Out of Character (True Colors 2)

“A reaper appears to guide us.” Jasper laughed, then started pacing as he sobered. “More seriously, we use our scrolls to cast something and then move to attack.”

“Did you say reaper? The angels of death, right? How about that?” I pointed at the farthest wall, which had a long, narrow painting above the shelves. It looked old, all muted colors, and a whole flock of angry-looking angels surrounding some sort of horned beast.

“Yes.” Jasper made a happy noise that made my body remember exactly how much I’d loved everything we’d done the previous night and that morning. “You’re brilliant.”

He gave me a swift, hard kiss that had my skin heating even more. Maybe if we didn’t find the cards, we could put our relative isolation down here to good use.

“Nah. You’re the smart one.” I followed him to the shelves directly below the painting. Remembering how he’d found the first two clues, I started by running my fingers under shelves. Jasper, however, hung back. His face wrinkled in that deep-thinking mode he had.

“Now, which of these books are about attacking?” Eyes narrowing, Jasper bounced on his heels before grinning. “Or scrolls. Look.”

On the uppermost shelf, a series of particularly dated books caught my eye, some sort of encyclopedia set about the Dead Sea scrolls.

“Scrolls!” I ran my fingers under the shelf that held the books, but I found only cold metal. Undaunted, Jasper examined each book. I caught on to the idea, and standing next to each other, we worked inward. I liked being a team together, liked figuring this stuff out with him, and even if we didn’t find a card, this was still my favorite morning in a very long time. Leaning in, I brushed my lips over his temple.

Blushing, he turned toward me. “What was that for?”

“Nothing. Just…I’m happy. That’s all.”

“Good.” Jasper snuck in another quick kiss. “You make me happy too.”

My chest had maybe never been that full. I couldn’t not kiss him in that moment, but when I went in for the kiss, he wasn’t ready and I got a mouth full of hair. In trying to right himself, he bumped into the shelf and several books rained down on us.

I reached out to steady him, trying to shield him from the book tsunami. “Whoa.”

Laughing, we kissed for real, then bent to retrieve the books and replace them on the shelves.

“Wait. Look behind.” Jasper hopped up and down, but I was taller, allowing me to make the discovery that it wasn’t a solid wall behind the books. My hands found a box that was lurking, tucked between the books and the wall. “Of course. Move the scrolls, reveal the bounty.”

“This is too big to be another clue.” I withdrew a flat wooden box with the Odyssey symbol etched on the front. My hands shook as I held it out to Jasper. We opened it together and peered in. Another card with a digital code on it was on top, then two random Odyssey cards that meant nothing to me but earned a whistle from Jasper. And then we gasped in unison.

“The queen.” The card was encased in thick plastic, and Jasper trailed a finger down its front.

“Yes.” I pumped my fist before giving him a loud kiss on the cheek that resonated in the quiet. “We did it.”

“We did.” His smile could have powered the Empire State Building as he withdrew the card and handed it to me. He fished out the plastic-sleeved rares from his coat. “Now we update the digital log with what I’m leaving behind. I’ll use a code name for us for our find.”

“Dynamic duo?” I grinned at him because that was totally what we were. We were an excellent team.

“That works.” Jasper clicked around on his phone for a few moments before we carefully replaced the hiding spot and headed out of the stacks. “Now let’s get you and your prize back to your place.”

“Our prize.” No way was I taking all the credit when it had been both of us, working together.

“Okay.” Jasper paused right by the elevators, turning back toward me. “Milo…”

“Yeah?” I wasn’t sure I liked his cautious tone. Or his super-long pause, interrupted only by the ding of the elevator arriving.

“Nothing.” He gave a weighty sigh that I liked even less than that pause. He hit the button, and we were on our way out of the library before he spoke again. “It’s nothing. Really. Just that I hope you—we—find the other two cards. So that Bruno never has to know.”

“Yeah,” I agreed readily, trying to keep up with his fast pace toward the parking lot. And judging by Jasper’s frown, that hadn’t been the right answer. “Is that bad? I just don’t want him to think I’m a screwup. Again.”

“I know.” Jasper voice was even, but his eyes were sad. “But…maybe all you can do is be you?”