Page 109 of Blood that Burns

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

MAGGIE

Marina and I walk in silence until we’re standing outside the large wooden doors of the library.

“What’s our first order of business?” she asks.

The excitement of the question annoys me. I’m not even sure why. I should be thrilled to have time alone with Marina. I should want to involve her in my quests.

Instead, I want her to go away.

“The Fae,” I say, pushing open the door and striding to the back table, out of view of anyone who wanders in. “While everyone’s concerned with prioritizing the vampire issues and the new bite camp, someone needs to prioritize Molly and the creatures she’s with.”

Marina stops, burning a hole in the side of my head with her stare. “They’reallimportant issues.”

I don’t stop walking. She’ll either follow me or she won’t. Taking a seat, I turn to look up at her. “I never said they weren’t. I’m simply prioritizing our family.”

The moment the words are said, I realize where my hostility is stemming from.

Marina has been so passionate about the auction and the Council arrangements, but she’s not mentioned one damn word about our sister. Why am I the only one who cares?

She flops into the chair beside mine, turning it so that her knees touch the side of my chair. “Why do I feel like we’re always at odds? I don’t want us to be.”

The cheerylet’s go solve a mysterygiddiness from before we entered the library is gone. Marina’s voice is soft and sad. There’s no edge or confrontation to be found.

I immediately feel guilty.

Turning my own chair so that I’m facing her, I offer a closed-lip smile. “I don’t either.”

“Then what’s this about?” Her eyes search my face as though she’ll find the answer if she looks hard enough.

“Molly. You don’t seem to care at all what’s happened to her.”

Her head falls forward and she appears to inspect the white hem of her indigo-hued dress. “I don’t know her, Mags. There’s no attachment where she’s concerned. I’ve never known her.”

“She spoke to you while you went through the auction. She helped keep you sane.” I throw my hands up in the air. “She might’ve even saved your life the night of Law’s party. How can you say you have no attachment? She shared a womb with us.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.” Her voice rises. “It’s how I feel. The girls from the auction I know. We went through a traumatic time together. I don’t know Molly. Neither do you.”

“That’s where the odds come into play, I guess. I might not have known her, but she’s still a part of me. I won’t abandon her.”

I jump up from my chair and head to the stacks. The first bookshelf offers some relief when I find the library is alphabetized. I search shelf to shelf until I finally find theFs. When nothing I see on the lower shelves proves to be useful, I begin my climb up the gliding ladder. I scan the shelves until the wordlegendpops out.

There are two books next to each other that clearly identify themselves as possibilities, so I pull them from the shelf and make my descent down the rickety ladder, my only free hand white-knuckling the side of the wooden contraption while my other hand balances the two books under my arm. With each step I take, I allow some of my pent-up anger to fizzle.

Can I really blame Marina for feeling the way she does? Do I even have a right to tell her how she should feel?

No.

Even knowing this, I carry a little resentment. I’ll let it go, but it’ll take some time.

Marina hasn’t moved in the last thirty-five minutes while I was searching the library, and she watches me keenly while I get organized, opening the first book and scanning the table of contents for something that has to do with the Fae.

“The more I know about the Fae, the better prepared I’ll be when I go to get her. Because I will, Marina,” I say, twisting my head to look at her. “I may have never known Molly, but she is a part of me. She’s the half that’s been missing all of our lives, and I’ll be damned if I leave her in the hands of the Fae. That’s how I feel.” I take a deep breath. “It’s okay if you don’t. I just want you to know that. I’ll get over it.”

I turn back to the book and continue my search. Her heavy sigh does nothing to pause my progress. If I’m alone in this mission, I’m going to give it my all.

“I have no idea where to even begin,” she says. “These bookshelves are crammed with books. There may not be a single one about the Fae.”