Chosen - Kiersten White Page 0,13
shower, then walk to the library to kill a couple hours—the only thing I’m allowed to kill, I guess—before everyone gathers for our weekly meeting. We gave up the council room, preferring the cushy chairs we dragged into the library and set up in a circle. It feels more familiar to us than a stiff, formal room anyway.
The whole castle is dark and asleep. So I stop short when I see a strip of light beneath the polished wood door to the library. I have to fight against the instant alarm and wariness that seizes me. It’s probably Rhys, or my mother. Still, I open the door as silently as possible, on high alert. And then I freeze. It’s a familiar face, after all. But not one I expected to find.
Artemis?
Artemis!
“You’re back!” I rush into the room and throw my arms around Artemis in a hug. She came back. Seeing her here is like being able to take a deep breath for the first time in months. Things are going to be better now.
She’s holding a thick book, and it presses into me between us, trapped by my hug. “I knew it. I knew you’d finally get smart and leave Honora. I’m so happy you’re home! We have so much to talk about!”
But Artemis hasn’t said anything. And she’s still just holding that book. If she snuck in to come home, why wasn’t she waiting in our room? Why is she in the library? I cringe with guilt and try to form something like sympathy on my face as I release her. “Are you okay? Was it a bad breakup?”
I don’t hope it was. But I hope it was. Get it together, Nina. It’s my turn to be here for Artemis. She must not have been ready to face everyone yet after walking out on us for Honora and having that fall apart. I will not let my glee show. “We’ve all missed you.”
She still hasn’t said anything, and an alarm is ringing insistently somewhere inside me. Something is wrong. Did she get hurt? Is she in trouble? I babble, trying to fill the space between us. “We have meetings in here now. Didn’t want to use the old council room. Too stuffy. And we don’t really have lessons anymore. Not like we used to, anyway, though obviously Rhys still spends every waking hour studying. He’s working on some really great resources for us. And Imogen isn’t in charge of the Littles or teaching anymore; she’s mostly in the kitchen. Wait until you try her cookies. You won’t have to do those duties anymore, not unless you want to. We’ll work you into the schedule however you want, though everyone has to do a shift of bathroom cleaning, unfortunately. I tried to argue that it’s not part of my skills as a Slayer, but no one bought it. Anyway, you’ll get to pick what you want to do now, so that’s good, right?”
“I’m not back, Nina.”
The blow I was bracing for lands. I sit, staring at her. “Just visiting?” I keep my tone light and hopeful. But this doesn’t feel like a friendly visit. You don’t sneak into the castle in the dead of night if you want to pop by to check on how everyone’s doing. “Lots of new residents to introduce you to. How long are you staying?”
“You know I’m not.” She shakes her head, then sits across from me. But she’s not slumped in a chair. She’s perched on the edge of it, halfway up already. I can’t put my finger on what’s different until I realize she’s bracing herself against me. She used to orbit around me, always busy, anticipating needs before I had them. The way she’s sitting, it’s not like she’s half ready to get up and help me with something. It’s like she’s in a runner’s crouch, ready to take off. Away from me.
She finally looks me in the eyes. The rest of my dream hits me like cold water, plunging me back into the memory of laying her body down. We do look more alike now. But that fills me with panic. I don’t want that dream to be right about anything.
“You should turn them out,” Artemis says.
“Who?” I ask, trying to get the image of all the bodies out of my head.
“The demons.”
“Why would we do that?”
“They make you a target.”
“I’m already a target. We all are. We’re protecting ourselves and everyone else who needs it.” I sound more desperate than