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A groan of complaint sounded from the library door as Vega pushed it open. Even from where we stood, the coldness of the room was noticeable to me, probably because all of the windows were propped open airing the room out. The lingering smell of smoke reminded me of Astra's look of horror watching her beloved books up in flame. I swallowed hard trying to wash down the guilty feeling rising in me. I still had to visit with Astra later. I sighed at the thought. Like that conversation isn't going to be awkward.

"Not that I don't like seeing Rygar put in his place—but why don't you like him?" Vega asked, glancing over her shoulder at Sage.

"What, besides kidnapping me, demanding my presence at the crack of dawn, insulting my skills and trying to beat my friend over her head with a stick?" When a breeze blew through the window next to us, Sage rubbed her goosebumped covered arms. "Other than that, he's awesome."

"Well, since you put it that way," Vega replied.

"Maybe it's because he hauled us off before she got a follow-up kiss from Robin," I said stretching Robin's name out in a childlike sing-song way.

Sage's cheeks flushed. "I'd love that—but that's not the reason." She ran her hand along the dust-covered bookshelf leaving a trail mapping our route back to the stairs.

"I don't know. I guess he reminds me of someone I once knew." The hesitation in her voice hung in the air suggesting there was more to be said—but she wasn't volunteering it.

"Cole?" Vega said filling in the silence.

Sage halted like someone had pulled the emergency cord on a train, and I bumped into her from behind. "How—?" she asked.

Vega smiled and tapped the side of her head. "Sorry, bad habit. It's impossible to turn off the information I read from people. The only thing I can do is pretty much limit what I say, and even that proves to be difficult."

"So, did you break Cole's fingers too?" I asked, following the two of them up the stairs to the second floor of the library.

"No—but I should have." She shook her head knowing I wanted to find out more about Cole, then whispered, "Later—we don't have much time before Astra's gets back."

"Speaking of broken fingers," Vega said, pausing for us to catch up at the top of the landing. "When you see Rygar, don't be surprised if he's less than happy to see Sage—especially with our healer out sick."

"Hold up," I said, sliding my palm along the handrail. "There's only one healer on staff?"

"No—two. The other is away on scheduled rounds in rural areas of the guild. She won't be back for a couple of days."

If I had any hope of rescuing my mother, I needed Rygar's help. That might be hard to get it if he couldn't—or worse, wouldn't teach me.

"Sage—"

"Forget it—no way I'm fixing his busted finger," she answered before I even had a chance to finish my sentence.

"Come on. I need a teacher for self-defence. That's going to be hard if he has broken bones in his hand." I walked past her and stood at the top of the stairs next to Vega. "While I might not agree with his methods, I can't argue with how much I learned from him in just fifteen minutes. Look on the bright side, if I could defend myself, you won't have to mend as many injuries." I gave her a broad smile trying to convince her.

Sage shook her head.

"Pleasssee?" I tilted my head and put my hands together.

"Whatever—fine." She threw her hands up in the air and met us at the top of the stairs. "But you have to convince him to let me look at it."

Halfway up the staircase that led to the third floor, a tapestry hugged the wall and grabbed my attention with its glittering rainbow mirage swirling over its surface. The effect reminded me of how millions of soap bubbles might catch the light.

"What are you looking at?" Sage said, sliding her hands into her back pockets.

I looked back at the rug. "The hanging, you don't see that?"

"See what?" Sage answered.

The shimmering colors continued to churn various patterns in front of me. "I don't know how to describe it exactly."

I looked over my shoulder and saw the corner of Vega's mouth turn up. "It's a dimensional tapestry—and very rare. We use it in our assessments of student's talents."

"Really? How does it work?" I said, reaching out wanting to touch the sparkly design. "That's—"

"Stop!" Vega hollered, running down the stairs, yanking my arm back.

"What's wrong?"

"That portal that can take you to anywhere in the universe or even back through time if you have a high enough ability level. What's wrong... With our luck, we'd be looking for you for centuries before we found you again. That's if we found you."

Sage came to stand on the stair above the one I was on and stared at the portal. "If you don't touch it to assess a person's ability, then how do you figure out someone's talent level?" she asked.

"It shimmers a different color depending on the strength of a Traveler's ability."

"What if it sparkles a rainbow of colors?"

Vega's eyes went wide, and she peered at the hanging again. "Then you definitely shouldn't touch it." She looped her arm through mine. "Come on. The magical section is this way." She looked back at the hanging and shook her head.

At the top of the stairs, Vega said, "Everything on this level has to do with magic, potions, and elemental stuff."

"At least it's only one floor of books," I said, pulling a volume from a shelf to read its title, Creatures of the Night. I chuckled to myself. Yeah right, and the boogie man is real too.

I was about to open it when Sage screamed, dropping a book from her grasp.

"It bit me!" Sage pointed.

"Oh, come on. I've heard of books sucking but bit you?"

"Not funny. I'm telling you it bit me. See," she said holding up her hand. Angry red marks dented her palm.

"At least you're not bleeding." I bent down and read the title of the cover. "Taming the Beast," I said aloud, holding my hands back, not daring to touch it. "I guess we can't just leave it here."

"Not unless you want Astra to know we were up here snooping," Vega answered.

No thanks, I'm in enough trouble with her already. I shrugged Rygar's jacket off and tossed it over the book. Safely wrapping it in the coat, I passed it to Vega to put back on the shelf.

"Here," she said, handing the coat back to me. "Nice shirt." She smiled and averted her eyes to the floor.

I looked at my skintight shirt and realized not only could I see the lace design of my bra, but it's light blue color shining through the fabric.

"Well, it's not like there was anything else in that closet to wear."

"I don't know," Sage said, with a smirk plastered across her face. "That yellow dress with the red tulle would have been awesome to do a little sparring in. If your disappearing trick didn't distract Rygar, that dress sure would have."

An image of me wearing the gown, shaking its red tulle as Rygar charged attempting to skewer me with his staff, popped into my head.

As if reading my mind, Sage pretended to shake a cape out next to her and hollered, "Olé!"

Vega just stared at Sage and shook her head. "Honestly, has being on Earth melted your brain?"

"Toro, toro," I said, throwing my hands in the air imagining Rygar as the charging bull. Sage and I broke into a fit of laughter.

"Both of you." Vega gave us a look that I'd expect from my Gran, the one that always let me know I'd gone a little too far. "We'll get you something more suitable to wear later. But for now, let's check out the spot where you and your father would always sit. It's over there between the potions and magic sections," she said, pointing.

As we walked, I amused myself by reading the book titles from the shelf. With volumes labeled Creatures of the Night, a Necromancer's Guide to the Beyond, and The Haunting—a ghost's perspective, it was hard not to wonder what might be on their pages. To me, it was like wrapped presents on Christmas morning with all their secrets and joys tucks behind their covers. I wanted to pull the books from the shelves and fan their pages to see what they said—but with one look at Vega, I squashed that idea.

The book covers changed from furry and hairy, to ones that glowed or looked like they were made out of stone, marking the beginning of the elemental section on the floor.

"Hey, check this one out," Sage said, tossing me a book.

The picture on the cover reminded me of a postcard I might find in a beach town tourist shop. The only difference was the fluffy white clouds and rolling waves weren't still, but moving. White sand and inviting turquoise waters made it look like a place a couple on their honeymoon might visit.

"Elemental Water Crafting," I said, reading the title aloud.

A burst of water poured over the lip of the picture's border and splashed onto my hand. The wave kept flowing out of the photo and up my arm, soaking the sleeve of Rygar's jacket. When the water stream reached Kellan's ring, the book flew open, and the library's decor ran like a sidewalk chalk drawing in the rain. Before I could see where the book had dumped me, the sound of rolling waves filled my ears, and I could taste the salt filled the air.

"Well—this is way better than just getting to talk to you later."

Knowing his voice anywhere, I swung around to see him standing behind me.

"Kellan!" I threw my arms around him taking in his sea breeze scent.

He wrapped his hands behind me and pulled me in close, kissed the top of my head and chuckled.

"God, I'm happy to see you," he said, hugging me tighter.

When I looked up, he cradled my face in his hands, tilted my chin and led my lips to his. A brush of his mouth over mine sent shivers through me. Tease. I pressed my lips against his, not wasting a second of our precious time together. He deepened our kiss only fuelling my desire for him further. His tongue caressed mine while he dragged his hands down my neck and over my shoulders sliding my jacket off to the ground.

When he lifted his mouth from our kiss, he swept me up in his arms, lay me in the sand and straddled a leg over me. His eyes shone a faint aqua showing off his tiny freckles.

"I'd say I like the shirt, but I think it's your blue lace bra that has my attention."

My cheeks went hot, and I reached for my discarded jacket to cover me, but Kellan snatched it up first. When I folded my arms over my chest, he frowned.

"You know I can even make out my ring, right here." He smirked, drifting his fingers over the mark.

"Kellan..."

I grasped at the jacket in his hand but missed when he pulled it out of reach. He gave a wide smile, then draped the jacket on top of me.

"So there is some gentlemanly nature in you." I tucked the jacket under my arms not wanting to get up to put it on properly.

"A little." He shrugged. "But that shirt is definitely testing my limits."

He wove his fingers between mine, took a breath in and let it out. "Cool place—"

"You can thank a Water book for our transportation this time." Seagulls squawked overhead while ocean waves lapped the shore high enough to get my toes wet.

Lifting his leg off of me, he rolled over onto the sand next to me.

I propped myself up on an elbow and turned toward him. "So, did you get the dowry or will I be forced to marry Jaxon?" I said, knowing that would get a reaction out of him.

The warmth of his smile disappeared. "You're not marrying Jaxon," he said in a flat tone.

"You're sure? 'Cause last time I saw him, he said he'd be my partner even with your knotted ring." I wanted to take back my words the moment I had said them. Geez, I think I might be the dumbest girl on the planet for saying that.

The blue in his eyes flared. "What do you mean, last time?" He turned to face me.

My brain froze. I knew I should let him know, but I didn't want him mad at me either. At this point, it was probably too late not to tell him.

"God Wren, I've known you for years. I can tell there's more to that statement just by the way you wrinkled your nose." He flopped back down on the sand.

Definitely, too late. "It wasn't like I meant to." I reached for his hand, and he pulled it away. "I can't control my dreams."

He washed his hand down his face. "You were dreaming about Jaxon?"

Wow, I'm terrible at explaining myself. "No... Yes—but not like your suggesting."

"Uh huh, got it," he said, sitting up dusting the sand from his arms.

I pushed myself to kneel with my legs tucked underneath me. "Kellan—stop acting like a jealous boyfriend and let me explain."

"I'm all ears, Wren. And newsflash, I'm not your boyfriend, I'm your promised."

"I know." I picked up a broken shell from the sand and rubbed the tiny salt-like grains off of it. "The dream was more of a memory. You know, it began with Vega badgering me about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, she wanted to know how I felt about you," I said not lifting my eyes from the pink shell I was fidgeting with.

He lifted my chin with his fingers until I raised my eyes to meet his. "So what did you say?" he asked.

I sighed. "I didn't need to say anything. Vega already knew."

He nodded weighing the truth of what I told him. "And what's that?"

Not used to telling people how I felt about them, I lowered my eyes back to the shell. "You just want me to say it, don't you? The knotted ring isn't enough?"

"I want to hear you say it, again and again until the end of time. Because I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember." He paused and lifted my chin again and whispered, "Even when I'm mad."

I couldn't help but smile. "I love you too."

"Come here." He pulled me into his arms. "Why don't you tell me about seeing Jaxon. I'll try my best not to get mad."

"Okay," I said, knowing I couldn't back out of telling him now. "After Vega's questioning me about you, the memory changed to something real with Jaxon's voice pleading for me. Then my feet planted on a dusty, desolate looking planet facing Jaxon chained to a wall with two guys about to throw a knife at him."

Kellan laughed and covered his mouth trying to control himself. "Well, Jaxon does have that effect on people."

"You shouldn't laugh," I said, feeling a little angry he found Jaxon's misfortune amusing. "His cheek was swollen, and blood was dripping down his face. You jerk." I went to push him, but he caught my hand and kissed my fingertips.

"Knowing you and your big kind heart, you didn't leave him there, did you?"

I bit my lip and shook my head. "I had to help. I might be furious with him, but I didn't want to see him dead."

Kellan groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "Wren—"

"Those two were going to kill him."

"And that's the kind of attitude is going to get you injured or worse. I can't help it if I worry about you." He hugged me close.

Sage's voice echoed around us. "Give her back, you stupid book!"

The waves rolled up on the beach us pulling out into the water. Mist from a crashing wave spun around us.

"Robin and I will be at the guild in two days..." his voice lingered in the air.

Sage squealed, and I landed on the library floor with a thud, soaking wet. The Elemental Water book laid closed next to me with a large dent in its cover and its corner charred.

"You're back!" Sage said, pulling me into a bear crushing hug.

Vega dropped the bookend she was holding. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

I pushed myself to my feet. "We're not leaving until I get some answers and I only have two days to find them."

Sage looked at me as if to evaluate my sanity. "You're sure?"

"One hundred percent."

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