The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 20

The following morning, I found myself stifling a yawn as I clambered on my hands and knees on the ground floor of the library, trying to reach the books at the very base of the shelves. My hands and arms came away covered in a thin layer of dust, which wafted upwards and made my eyes run and made me want to sneeze. Exhaustion from not getting a full night's sleep tempted me to give up my quest, but I only had so many hours of the day to myself when I wasn't training with Persephone. If I was going to find this book, I needed to find it in my own time.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Alek when he'd said he'd already searched this library for a copy of 'REALM OF THE DEAD – DEMETRIUS ANTONEI', it was just that, well...

Okay, so I didn't entirely trust him. He may have said it wasn't here, but he may have only searched in its catalogued area, and I was desperate enough to do a sweep of the entire library.

Dread dawned on me when I came away empty-handed from the bookshelf I was searching and I looked upwards. In the darkness, I was unable to see the top of the library. There could have been ten storeys here, for all I knew. As I peered closer, the darkness cloaked anything further up than the second storey, where Alek had once hidden. But even the darkness was unable to hide the beauty of the library. Each bookshelf had its own carvings and stories to tell, and I had to force myself to ignore the mahogany wood and its inscriptions if I was going to stand any chance at finding Demetrius' book.

The downside to the carvings was the fact that when I moved my hand-held candle, the shadows cast across the room looked eerily monstrous, causing goosebumps to break out along my skin. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I ignored the feeling of being watched and righted myself to look onto the next shelf.

I'd cleared the first storey when I noted how the library grew less dark, meaning the Underworld would be beginning to wake up – and Persephone would be expecting me in the gym. Truth be told, I'd much prefer to continue searching for the book and be covered in dust than to face my mother. She'd approached me last night to ask how I was coping after the trial, but I hadn't gone into detail about the fact that I'd only had three fears, when I was supposed to have more. It certainly hadn't been an experience that I wanted to relive. Luckily, she seemed to sense that I didn't want to talk about it and left that topic alone. According to her, I needed to keep moving forward. Reflecting on the fear-based test wouldn't help me with whatever else Hades had in store.

After my morning training session, I returned to the library with the intention of searching through a couple of more shelves during my lunch break. No sooner had I picked up where I left off, did someone tap me on the shoulder and make me jump. I swore as I spun and prepared to defend myself, my heart in my throat. A pair of dark, surprised eyes met mine. Dark hair with rivets of silver framed his face.

"Woah, woah," exclaimed Himeros, holding his hands up in defence. "It's just me."

I sucked in a deep breath. "Don't sneak up on me!"

He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled, exasperated. "No shit, Serena. I have to say, I thought you would have been happier to see me," he replied with mild flirtation.

I crossed my arms over my chest and shot him an assessing look. He appeared genuinely rattled from my reaction. "What are you doing here? Are you following me?" I really couldn't deal with it if I'd gained myself a new stalker.

He laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. I saw you come in here and wanted to check in with you after last night."

"Oh." Guilt gnawed at me. "Sorry. How was the rest of dinner?"

His dark eyes danced. "Boring without you."

I scoffed. "Can you stop this flirting thing, please?"

"Can't," he replied smoothly, a bright smile forming on his full lips. "I'm inherently flirtatious. It comes naturally to me."