Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,39

his arms stubbornly over his chest. “No.”

A windstorm struck the bindery, scattering papers, flipping open journals, even hurling a pile of books from the table. Ves braced himself, its magic flowing around him. He didn’t know what this thing was—but it didn’t know what he was, either.

The door opened and Sebastian stepped inside. “Are you—” he began.

A gust slammed the door behind him—and then there were books lifting up, flying at him in the storm.

Ves didn’t think, only moved. He flung himself onto Sebastian, knocking him to the floor, and did his best to cover the taller man with his own body. Books slammed into him with bruising force, and the binding awl from his own kit buried itself in the back of his thigh. He gritted his teeth and fought to keep control, to not give himself away.

The wind died away, its fury exhausted. Ves remained in place, waiting for it to start up again, but nothing happened.

He sat up, just a little. Sebastian was under him, blinking in surprise. Ves became suddenly, achingly aware of the other man’s body beneath his. Long thighs pressed against his own, and the sight of Sebastian’s wind-tumbled hair and flushed cheeks sent a rush of blood to his groin.

He rolled off of Sebastian hastily. The motion bumped the awl in his leg, and the sharp pain killed his ardor. He yanked it free and took out his handkerchief to clean off the blood.

“You’re hurt,” Sebastian said, sitting up.

“I’m fine.” With the thin steel awl out, the flesh would have already closed. One of the few benefits of being a monster.

The bindery was a mess, with scattered paper and thrown books everywhere. As for the ghost, or spirit, or whatever it had been, there was no trace.

“What the hell is going on in this library?” Ves wondered aloud.

Sebastian climbed to his feet, then reached down to help Ves up. Instead of releasing his hand, he stared into Ves’s eyes. “In this specific case, I have no idea.” He took a deep breath, as if bracing himself. “Vesper…there’s something you should know.”

Sebastian’s fingers were warm and soft against his own. “Wh-what?” Ves managed through the tightness in his throat.

“You’re going to think me mad, but…” Sebastian’s mouth quirked ruefully. “Sorcery—magic—is real.”

They went to Marsh’s for lunch; Sebastian didn’t want to conduct a discussion of magic on an empty stomach. He spent the walk over trying to think how to convince Ves of the truth of the world. As for his part, Ves remained silent, even when they slipped across from one another in a booth near the back of the restaurant. Did he think Sebastian was a lunatic?

When Sebastian had come to fetch Ves to go to lunch, he’d been shocked to step inside and find himself in the middle of a windstorm. Then even more shocked when Ves had knocked him to the ground and proceeded to try and protect Sebastian with his own body.

It warmed him to know that Ves would do that for him. He only wished he’d been able to enjoy the position. He tried to remember the sensation of Ves’s weight atop him, but it was drowned out by confusion and fear.

Ah, well. Perhaps he’d get another chance. Assuming he could convince Ves that he wasn’t a ranting maniac, at least.

They both ordered coffee and the fish sandwich. While they waited on their food to come, Ves leaned back in the booth. “So. Magic.”

How on earth was he to explain this to an outsider? “This will sound as though I should be sent to Danvers, but hear me out. There are things in this world that most people don’t know about.” Sebastian fixed his gaze intently on Ves, trying to convince him with will alone. “Beings, both earthly and from the Outside, beyond our comprehension. Arcane lines inscribed on the world. Sorcery.”

Ves nodded. “I know.”

“You—you know?” Sebastian gaped at him. “How on earth do you know that?”

Ves’s brows lowered. “I’m more concerned about how you know, Sebastian. Are you a sorcerer?”

“Good God, no. Are you?”

“I couldn’t cast a spell if my life depended on it.” Ves’s chin lifted slightly. “So you aren’t a sorcerer. Why do you know about the arcane arts, then?”

“At this point, almost everyone in town does,” Sebastian said. “Again, this might sound mad, but it’s the truth. A cult tried to end the world as we know it in 1902 and bring back those who had once been masters over the earth, before the age