Blood of A Seeker

Blood of A Seeker -8-

My jaw almost dropped to the floor. Did he just insult me? So what if I was in the same group? That didn’t exactly mean I was right up to their standards!

“Sage, go down to the library,” Rosemarie whispered in my ear and gave me a nudge. “Before Landon makes you fight Katherine.”

I felt my face take on a bright red tinge as my legs got up robotically and headed for the door.

“Where is she going?” Landon, the Keeper, asked aloud with a frown in his voice. “Sage, you come back here.”

“She’s not ready for that kind of practice,” I heard Rosemarie call out with an equally frowning voice. “Please refrain from pressuring her, Landon.”

My fingers pushed the door behind me and I leaned against it, my knees shaky. Just being thrust under that spotlight without meeting everybody’s gaze was petrifying – it was a wonder Jocelyn and Katherine even performed with full concentration.

“Should you be out here?” One of the young guards to my left gave me a peculiar look, like I had arrived from another planet.

“Y-Yeah – Rosemarie wants me to check out the l-library,” I stammered, forcing my feet to work and march me down the stairs before I could embarrass myself any further.

I placed my knuckles against my cheeks and relished the cool temperature compared to the burning heat blazing in my cheeks. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against one of the bookshelves, trying to forget what had just happened.

It was like that Landon guy didn’t even believe I could be in the same group as Jocelyn and Katherine let alone train with them. But was he right? Maybe I didn’t belong in the group with Jocelyn and Katherine. Maybe I still needed Junior training before I could have been jumped up this high.

Clenching my fists, I suppressed the urge to punch the shelf as it would create a domino effect on the rest of the erected shelves.

“Stupid Keeper,” I growled, shuffling down an aisle and ignored all the books which seemed to lean out to me, begging me to turn their crispy pages and dust-coated shelves. I shouldn’t be doubting myself, not when Mary and Stefan believed in me.

I shoved a hand into my pocket and fingered the house keys. I could just walk home – but the urge to check out the books overpowered my desire to escape the Council Hall, to prevent future embarrassment.

Quickly I found a whole corner of hardcover books all on the subject of Chromas, gift and history. Maybe this would give me a boost in some of my Chroma classes.

I ran a finger along the dusty spines, the keys still clutched in the rest of my fingers against my palm.  When a thin hole between two of the old books stopped my trailing finger, I paused and peered through the dark gap between the books.

I couldn’t help but wonder which book had been there and questioned whether this was one of those times when a book was pushed to the back of the shelf to prevent anybody from seeing it.

My tongue stuck out as I ran a hand along the grime-covered wooden ledge slowly. My fingers came to a forceful abrupt stop against another panel of wood, jolting me. I cursed aloud when the keys slipped from my unsuspecting fingers and down the side of the case.

“You’re kidding me,” I groaned and stamped a foot like a child. “I don’t need this right now!”

Glancing side to side, I knelt down and crawled around to the end of the bookshelf, pressing my face up against the cool wood. I shut one eye and peered into the blackness, the shadows too thick to see through. I held a hand above my head, producing a warm orange light beaming through the crack between the shelf and the wood.