Shadow of the Sun (Timeless #1)

Chapter 27: Power

Andrew held out the book. I grabbed it and rubbed my thumb over the embossed title. Timeless seemed to be suffused with a mysterious glow. That was what angels were—living in their timeless immortality. Or that was what I thought until Abelie died.

"There was a part of your dream you left out earlier," Andrew said. "You said you saw my death. Ehno won't show me what happened."

I didn't want to think about it. Without looking up, I said, "The Ladies turned Lucia into a human."

"Yes."

"I can only guess that was the same spell Abelie and Aiden used when they decided to turn me human."

"There is only one spell that can do that."

"Lucia was stabbed by a Lady. The knife had the Definitive Sun symbol." I finally looked up to see Andrew staring at me intently. "Ehno loves Lucia, doesn't he?"

He nodded. "Always has; they're kindred souls."

"You can imagine how livid he was, then," I said. "He ran after her, and you followed, probably trying to stop him from getting himself killed. The Ladies didn't hesitate as they turned you both human and killed you alongside her—with the same blade."

"Anything else?" he asked, not a single note of anxiety in his voice.

I shook my head. "No. But you know what this means, don't you?"

"No."

"It means I have to change the Shadows back—Illuminate them." I sighed with the weight of my words. "We have to find a way to return the angels' minds. How else will we fight against the Ladies?"

"I don't know."

"Have you seen this book before?"

"It looks familiar." His eyebrows knitted together. "Let's take it downstairs."

I nodded, my breath still heavy from being intimate with Andrew. He moved in closer, and I backed into the bookshelf again. He placed a kiss on my ear and whispered against my skin, "We'll talk about this—" he moved his hand between us "—later." My breathing hitched, and he pulled away, chuckling.

He took my hand, and we went back down to the first level of the library. Lucia was the only one down there, scouring through the bookshelves for something that could help. When she saw us, she stopped poring over the books to join us at the table.

"What did you find?" she asked.

"Have you ever seen this book?" I held it up for her.

She snatched it out of my grasp. "Yes."

Andrew and I exchanged a look of surprise.

"It's about our history. It's been more than a thousand years since I've seen this. Where did you find it?" she asked, a faint crease between her brows.

With a smirk, Andrew said, "It fell from a shelf above Gabriella's head."

Heat rose in my cheeks. "Andrew caught it before it could knock me out," I said. "I saw the title, and for some reason, I knew we needed to read it."

She nodded but didn't look up from the dusty bindings. Without speaking, she handed it back to me. "If you have a feeling there's something in here that can help then you should be the one to read it."

"Me? I don't know what I'm looking for."

"Yes. You. You might see something one of us can't," she said.

"Right." I sat down and placed the book before me as I stared at it. The binding was hard, gray, and dusty. The only word on it was Timeless. There were no pictures, no author name, just Timeless. I blew off the cover and opened it. Yellowed pages were so fragile I wasn't sure if I wanted to turn them. I looked to Andrew for guidance. He smiled and placed his hand over the page. "Proteggere," he murmured.