Bri licked her lips. The thin, dry air seemed to make them constantly chapped. The narrow slats of the window didn’t allow for much breeze but the copper-flecked sandstone kept the room cool. She found Lina scouring the rows of towering shelves, seeking out the smaller annexes on the floor above.

“Are you giving up already?” Lina asked, propping her elbow on the low shelf as she flipped the pages of a yellowing tome. The filtered light reflected off the angled ceiling, casting a blissful morning glow around Lina, and Bri was certain the Gods had done it just to torment her.

Bri flipped her dagger mindlessly in her hands. Lounging in a chair beside the shelf, she strung one leg up over the armrest. “I’ve read every spine on the floor below,” she said, yawning. “Mostly children’s books. Not a single one sounds like a violet witch book. I thought I’d take a break.”

Lina’s lips quirked. “We only just arrived.”

Bri shrugged. She didn’t know why she didn’t mention the tale of Air Ev, suddenly having the urge to call Lina her dragon. But there was a second definition to the word Air, which in Mhenbic meant “sacrifice.” That part was what made Bri hold her tongue. Lina had been born with a prophecy that her sacrifices would bring her honor and glory . . . and Bri couldn’t bear to give her that moniker. To put the burden of that word on her . . . How much would Lina sacrifice for her kingdom? Bri already knew the answer: everything.

“Reading the spines isn’t enough to know what is inside. They might still have something of value,” Lina insisted, tracing a finger across the worn page in front of her. “Some of these books are ancient. This one mentions a full moon gathering with all five witch covens. It’s probably hundreds of years old.”

“And does it say how an arrogant fae princeling can wield the magic of an extinct coven?” Bri mused, resting her head back in the chair. Perhaps she could rest. The dull quiet of the library was pulling her into its heady undertow.

“Ah yes,” Lina said, flipping a page and emphatically pointing to the middle. Bri straightened with a jump. “The chapter on how to defeat Augustus Norwood, huzzah!”

Bri shook her head, flashing her foxlike grin. “I think I’m rubbing off on you.”

Biting her lip, Lina looked coyly back to Bri. “I hope you continue to do so.”

Sleep abandoned, Bri lifted her head, fully aware that her cheeks were burning. She sheathed her dagger and leaned forward in her chair, her eyes heating at Lina’s wanton gaze. “What are you thinking about right now?”

“You,” Lina said. “That moment in the cellar.”

Bri’s grin turned predatory. “I think that’s the first time I’ve been in a wine cellar and didn’t give a single thought to the wine.”