Joan Undone

Chapter 13

"Like the web, contained in a collection of tomes," I marvel.

Justus pulls one of the thick books off the shelf and flips through it. He stops on a page that shows a painting of a girl with a severe expression, clutching a sword.

I grin when I read the entry. "Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans," is considered a heroine of France, and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint."

"That picture looks nothing like you," Justus says. "She's pretty enough, I guess. But you're beautiful."

My cheeks heat up, but instead of meeting Justus's intense stare, I keep my eyes on the page and try to lighten the mood. "Of course, I'm no saint."

"You fight for what's right with everything you have, even if the whole world thinks your cause is doomed," he says, his lips close enough to my ear that his breath stirs the hair on the back of my neck.

I take a step away from him. "We can't."

Justus briefly shuts his eyes, like he's fighting for control. "I know. But you can't imagine how much I thought about our first date. How I'd take you somewhere that would make your jaw drop, and how we'd talk and debate and fight for hours, and how at the end of the night, I'd finally kiss you."

"We never would have made it to the end of the night before kissing," I whisper. "We wouldn't have made it out of the car."

Justus's eyes are locked on mine. "When I found this room full of old books that everyone has forgotten, I knew you'd be the only one to understand the history and the power of this place."

My eyes travel over the thousands of books that have been buried down here like hidden treasure. "It's like discovering that magic is real."

When my gaze returns to Justus, I find that he's been watching me the whole time. "I keep telling myself to stay away from you, but my heart won't listen."

I take a deep breath to steady my jumping pulse. "But you have to listen, Justus. Because I want you to have your kiss, a family with lots of kids, a full life. But it will never be with me."

Justus avoids my eyes and pulls his hand away from mine. My palm is too cold, too empty, without his touch.

Above us, the sound of people walking around interrupts our moment.

"Damn," Justus says. "We need to get out before my dad discovers that I brought you here. He'd kill me."

By the time we reach the top of the stairs, it's too late to escape unnoticed. The main room of the crumbling library is empty of books, but full of people. Aft is setting up his tablet, but our entrance catches the eye of a handful of Mollys settling into the metal bleachers someone must have dragged inside for seating.

"Hey! What are they doing here?" one of the women shouts.

Aft looks up and sees us, and his face darkens.

"It's my fault, sir. I followed Justus here," I quickly jump in.

"Why is Justus in this sanctuary? He's Evolved, and a traitor. He is not welcome!" the woman continues.

The rest of my lies dry up in my mouth, and, next to me, Justus tenses.

"You need to leave, son," Aft says, the wrinkles around his eyes deeper than I've ever seen them.

Justus steps forward to argue, and the shouting begins.

"Why don't you go on the vids and tell everyone how much better you are than your folks that raised you!"

"Years of love tossed aside after a few weeks of Evolved privilege. Shameful."

"Tell us again how well you did in school!"