“That would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?” He kissed me softly and I pulled him to the sofa, sighing in comfort as we sat down together.
“It wouldn't for me.” I shook my head, staring at him. “I don't know how you did this, Joshua. All I can say is…”
He cut me off. “Wow?” He teased, leaning in and stealing another kiss.
“I was going to go with 'thank you,’” I remarked. “But yes, wow is another good word for it.” I reached out, resting my hand on his thigh. “Are you going to give me a hint how you managed to acquire all these books?” I could tell most of them had been read and some had quite a bit of age to them but I didn't care. New books were incredibly hard to come by.
Joshua grinned, staring at the shelf on the wall where the books were situated. “Let's just say I know how to make friends,” he teased.
“And I don't?” My jaw dropped in mock anger. My fingers reached out, tickling him.
Joshua laughed. “Are you sure you want to go there? Do you remember who won the last time we did this?”
My eyes narrowed and I dropped my hands. “Fine. Fine. Know that this isn't over yet,” I told him, standing up.
Joshua watched me and finally stood up to follow. “Where are you going?”
I glanced back over my shoulder at him as I headed into the kitchen. “I'm hungry,” I remarked. After all, I hadn't eaten much breakfast. “Then I'm taking a shower.” I was covered in grime and smoke. After lunch and a nice hot shower, I climbed onto the sofa, having grabbed a book from the shelf. It was on Greek mythology. I didn't know much about Greek history or its mythology. The cover looked old and worn, from more than a lifetime ago. I shouldn't have been surprised. Most books came from hundreds of years ago. Few of them had been reprinted. It was rare to find a press in any city. Genesis only allowed printing of sanctioned materials. I glanced at Joshua, wondering how he'd acquired so many used books.
“What are you reading?” Josh asked, climbing onto the sofa beside me.
“We're reading about Greek mythology,” I offered, opening the book. “I want to read it to you.”
Joshua laughed. “You know I'm not a little kid,” he teased. I nodded but didn't care. I wanted us to share something together. “Okay, go for it.” Joshua smiled. “What legend are we reading about today?”
“Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.” I turned to the first chapter. “The three Moirai.”
“What does that mean?” Joshua asked.
I laughed, “Will you let me read or not?” He smiled but didn't answer. “The Moirai were responsible for every mortal from birth to death. Clotho spun the thread of life. Lachesis measured the thread and Atropos cut the thread, ending one's life. They’re destiny, if you would —though no human could blame the Moirai—for we are responsible for our own failures.”
“Free will.” Joshua nodded slowly. “Do you believe in destiny?” He stared at me curiously.
I glanced up at him, thinking about his question. “I don't know. I don't think our life is laid out for us. We have the right to make it, however we choose,” I answered. “Though the authorities in Cabal would disagree. We still have the ability to choose. We face consequences though, based on those choices, our actions.”
Joshua stared at me. “But the question is, do you believe in destiny? Do you believe that even with free will, some choices are still the same? Say, for instance, you and I were best friends as children and now, we're engaged.” Joshua smiled. “I'd say that's destiny.”
I disagreed. “What one might consider destiny could be completely chance, or rather chaos,” I rationalized. “It was men who decided we'd be matched together in marriage.”
Joshua considered my words. “How did those men decide though?” He pushed on. “Was it not destiny that brought us together? We were the same age, born in the same town. Soul mates.” He grinned, enjoying the banter between us.
I couldn't help but laugh. “You believe in soul mates?” I didn't. I couldn't. It wasn't that I thought there was anyone else out there for me. Joshua was all I ever wanted. It was more to do with the idea that only one person could be right for someone. I didn't buy into it.
“I'm guessing you don't.” his smile faded.
I shrugged, gesturing towards the antique book as he sat back and let me read to him.
Nearly an hour had passed, and I glanced over at Josh, closing the book in my arms. “You never did tell me how you managed all this.” Joshua took the book from me, putting it on the table beside us. “Let's just say, I owe someone a favor.”
“One heck of a favor,” I murmured. “Do you think you'll be able to pay him back for all the books?” There was no possible way we could afford it. Maybe one or two but not the fifty or so he had on the shelf. It was astonishing.
Joshua leaned in, kissing me. “When the war is over and the world is finally righted and just,” he grinned, “I've managed to secure myself a job.” I frowned, confused. “The printer in town would like me to come work for him.”
“As payback for the books?” I guessed. I had no idea there was a book printer in Shadow!
Joshua laughed. “No. I reprinted all these for him. These are the originals but the newer copies are in his store.” My jaw must have dropped. I couldn't believe it! We'd been here a few months, but still, how had Joshua found the time to reprint dozens of books? It was a mystery to me. “Don't look so surprised,” he laughed. “We all have special abilities now.”
“Yours is book printing?” Every day I learned something more about Joshua. I didn't care about his special abilities or talents that the Mindonsiphan had done to us. What mattered to me was deep down who he was, that he would do this for me.
There was a knock at our front door and Joshua glanced back at me as he stood up. “You rest here. I'll see who it is.”
“Okay.” I nodded, putting my feet up on the sofa. Joshua headed for the door. I couldn't see who it was from where I sat. I waited patiently, surprised to see our council members coming inside, all of them. “Hey guys?” I noticed everyone but Hazel and figured she was resting at home.
“Sorry for the interruption,” Cate announced. “We wanted to hold a meeting and since you shouldn't be out of bed, we thought we'd bring the meeting to you.” She took a seat on the sofa beside me. Of all the people in the council, she was the last one I wanted to sit next to. I knew I should have been thankful she came to my rescue, but I didn't want to have to owe her anything.
“Meeting?” I asked, glancing at the Chancellor. “Why today?” It wasn't our usual meeting time. “What's going on?” I asked. I moved my legs to sit up and Joshua grabbed a seat beside me.
Elsa grabbed a seat on the floor, making herself at home. “We had a visitor this afternoon after the drones flew overhead. There's no word yet about Jaxon, Margo, and Mason but Thena was hit.”
“Thena?” I asked.
Cate sighed shifting uncomfortably on the sofa. She picked at her fingernails, staring down at her lap. “Yes, that's where Mason and I come from. One of the five cities.”
“Oh.” I slowly began to understand. “Who was the visitor? How did they get here? I thought no one knew where we were.” I didn't entirely understand what was going on.
Chancellor Collins grabbed a seat on the chair opposite us. “Taron is a member of Thena's high council. All council members have a vague understanding of Shadow’s location. We don't hand them a map per se, but we do tell them how to get here. Should the need ever arise.”
I glanced at Joshua, remembering the night months ago when we were recruits. We had snuck out and caught Chancellor Collins conversing with a stranger at night, from a car. We had learned the stranger was my uncle, my father’s younger brother who lived in Fora. I still hadn't visited him. I didn't know if I ever would or even, if the time came, what I'd say. That hadn't bothered me nearly as much as the fact he had come into town and left without hesitation. I was beginning to understand how. Perhaps, my uncle had been a member of Fora's high council. “Where is Taron?” I asked, glancing at Chancellor Collins.