Chapter 34
Random Town
Ash
I felt a warm body crash into my side and I turned over to find Sofya smiling faintly at me. I reached out and grabbed her hand, looking into her mind. I decided to do it day by day, so that if it ends up that we can't be together, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so bad since we were together for a period of time. I smiled back, then pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"I agree," I said. She raised an eyebrow.
"Can you read my thoughts by any chance and didn't mention it to me?" She asked. I gave a sly smile.
"So you finally figured it out. I was trying to give you some hints over the past few months. It was funny to watch you think you said something out loud when you didn't, but I can only do it when I'm touching you." I said. Her eyes went wide, and a soft pink blush filled her cheeks.
There had been so many times when I was touching him, what had he heard? My grin widened.
"Nothing I didn't want to." She punched me lightly.
"Thoughts are private." She said, sitting up. I sat up as well.
"It's not always intentional, sometimes they just flow in," I said, cocking my head to the side. "Some of your thoughts are very loud." She huffed.
"Yeah, right. I'm going to get dressed." She said, heading towards the bathroom, grabbing some clothes. While she was getting changed I decided to do the same, pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. As she came out of the bathroom my eyes skimmed over her outfit, and I nodded in mock approval. She rolled her eyes.
"You ready," I asked. She nodded and we headed out the door. We stopped by Nico, Lucy, and Maxon's room. They didn't answer when we knocked, so we left a note. Probably still passed out.
We stepped out of the lobby, it was bright and sunny out, what a perfect day. Sofya stood, her head tilted up, her eyes closed, soaking in the sunlight. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and glanced at me. I smirked, and she gave me the expression that clearly stated I was a jackass. She started walking forward, searching the signs, as we walked down the street.
"We are looking for a green sign that says private library," I said, catching up, to walk beside her. She nodded. Soon enough we found the sign.
We entered the building, cool air greeting us. Up ahead, was a petite blonde lady sitting at a desk, she smiled at us brightly.
"Welcome, can you show me your passes?" She asked, Sofya shot a confused glance at me, I smiled and held my hand up, a small blue flame erupting from the palm of my hand. The lady smiled. "Come on in." Sofya's mouth opened in an "O" as she realized what the lady had meant. We walked over to the green double door. Sofya gasped at the sight as we walked in, there were books everywhere and the room was huge. I turned to her.
"Ok, everything is labeled by topic and alphabetically titled, so let's split up, gather some books, and meet back over here," I said, gesturing at the table next to the door. She nodded, then headed off to the hundreds of shelves.
I walked over to the symbols section and randomly pulled a few books off the shelf. I went back to the table next to the door, sat down, and flipped open one of the books. After a few minutes of finding nothing about the symbols, I heard Sofya settle down in the chair next to me.
"Find anything?" She asked. I shook my head as she opened a book about magical objects, and began searching. I went back to looking through the symbol book. Sofya gasped, and I looked over at her.
"What did you find?" I asked, peering over her shoulder. She pointed at the paragraph.
"The stone. It's not evil, but it's not good, it's both." She said. My eyes widened as I read it over. The Tupsimati Gemstone- The Tupismati stone, is a small blood-red ruby stone that was created thousands of years ago, by what is thought to be the first angels and demons. They created it together with the purpose of making something to vanquish all evil, but what they didn't realize was that it had a dark side all on its own as it took the darkest parts of their souls along with the purest. The Tupismati stone holds the power of creation and destruction, it can just as easily save the worlds, as it can destroy them.
"It has the power of creation and destruction," Sofya said, running her hand along the worn page. "We should get back and tell the others." She said, standing up. I nodded, and picked up one of the symbol books, holding it in the crook of my elbow, to look at later. "What's that for?" Sofya asked, eyeing the book.
"Just some spells and such," I replied, the lie rolling off my tongue. She couldn't know, not yet at least. I exited the library, Sofya trailing behind me.
As soon as we got back to the hotel, we went over to Lucy, Maxon, and Nico's room, but found the doors wide open. Sofya dashed inside, she picked something up and drastically paled. Sofya gaped at the piece of paper in her hand, then ripped the stapled map from the back of the note, looking it over. Tears slipped from her eyes, something was clearly wrong. But the room was empty, nothing touched, but also no sign of struggle.
I noticed Sofya's expression and stepped closer. "What's wrong?" I asked. She held the note up.
"They're gone." She whispered hoarsely. I ripped the note from her hands. We have your friends if you want them back come to the kingdom of the Coralia to the city of Sireena. There is a map attached following it. I'm sorry S. - Enzo. Tearing it to shreds after reading it.
"I knew that guy was a two-timing bastard. I didn't like him from the moment I met him." I said, my fist clenched at my sides. Sofya sank to the ground laughing hysterically, it soon turned to gigantic sobs. I quelled my fury and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. "We'll find them, I promise," I said reassuringly. Sofya wrenched herself out of my grip, standing before me, determination etched on her face.
"We have to go now." She stated and marched towards the door. Before she could walk out, I yanked her back. She turned around scowling. "What?" She asked a growl to her tone.
"We're not leaving tonight," I said. I felt the anger radiating off of her.
"Yes, we are." I shook my head, why was she so stubborn?
"No, it pitch black out, and we need to form a plan. We can't go charging in there blindly, we would get killed. It's two against a whole kingdom. I wouldn't call that good odds. Come, let's go to bed and figure it out in the morning. We will get them back. I promise," I said, pulling her towards me. I picked her up with ease and plopped her down on the bed, then laid down next to her. I turned toward her. "Please stay," I whispered. She nodded solemnly, her tears falling onto my arm. Her body relaxed and her breath even out. I sighed softly and tried to relax as well but the tension in my chest wouldn't let go.