The Return (Titan 1)

“Good gods,” I whispered, because seriously, “gods” was the only word fitting for what I was seeing.

Giant statues of the gods were positioned through the main floor, between deep aisles full of shelves, holding up a second floor with their marble hands. The library was deep and endless, chilly, and smelled like mothballs were hidden behind every book.

But the weird, almost nervous, energy in the pit of my stomach ramped up. I placed a hand over my tummy, feeling slightly nauseous. Confused, I broke away from Seth and walked between the dark wooden tables. No one sat in the heavy-looking chairs. It was as quiet as I imagined a tomb would be.

I headed down the first aisle, running my fingers over the thick spines of books that were free from dust. The stacks were at least eighteen feet tall, and I wondered if some of the people here could fly, because I didn’t see a ladder. Then again, many of the pures could just summon the air element. So could Seth.

And I would be able to, once my powers were unbound.

Freaky.

“Live up to your expectations?” Seth murmured as he touched the small of my back.

I shivered as I shook my head. “It’s pretty amazing.” “Yeah, it is.”

Something in his voice coaxed me into looking up at him, and when I did, I was snared. He was staring down at me in a way… well, in a way I had little experience with. That nervous energy dropped lower, and another shiver coursed down my spine.

His gaze drifted from mine, to my mouth, and my muscles tensed as my lips parted. Immediately, I forgot the purpose of coming into the library. A pleasant hum invaded my veins as I swayed toward him, feeling hot and dizzy, like I’d been out in the summer sun all day.

Seth’s chin dipped as he lifted his hands to my hips. He barely touched me there, but his fingertips seared through the thin material of my pants. I started thinking about the tips of his fingers being elsewhere, and that made me even more dizzy. I inhaled deeply and caught his scent, a mix of the outdoors and something citrusy.

He drew his hands up to my waist, and then lifted one to my temple. Slowly, he traced the curve of my cheekbone. My pulse thrummed as his intense stare followed his fingertips. He trailed them down my face and then over my parted lips.

“Seth.”

He jerked back, dropping his hand as he turned at the sound of his name. I squeezed my eyes shut as I gripped the edge of a shelf. When I reopened them, I peered up over his shoulder and saw Marcus, the Dean of the University. He wasn’t alone. The man with the scar was with him—Solos—and so was another older man, dressed in all black, that I saw around the campus a lot.

“What’s going on?” Seth asked, shifting his legs so that his stance was wide, a movement I now recognized as a fighting stance.

Unease blossomed in the pit of my stomach.

Marcus nodded in my general direction, and then those bright eyes centered on Seth. “We need to talk.”

The “in private” part wasn’t spoken, but I got what they were saying. Seth glanced over his shoulder at me, and I shrugged.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Not going anywhere.” After the horrific chaos in the cafeteria, I wasn’t keen on roaming around the campus by myself. I actually hadn’t even eaten in there since then. The boys usually brought me something to eat in the training room or to my dorm.

Seth joined the group of very stern-looking men, and they immediately started talking, their voices too low for me to hear, but it didn’t stop me from trying. I learned fairly quickly that I sucked at reading lips. Everything looked like they were saying “tomatoes” or “I love you” and I doubted that was what was being said.

I sighed as I leaned against the stack, grateful when the whole thing didn’t come down on my head. That would’ve been embarrassing and just my luck. I could almost see it now, thousands of books raining down.

A sudden cold draft curled through the aisle, stirring the hair around my temples and fluffing my ponytail. Frowning, I turned around.

A woman stood several feet behind me. She must’ve been part ghost, because I hadn’t heard her walk up.

She was incredibly tall, as tall as Seth, and very slender. Elegant, long-fingered hands were folded in front of her. Her blonde hair was pulled up, the mass of tight curls intricately pinned along the top of her head. Most of her features were hidden behind oversized, movie-star-quality sunglasses, but from what I could see, her cheekbones were sharp, lips full and rosy.

“Hello, Josephine,” she said in a distinct, cultured accent. The corners of her lips tilted up in a slight, almost shy, smile.

Another shudder worked its way across my flesh. “How…how did you know my name?”

She drifted closer, and although she wore heeled shoes— super-pointy heeled shoes—there was no sound. There was a strong scent of patchouli and orange blossoms. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Okay. That wasn’t creepy or anything. Part of me wanted to take a step back, but I held my ground. “Who are you?”

Her head tilted to the side. “I am the Librarian.”

Um. Yeah. Since when did librarians wear sunglasses indoors? I glanced over my shoulder. Seth was still with the Dean, and as Solos spoke, Seth looked over. Our gazes collided, and sucking in a breath, I turned back to the librarian.

The space in front of me was vacant.

“What the…?” I strode forward, all the way down to the end of the aisle and looked both ways. Nothing—even the scent was gone.

“Josie?”

Turning back to Seth’s voice, I met him halfway down the aisle. “What were you doing?” he asked.

“I…I don’t know.” Seemed silly to mention the lady. “Is everything all right?”

His eyes searched mine. “Let’s talk as we head back to the dorm, okay?”

That didn’t sound good, but I started walking with him. Once outside, he scrubbed a hand over his forehead. “Marcus limited the coming and going of the students when he learned of the Titans escaping Tartarus. However, groups of Sentinels come in and out of those gates all the time. Some are hunting. Others are doing patrols. There’s no way to completely keep those gates closed for a long period of time.”

I folded my arms across my chest to keep the chill out—from the air and from what I had a feeling his words would bring.

“All of the Sentinels check in hourly. No one screws around with that.” His voice dropped as he placed a hand on my shoulder, steering us around a group of students who’d simply just stopped in the middle of the pathway. He waited until we were several feet beyond them. “A rather large scouting group has gone missing.”