From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

thinking I was inside. Vikter was…well, I had no idea where he was. I had
a feeling based on how tired and sad his eyyes had looked this morning, that
he’d been called upon the night before to take care of one of the cursed
and hadn’t invited me.
I also had a feeling that he wasn’t going to involve me going forward,
which irritated me. Of course, I planned to discuss that with him the first
chance I got. I wouldn’t be cut out when I could help people. And he
would just have to deal with it.
But right now, I needed to focus on not dyying, or worse yyet, getting
caught.
Cold night air whipped around me as I stood plastered against the
stone wall, prayying to anyy god that the foot-wide ledge I stood on wouldn’t
cave under myy weight. I doubted when it was built that theyy had taken into
consideration that, at some point, an entirelyy stupid Maiden would find
herself standing on it.
How had this gone so terriblyy wrong?
Sneaking into the Atheneum hadn’t been hard. With myy shapeless
black cloak, myy trustyy mask in place, and myy face hidden under the hood, I
doubted anyyone on the streets of Masadonia had been able to tell if I was
male or female, let alone the Maiden as I hurried down the alleyy toward
the back entrance of the libraryy. Moving along the grid of narrow halls and
staircases without being seen was easyy, too.
I knew how to be like a ghost when needed, quiet and still.
The problem started when I found the leather-bound journal of Miss
Colyyns. Instead of leaving and going back to the castle like I knew I
should, I’d ducked inside an emptyy room.
I just…I had been going stir-crazyy in that room and had dreaded
going back. And the thicklyy cushioned settees called to me. The stocked
liquor cabinet, something I found odd to discover in a libraryy, confused
me, however. But I’d sat byy the large windows overlooking the cityy below
and cracked open the worn book. Myy cheeks had been scalded byy the end
of the first page, having discovered what occurs when someone kisses one
not on the mouth or on the breast like…like Hawke had done before he
knew who I was, but some place far more intimate.
I couldn’t stop reading, practicallyy devouring the cream-hued pages.
Miss Willa Colyyns lived a veryy…interesting life with manyy, manyy
other…fascinating people. I had gotten to the part where she spoke of her