Page 61 of Tear of Destiny
“Alessandro?” he asks.
“Alessandro Fabrici. Surely you’ve heard the name.”
“Sure. They’re Council members.”
“And they have an impressive collection of objects associated with the goddesses of destiny.”
He raises his left eyebrow in surprise.
“Alessandro showed them to me last time I visited. They’re really powerful objects. I can even guess which one brought us here.” I recall the glass case containing the old leather-bound book. “A book from the goddesses’ library. Apparently, they used it to record their daily lives and endeavors. It may contain information about the library.”
“Or maybe we’ll just find a clue there that will lead us to the next one,” Noah muses. “Did you sense any kind of strong energy in this place? I mean, there were traces of the goddesses’ power in the place where we found the flute.”
I cast my mind back and try to recall the moment precisely. And yes, there was a special kind of energy emanating from the objects. Was that true for one of them more than the others? I can’t remember.
“We’ll have to go in and find out,” I say, looking up at the house.
“Hmm, it could be hard to get inside,” Noah remarks.
I have to agree with him. I can’t exactly show up at the doorwith Noah and ring the bell in the hope that they’ll just let us in to look at the precious artifacts.
“We need to come up with a plan. We have to do this right and weigh up our options carefully,” says Noah.
I nod. There’s no use standing around here any longer. We’ll only wind up drawing attention to ourselves.
“Where should we go?” I ask. I can’t think of anywhere off the top of my head where we can sit together quietly and plan our next steps. This is a problem we’re constantly faced with. There’s nowhere we can be alone together. And man, there are moments when that’s all I want.
“We could go to my place,” says Noah.
I stare at him in surprise. “Your apartment here in San Francisco?”
I’m aware that it’s a risk because we can’t rule out being spotted by a Noctu, who would know what I am as soon as they see Yoru. Which is why we’ve always avoided it until now.
“Are you sure?” I ask, looking up at him.
He gives me that indescribable smile and runs his hand through my hair. “Absolutely. I can’t wait to finally be alone with you.”
At these words, I get a few vivid ideas too, and I kiss him briefly on the lips. We leave together. At first, I assume that we’ll take the bus, but I soon learn that Noah prefers other modes of transport. He promptly summons a door. I barely register the Odyss, seeing it only for a split second before another door speeds toward us and Noah opens it, and we jump through. We find ourselves on a street. I can’t tell which part of the city we’re in.
But this neighborhood with its tall buildings looks clean and inviting. A short distance away I see a park with trees gently swaying in the breeze.
He stops in front of a brick apartment building. I follow him and ask, “Why is there no door that leads straight into yourapartment? That would be pretty handy.”
He turns to me and grins mischievously. “That’s true. But not every place in this world is connected by a door. The doors draw their magic from the Odyss, so there’s a limited number of these links.”
Noah leads me up a short flight of steps. There’s a long list of names on the doorbell panel. He takes out a key, opens the door, and we go upstairs.
“This is it,” Noah says, unlocking his apartment door.
The apartment’s not big but it’s just right for one person. To the right is a simple kitchen with a dining table. We pass a small bathroom, then step into a spacious living room, and I’m surprised by its size. A TV screen, a comfy couch with a small coffee table, and a balcony with a nice view over the park. A couple of landscape paintings hang on the walls, bringing the place to life and giving it a homey feel. All in all, I’m surprised at how comfortable I feel here.
I sit on the couch. Noah takes a seat beside me.
“This is really nice,” I say as I look around the room.
“Sadly, I don’t get to spend much time here.”
I know that he frequently moves back and forth between his homes in the human and Noctu worlds. Lately his parents have insisted that he spend more time with them in the Odyss because they normally travel a lot.