that I could see. I wanted to study him closer, but it felt rude, so I kept my focus on his face.

“I have studied all cultures. As the concierge here, it’s my job to guide all who step foot into these halls.”

He bowed and as he rose, I finally noticed he was the perfect height to see right up my shirt. Not that he’d even made an attempt to glance, but still… “Do you happen to know if there’s anywhere to get some spare clothing?” I gestured to the expanse of naked leg beneath the torn shirt. “I’m sort of running out of cotton.”

Gaster’s little face lit up; he looked downright excited by the prospect of having a task. “Yes! We have a room that can give you goods in exchange for daems.”

I blinked at him. “Daem?”

It sounded like day-em, and I had never heard of that type of currency before. “It’s the Shadow Beast’s currency,” he chirped. “But he gave me permission to allow you an initial entrance without payment. He said you’ll eventually work it off in the library.”

Color me shocked that he hadn’t planned my death yet. Maybe he was still undecided. Either way, I was once again here to live another day, and that was about all I could ask from this shitshow I called a life.

Looking around, I stared at the many beings inhabiting the Library of Knowledge. So many of them were completely foreign in appearance. They were all clearly here for one reason, though: reading, reading, reading. Devouring the knowledge in these shelves. “Does everyone work here?” I asked.

Gaster followed my line of sight. “Oh, no. Only the goblins. My brethren work in the library. The others are a few selected from their worlds, allowed to access the information held here.”

Before I could voice the million other questions I had, he reached out and grasped my hand, dragging me away from the veil of Shadow’s lair and through the long hall in the middle of the library. “How many worlds are there?” I whispered, more to myself, as we passed dozens of beings, each of them so vastly different from each other, I literally couldn’t take them all in with enough detail.

Gaster chuckled, a grating sound that was almost unpleasant. “It has been a long time since I met someone who didn’t know about the supernatural world. About the Solaris System that connects and branches to each of the lands.”

I shrugged. “I mean, I’m a shifter, so I knew that there were more than humans out there, but outside of Shadow, Inky, and now you, I’ve never actually met any others.”

He blinked, those black orbs so reflective that all the lights surrounding us could be seen in them.

“Shadow and Inky?”

I jerked my head toward the darkness following me. “That thing and its master.”

Gaster nodded, like he understood. “Ah, yes. They’re the supreme beings around here. We do not mess with his section of the library, and in return, he doesn’t destroy us all. We also catalog his books. The symbiosis works.” His eyes darted toward Inky, like he was relaying that information directly to the blob.