Lib Novel Page 112
“You are welcome to leave. Don’t let me stop you.”
“You’d just love that, wouldn’t you?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He doesn’t say anything further, and I work in silence. It takes me a couple of long minutes, but I finally manage to open the padlock. Carefully putting it aside, I try to pull open the door, and my shoulder screams in protest.
“Let me.” Before I can object, Alex picks me up by the waist and sets me down behind him. I’m still processing the fact that he just moved me like a piece of furniture when he pulls the door wide open, with ease.
“That’s nothing to brag about,” I grumble, ducking under his arm and snatching my phone from him.
I hear his chuckle, and it annoys me that even the sound of his laughter is enough to get my heart beating like a drum.
It was so much easier to hate him.
The walkway leading into the archives room is covered in a thick film of dust. I look around for a light switch, and I make a face when I see the cobwebs on it.
“Ew. Spiders.”
To my surprise, Alex reaches out, clears the cobwebs with his hand, and flips on the light switch. “I didn’t know you were afraid of spiders.”
“Fear and dislike are two very different things,” I inform him, feeling flustered.
I’m not a fan of spiders. They make my skin crawl.
With the light now flooding the basement, I blink in surprise when I realize that the archives room is larger than I imagined. It seems to be bigger than the library upstairs. I think this basement may run under the neighboring buildings, as well.
I put my phone in my pocket and take a deep breath. “We’d better get to work. I have a feeling they don’t have a computerized system to help us with our search.”
“What are we looking for here?” Alex tucks his hands in his pockets, his eyes taking everything in.
“History books. Anything on the Central Alliance.” I look around for some sort of register that might have a list of the documents and books in this room.
“The Central Alliance?” Alex gives me an odd look. “What makes you so sure the wolf belongs to the Central Alliance?”
“Sure?” I scoff. “I’m just winging it at this point. Silver is closer in color to white than black or even the brown of the South Alliance wolves. That’s all I’ve got, but we have to start somewhere, right?” My heart sinks as I see the number of bookshelves. There’s a lot we’re going to have to go through. “Unless, of course, you know something that can narrow down our search?”
Alex rolls up his sleeves. “No, you’re right. The Silver Wolf probably belongs to the Central Alliance. That was some smart thinking.”
Eyeing him suspiciously, I ask, “Are you mocking me?”
“Of course not!” Alex replies indignantly.
“Sure sounded like it,” I mumble to myself—but of course, he hears me.
“You need to learn to take a compliment, Sophia. You’re a smart woman. Am I not even allowed to acknowledge that?”
Flustered, I push up my own sleeves and try to change the subject. “Your pack must have its own archives room, right?”
Alex shakes his head. “We used to. But when Karina took over the North Alliance, she confiscated everything of value. Archives are extremely valuable for packs. Entire histories are recorded in them. Even deadly secrets.”
Every time he mentions the Queen of the North Alliance, I feel a wave of disgust. I can’t imagine somebody being so cruel as to do what that woman has done. All for the sake of power?
I’ve never been interested in power of any sort. I’ve always believed that if you have authority and control, you should protect your people. It’s one of the reasons why, despite everything, I begrudgingly respect Alex. He’s willing to do anything for his pack. No matter the cost to himself, when it comes to his people, there is no line he won’t cross.
No heart he won’t break.
There’s a stack of registers on the table in the corner of the room, and I blow the dust off before opening the first one. A smug smile forms on my face, and I call out, “Wait. Found it.”