Page 86 of The Lost Elemental

I could still see Kai’s smirk in my mind as I’d left class. “Told you he didn’t hate you, Pip.”

I wished I could believe that. I shook off the echo in my mind and walked farther into the space.

Quincy exited his office, sending me a warm smile. “You here to see me or work on a project?”

“It’s always nice to see you.” He was one of the few warm faces in my orbit.

“But…” he prodded.

“I wanted to do a little reading on elemental history.”

Quincy arched a brow in question.

“Everyone here has grown up with this stuff, but I haven’t. Even my history class glosses over things more than taking a deep dive.”

He nodded. “I understand. There are centuries to cover and you’re feeling out of your depth.”

That, and I wanted to know what the hell was going on with me. The memory of that surge of power this morning flooded me. It was terrifying and exhilarating. And something told me it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Quincy led me through the maze of bookshelves. “We keep the good stuff in the back. Most students never make it past the first few rows of shelves.”

“Once a nerd, always a nerd.”

He chuckled. “I have always been partial to the nerds.”

“Me too,” I agreed.

Quincy slowed as we entered a section with endless rows of leatherbound tomes. I looked up, studying them carefully. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to touch these?” They looked as if they would be easily damaged or destroyed.

“What are books if not for reading?”

I scanned the titles on the intricate spines. “I really don’t want to get beheaded for accidentally tearing a page out of a precious artifact.”

Quincy grinned and patted me on the shoulder. “If any accidents occur, I’ll cover for you.”

“Thanks, Quincy.”

“Anytime. Books are arranged by subject here and by year there. If you have any questions, I’ll be in my office.”

I nodded, but I was already being pulled towards the books in front of me. Without taking my eyes off their spines, I set my bag down on the table behind me. Moving to the shelf, I studied my options. Affinities and Warfare: A History of Battles in Ancient Times. Aethers and the Elements. Royal Lines Throughout History. Untamed Magic: Unique Powers and Abilities.

Bingo. As gently as possible, I pulled the last title from the shelf. It was bound in maroon leather with pressed gold lettering.

I carried it to the table and set it carefully down. Parts of it were dusty, but others weren’t. As if someone had pulled it from its spot recently. With the sleeve of my sweater, I cleared away the rest of the dust. Then I opened the front cover.

The pages inside had intricate and ornate lettering. It was so beautiful I almost couldn’t bear to turn each one. But I pulled out my notebook and got to work. Every chapter was fascinating. From unique ways the affinities could manifest to other powers.

There was one on the sort of lie detector ability that Atlas had. It wasn’t a reliable gift in terms of turning it off and on. But if emotions were heightened, these truth-tellers could read the authenticity of another person’s words.

As I turned the page to a section on the aethers, my chest constricted. How much better were the elementals when the aethers were among them? More unified and at peace. Now there was so much more greed and game playing.

I read about the first discovery of an aether, how once her powers were unbound, the four princes fell irrevocably in love with her. How she united the kingdoms and used her dominance of the four affinities to defend their throne.

My gaze caught on a handful of sentences. It was a throwaway paragraph. But it made my heart stop.

Leading up to The Unveiling, Sercia had intermittent bursts of power, especially when her emotions were heightened. The professors at Kingwood worried she might be one of the Novas.

Novas. I hadn’t heard that term before. Quickly, I flipped to the back of the book and the index. I traced my finger down the pages until I found Nova listed. There were three pages on which they were referenced. I’d already seen the first, so I flipped to the second. It was an entire chapter.