She pulled her hand free from Legend’s and scratched her healing wound, drawing a fresh surge of blood.
Drop it there, instructed the map, pointing to an eruption of spiders in the corner of the room. There were too many for Tella to make out a symbol, but she obeyed the map and instantly the spiders, the fetid ground, and the decaying walls all vanished.
One blink and the world was falling apart, and then she and Legend were in a courtyard made of sandstone walls covered in star jasmine that smelled as sweet as it looked. Tella took a timid breath. She wasn’t sure if this was another illusion or the Fated library, but it was extremely preferable to that cascade of killer spiders.
Above them half the sky was intense with sunlight, while the other half shimmered with stars. At one end of it was a decorative sandstone arch with two massive statues on either side, formed of sparkling peach sand. The statues’ lower halves were feline, while their torsos were human, one male, one female. Their heads would have appeared human as well if not for the curving horns poking out from the tops of them.
The male statue opened his mouth. “Welcome, fellow immortal and young mortal.”
“We hope you find what you seek,” added the female. “But be warned, there is a small tithe to step inside and read our books.” Both statues’ mouths slammed shut with an audible snap.
Tella’s jaw crashed to a close as well. She fought to part her lips, to open her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t.
She turned to Legend. He shook his head, his mouth as closed as hers.
Their silence must have been the cost of entering the library.
41
Donatella
The silence inside the Immortal Library was absolute and alive. Tella could feel it swallowing up her footsteps, and sucking up the sound of flipping book pages, and flickering wicks inside hurricane glasses, but the worst was the feel of the silence keeping her lips pressed painfully shut.
Legend reached out and took her hand once more. His eyes silently promised they were in this together, and then he pressed the world’s softest kiss to her knuckles. She felt it from her fingertips all the way down to her toes, reminding her there were good uses for closed lips, as they ventured under an archway made of books and farther inside the Fated place.
Everything smelled of dust trapped in light, cracked leather, and wayward dreams. Breathing in and out through her nose, Tella looked down at the Map of All. It had transformed once they’d entered the library. It now revealed an entire kingdom made of books that could have either been a book lover’s nightmare or their wish come true. There was a Broken Spine Castle, an Unread River, a Ravine of Ripped Pages, a Poetry Valley, a set of Novel Mountains, and then finally the Ruscica and Books for Advanced Imaginations.
The most direct route to this room was through an area referred to as the Zoo. Tella wondered if it would have books in cages, but the Zoo didn’t even have bookshelves. The volumes all roamed freely in this room as they clung together to take the shapes of different animals. Tella spied bookish rhinos, papier-mâché elephants, and very tall giraffes that milled about in an oddly peaceful silence. The elephant sniffed at Tella with its leathery-gray trunk of books, while a paper bunny made of loose pages noiselessly hopped after Legend. The bunny continued to follow as they left the Zoo and reached the Reading Chamber, where books formed couches and chairs and one massive throne.
A warning flashed on the map: Do not sit on the throne.
Tella was instantly curious, but not enough to test the map, especially when they were so close to what they wanted. According to the map, all they had to do was climb the staircase made of books, which rested behind the throne, and they would find the Ruscica room.
The steps were too narrow for them to walk side by side.
Tella reluctantly released Legend’s hand as she started to climb. The bookish stairs were the type of steep that made it feel treacherous to turn around. They were unsteady, shifting beneath her slippers. But Legend touched her back or her shoulder every few steps, letting her know that he was still there. He was with her, and he wasn’t leaving even though she couldn’t see or hear him.
It made her wonder at all the other things he’d said