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“Why didn’t he just tell us about this in the first place?” Tiege asked. He sounded irritated. “He could have saved Ariana a lot of stress.”

“He didn’t realize what it was that he read all of those years ago,” Malukali answered. “I could tell that Quincy’s memory was prodded by the wording I recited.”

Unfortunately, Sophia thought, that hadn’t been the only memory prodded.

“Okay,” Aunt Amber said. “So let’s get someone to the library as soon as we can. Once we get that scroll piece, we don’t have to worry about Eirik getting his hands on it. We’ll have plenty of time to work on the last piece.”

Sophia noticed that her usually unflappable aunt looked relieved, and realized that she was probably thrilled that they had bypassed the dangerous thought-mining her uncle would have had to undergo to locate the scroll piece. Her uncle noted her reaction, too. He reached over and took her hand. It made Sophia consider the fact that Quincy had no one to comfort him like that.

“We don’t know where the library is,” Uncle Gabriel said.

Aunt Amber frowned. “Huh?”

Looking around at all of them, he explained, “The library is protected by the same kind of enchantments that protect Central and our homes. Its location is contained on a map.”

“Where’s the map?” Clara Kate asked.

Archigos
Zayna spoke up for the first time. “It was entrusted into the care of an Estilorian who has been removed from society for a number of centuries. His name is Hoygul. Hoygul the Scultresti.”

Quincy was unsurprised by the approach of Malukali and Knorbis. The two elders with the strongest mental abilities were married and did nearly everything together. In truth, he envied their close relationship.

That didn’t make him feel any more hospitable toward them at the moment.

“May we come in?” Malukali asked when he answered the door to his cottage.

“Of course,” he replied automatically, stepping aside and allowing the couple to enter.

He had decided to retire to his cottage rather than return to the gathering at Gabriel’s. It had just felt like too much to participate in the conversation. Knowing that Malukali could easily intercept his thoughts, he had conveyed what he remembered to her and asked her to make excuses for his failure to return.

She and Knorbis now moved inside, walking over to the sofa situated in the small gathering area just to the left of the entrance. An arched doorway at the rear of the gathering area led to his bedroom. The bulk of the cottage was comprised of Quincy’s clinic, however. A door to the right of the front entry led to the clinic, as did a second door from outside. Because the cottage was located very near to the central training paddock, it received quite a few visitors, especially if Gabriel or Amber weren’t around to heal injuries.

Quincy knew the polite thing to do would be to offer the elders something to eat or drink, but he didn’t want to encourage an extended visitation. Instead, he took one of the two chairs adjacent to the couch.

“How can I help in the retrieval of the scroll piece?” he asked, deciding to get right to the point.

“You can’t,” Malukali replied. “You know very well that Saraqael’s next grandchildren are due at any moment.”

He flinched at the reference to his friend, but couldn’t argue.

“You’re needed here, Quincy. You are the most qualified Estilorian to deliver the Kynzesti.”

Knorbis added, “Zayna knows the way to Hoygul’s cottage. She just left with Uriel and a host of Waresti to get the map to the library. Then they’ll retrieve the scroll piece and bring it back here.”

Quincy frowned. “Here? Why would we endanger those who live here by bringing such a thing among them?”

“It will only be temporary,” Malukali explained. “We need a heavily protected area to contain the scroll piece while we gather the others. Once the scroll is again assembled, we will determine what to do with it.”

“I don’t like it,” Quincy said, but he knew there were few options. “That aside, does
archigos
Zayna think she’ll be able to find the exact location of the scroll piece within the library? I found it completely by chance all those years ago, and I couldn’t tell her where it is even if I tried.”

“No,” Knorbis agreed, “you couldn’t. A being’s memory of the library’s location is erased once he leaves it. Similarly, the contents viewed there are usually erased. The fact that you retained this particular line in your memory, even though it was suppressed, is very curious.”

“I’m not sure that particular enchantment works,” Quincy argued. “Saraqael retained full knowledge of the scroll he read even after leaving the library.”

“You reported seeing a flash of light as Saraqael read the scroll, correct?” Malukali asked.

“Yes.”

“Was there a glow emitting from the scroll piece you read?”

He allowed himself to return to the memory, though it pained him. Eventually, he nodded.

The elders exchanged glances. Then they again looked at him. Malukali’s dark green eyes were filled with compassion.

“Saraqael’s fate was sealed when he read the scroll that ultimately resulted in Kate’s pregnancy and the existence of their three daughters,” she said. Reaching out, she touched his hand. “Quincy, we believe that you retained the information contained on that piece of the Elder Scroll because your fate is in some way connected to it.”

He wouldn’t have been more stunned if Saraqael walked in the door right then and wished him good day. Blinking several times, he said, “You think I’m one of the eight?”

“We can’t be sure,” Knorbis said, his brow drawn in concern. “But we’ve discussed it, and this is really the only explanation that makes sense. The fact that you detected the scroll’s energy when you read it and retained the words, well…”

In the silence that followed, Quincy looked from one elder to the next and tried to process this news. They were saying that he would somehow have to participate in the ritual that would allow a new elder to assume his or her powers. They were also saying that he had been as equally fated to visit that library as Saraqael had been.

“This is a lot to take in,” he said at last, rubbing the bridge of his nose to fight off a burgeoning headache. “Is there some way to confirm this theory once the scroll piece is brought here?”

“Yes,” Malukali said. “We will watch the scroll piece’s reaction when you touch it. It will tell us what we need to know. And we believe that Hoygul’s map will provide Zayna with the information she needs to recover the piece.” She paused, then asked, “Will you allow me to use my abilities to ease your grief, Quincy?”

He considered it for a moment. The emotional oblivion she could provide would be welcome compared to the still-potent guilt and sorrow currently seated in the center of his chest.

“No, but thank you,” he said eventually. “I’d really just like to be alone for a while.”

The elders stood. “Very well,” Malukali said. “I also wanted to let you know that Knorbis and I will be going to visit Kanika. We’re hoping that we can do something to help ease her emotional trauma. While we’re there, we’ll make note of any lingering physical issues she may still have. May we consult with you about these when we return?”

“Of course,” he said, walking them to the door and opening it. “I would be happy to help.”

“Thank you.” Malukali touched his arm as she walked past him and out into the night. “I’ll be here for another hour or so if you change your mind.”

“I appreciate it.”

He ushered them out, then closed the door and rested his forehead against it. Not even ten seconds later, another knock sounded on the door. He felt the vibrations like shock waves through his already aching head, and jerked away from the wood with a vicious curse.

“Um…should I come back?” he heard from the other side of the door.

Sophia.

Even as his heartbeat accelerated at the sound of her voice, he wondered what cruel twist of fate would have her seeking him out right now when all he wanted was solitude.

Opening the door, he resigned himself to whatever destiny awaited him.

“Sorry about the, uh, language,” he managed to say in greeting.

She waved that away as she walked past him into the gathering area, lowering the hood of her cloak as she passed. The crisp nighttime air clung to her hair and clothing, adding to the mysterious scent that was distinctly her own. He breathed it in like a healing balm.

“It isn’t as though I’ve never heard the words before,” she said as she sat on the sofa. “You’ve heard Tiege and Joshua when they’re training, haven’t you?”

Despite himself, he smiled briefly. “I suppose you’re right.”

When he just stood in front of the closed door staring at her, she tilted her head in question. Abruptly regaining control of himself, he took the steps necessary to get to the chair placed furthest from her. In his current mental state, he didn’t trust himself to get any closer.

Her eyes moved from him to the seat closer to her. She issued a small sigh before catching his gaze and saying, “I’m sorry that you had to revisit what was obviously a painful memory today, Quincy. I’ve never for a moment stopped to consider how my grandfather’s death must have affected you.”

He didn’t know what to say. He certainly hadn’t expected this when she knocked on his door.

“It’s made me realize that I haven’t been a very good friend,” she continued. “We were so much closer when I was younger. When I assumed my fully mature form and we grew more…distant, it was easy for me to assume it was because of my appearance.”

She no longer held his gaze, but looked at her hands folded in her lap. A pink blush colored her cheeks. He wondered with a great deal of embarrassment how long she had known that he found her the most beautiful being on either plane of existence and began to wish he hadn’t opened the door to her knock. His headache resumed as his stress level rose.

“What I never considered,” she said softly, “was that it was my personality, and not my appearance, that you suddenly found so unappealing.”

Quincy felt like he had just been body-slammed into a rock wall.

“Today has made me realize how self-involved I’ve been,” she added as he struggled to catch up with her ridiculous and incorrect deductions. “If I hadn’t been so focused on adjusting to my adult form and accepting how different I am compared to the rest of my family, I might have had more perspective related to the change in our friendship.”

She once again caught his gaze. “I’m sorry for judging you in such a harsh light, and for failing to uphold my half of our friendship. I should have made more of an effort to communicate with you when I sensed that things were changing between us. If I had, perhaps we could have gotten things back to the way they were. And I might better know how to offer you comfort at a time like this.”

After wondering whether he had somehow managed to cross into yet another plane of existence, he blinked to clear his head.

“Sophia.”

“Yes?”

“For someone so intelligent, you’ve never been so wrong.”

She frowned. He could all but see her remarkable brain puzzling out his meaning. It suddenly occurred to him that his best friend had been willing to die for love, but he himself hadn’t been willing to face Sophia’s rejection or the possibility of casting out by her family because of his love for her.

Well, there was no time like the present to change that.

He stood up and moved closer to her. She also got to her feet, which he anticipated. Because she was so much smaller than most of those around her, she had never been comfortable having someone hovering over her. She took a step away from him when he advanced, inadvertently moving closer to his bedroom. He couldn’t deny that the room’s convenient proximity flashed through his mind.

“I can’t really blame you for the conclusions you’ve drawn,” he said.

His voice was lower than usual as he stepped closer to her. He watched her eyes go from narrow with concern to wide-eyed with confusion as she took another step away from him.

“After all,” he continued with another step toward her, “you’ve been provided deliberately clouded concepts upon which you based your hypothesis.”

Here, her pupils dilated. Her breathing quickened. She stopped retreating and instead gazed up at him with her lips slightly parted. Then he did something he never allowed himself to do: he focused on her mouth with every intent of kissing her until she knew unequivocally how he felt about her.

A knock on the door shattered the moment.

“Quincy?”

Tate’s muffled question came from the other side of the door just as she opened it to let herself in, something she had always done. Quincy took a step away from Sophia, who moved just as quickly in the other direction. Then they both turned guilty gazes to Tate, who studied them with raised eyebrows as she breezed into the room, followed by Zachariah.

“Oh,” she said. “What did I interrupt?”

“Nothing,” Quincy and Sophia replied at the same time.

Tate’s grin went wide as she easily read the lie in their words. “Hey, that’s great,” she said. “It’s been a long time since I interrupted nothing.”

“No,” Zachariah said. “You have the formula completely wrong. We already went over this.”

Sophia used a towel to wipe perspiration from her face and neck as Zachariah scratched through the notes she had just made and began adding his own. Her flush was due more to embarrassment over failing to pay proper attention to him than it did the amount of heat in the room.

She hadn’t slept much last night after leaving Quincy’s cottage. Her mind had been filled with the memory of the intensity of his silver eyes as he leaned toward her. Had he been about to kiss her? Why would he do that when he didn’t even like her?

But did he like her? Did he possibly—she was kidding herself for even dreaming it—even
more
than like her?

No, she had mostly convinced herself. She still remembered how adamantly he told Tate that he didn’t think Sophia was pretty just a few weeks ago. Her appearance hadn’t changed in five years and wouldn’t ever change again, so he couldn’t possibly be attracted to her.