Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(58)

Well, nine. No one knew shit about the Shadow Realm. Except Shadow himself, and he was not the share-with-the-class type.

“I really want to visit the worlds,” I told Gaster, following him around to help shelve books.

“Like, each of them at least once so I can experience the differences.”

He tilted his head back, hands still moving as he placed books without looking. Somehow, he just knew where they went. “Most of them would more than welcome your exploration. A few are not so hospitable, but if you’d like me to compose a travel guide for you, I’d be happy to in my spare time.”

I hugged him, taking the poor guy completely by surprise. No one here randomly hugged—that was apparently an Earth tradition—so I kept startling these poor beings.

“Thank you, Gaster! And even though I know you have zero free time, if you can find some, I’d love a travel guide.”

There was no way I could sneak into the worlds without some help. I couldn’t speak the languages, could not blend, and had no idea of the many and varied dangers I was sure existed. But if Gaster got this guide to me… it would help so much.

“I know Honor Meadows is a lot like Earth,” I said. “And I loved visiting with Angel, but I really hope to see at least a few of the other worlds.”

Gaster nodded, eyes back on his books. “Honor Meadows would be familiar to you, except for the way they use magic in place of technology and science. They’re nature-based in many ways.”

I knew all of this from my research, but I always enjoyed hearing about the worlds. “They pass their magic through the family lines?” I asked to confirm.

“Oh, yes,” Gaster chirped. “The larger and stronger your family line is or was, the more magic and land you will control.”

That made me think of Angel, whom I was almost certain had no one left at all in her family. Was that why she was so powerful? Or had these deaths actually weakened her power-wise?

“Ms. Mera!”

I spun as Lady Hel dashed up. The demi-fey royal didn’t usually speak directly to me, but it seemed she had a message.

“Hey, Lady,” I said with a smile. “What’s up?”

She was briefly confused by my turn of phrase before she plastered a smile back on. “Master wants us to release you from sweeping duty. You’ve paid off your initial daem loan and can now move on to other tasks. He wasn’t sure what you’d like to do instead, though. Do you have any ideas?”

Gaster looked ecstatic by this news. “You can roam around now and check out more books.”

It clearly hadn’t escaped his attention that while I’d been “sweeping,” I’d managed to do a lot of reading too.

“That sounds amazing…” I trailed off as a familiar face came into view, back in the shelves.

Someone I desperately needed to speak with. “Let me just wander for a while. Maybe a new task will come to me,” I finished, distracted.

Gaster and Lady Hel didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, yes, fantastic idea,” he said. “You explore the many shelves, read the books that catch your eye, but don’t try to unlock any books that have a key insert on them.”

That caught my full attention. “Key insert?”

He spun and perused the nearest shelves before apparently finding one of these “untouchable”

tomes. “See this,” he said, holding the spine close to my face. Straightaway, I noticed the small metal insert, with its perfectly round hole. “They’re locked for the safety of the reader or to protect classified information. It will zap you quite hard if you try to bypass the lock, and I’m not sure if you’d be strong enough…”

He trailed off, but we all got the gist of what he was saying.

“No worries, Gaster,” I said. “Plenty to read here without worrying about ones that might burn my eyes out.”

He was all smiles again, satisfied his warning had been delivered, as he placed the non-descript book back in the shelf. “Call if you need me,” he cried before hurrying off again. If I had one tenth of his energy, I’d probably be a hell of a lot more accomplished than I was.

But there was no time to worry about my laziness, as I went into stealth mode, stalking the male I’d caught sight of before: Len of the Silver Lands. This was the first time I’d seen any of Shadow’s friends in here, and I was not wasting the opportunity.

The fae was dressed in silver robes again, these ones even more elaborate and exquisite than the last set. How he walked about with so many gems and all that metal adorning his arms was beyond me, but it didn’t seem to hinder him as he grabbed at random books. He was searching for something specific, and almost everything left a disappointed look on his face.

“You could help, rather than lurk in the shadows,” he said, not turning. “Pun intended.”

Pun? Some sort of dig about Shadow that I wasn’t quite getting.

I stepped out from behind the shelves. “How long have you known I was there?”

He chuckled, a deep, rich sound that I was pretty sure contained all the fucking magic of the world, if the sensation along my skin was any indication. “I saw you before you were even born, sweet wolf. There’s nowhere you can hide.”

What?

“Okay, sure, that makes sense.” Not even remotely. “But for real… Do you need any help with your search?”