TRUTH: Book Two: Between Lions Series

By Jodi Baker

Survival comes at a steep cost...when you're being chased down a magical staircase by shape shifting mythological creatures that want to kill you.

With Styx gone, Anna's only ally against the ancient powers is Cax, a charming thief she can't seem to fully trust...or trust herself with. Each spiraling step towards her ultimate destiny as Th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Between Lions Press
• Release date: Jul 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9780986431753

Book preview

Prologue

As he leaned back against the Door, the hood of his cloak dropped so low over his face that it seemed I was staring into darkness. The mist swirled between us as I waited for him to speak.

Your Guardian has explained that the Museion is not the only otherworldly Library, he said, in that voice that was as mysterious as moonlight. You know that other cultures have hidden their secrets and treasures beyond the Doors. But Styx was not truthful about the threat they pose to your Library. Their shape-shifting Guardian armies are more violent than yours. Their leaders are more experienced and more powerful. When they discover your existence, your treasures will be stolen and your people will die.

I fought to not allow panic into my words. How do I stop them?

Break your vow to Styx.

The idea was so inconceivable that I stumbled. His arm snaked around my waist to catch me. I had longed for so many years for him to sweep me up in his arms that the shock of his embrace was almost enough to make me forget what he was asking me to do.

Almost.

There has to be another way!

He shook his head and caressed the small of my back. It is not what you have been led to believe. You would have powers beyond what you can imagine. Envision all the Doors open to you. Infinite knowledge…

Styx and I built the Museion together, I shakily reminded both him and myself.

The marble columns of your Museion will be nothing compared to the glorious temples they will build in your name, he whispered, warm breath caressing my cheek.

The Guardians have shared all they had. In return, they only asked that we obey one rule. One law. I agreed to that price. I swore an oath to them and to Styx.

If saving the lives of your people, and obtaining ultimate power isn’t enough to persuade you, perhaps this will.

His fingers brushed across the bare skin of my arm.

If you say yes, you would have me, too.

Oh Gods.

I leaned into him breathlessly. If I had you at my side…

In my bed.

Say yes, he murmured. All will be yours.

I tilted my head expectantly, but he stepped back and the hood moved lower, covering even more of his face. The loss of warmth from his body was as sharp as a slap. I blinked and saw the ultimate truth, despite the intoxicatingly intricate web he had spun to hide it.

He doesn’t want me.

Not unless-

Struggling not to weep, I stared up at the moonless sky and the Stairs that spiraled above and below us with infinite possibilities. I had seen at least a hundred Doors along the Stairway.

If every Door is hiding an enemy…

You make the choice tonight, Hypatia.

I-I cannot! I need to speak to Styx, see if there is another way to defend ourselves before I can choose to betray them!

Tonight, he repeated mournfully. Tonight or never.

But-

The Seer said that by the time you speak with your Guardian, it will be too late. If you keep the oath you made to a liar, all of your people will die.

That last prophetic sentence echoed ominously though the mist.

That’s not right.

He lied to me.

Styx has always told me the truth.

But if I am wrong to trust her…

Waves of fear crashed through me, threatening to destroy my conscience. But then, I heard my father’s voice booming in my mind the way it had in my ears during so many lessons back at the library, so many times before:

An oath is an oath, Hypatia.

I tore my eyes away from the Stairs and looked straight into the darkness beneath his hood.

I cannot. I will not. It is Forbidden.

– From Hypatia’s Book of Truth

Chapter One

I opened my sleep-crusted eyes to see overstuffed bookshelves and shuddered. Twisting my stiff neck to the left a few centimeters, I saw a coffee table, more bookshelves, and a desk. To the right was a wall of windows.

All of it was unfamiliar.

Where am I? How did I get here?

Panic threatened to erupt, right before I heard:

TRUST.

As that word echoed in my head, memories flooded back with nauseating clarity.

I’m at Cax’s apartment.

I attempted to sit up, but when my muscles groaned in protest, I flopped back down with a grunt.

Tired. So tired. Been running for two days, or was it three?

THREE DAYS SINCE WE WOKE UP ON THE STEPS OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Three days since I had gone to sleep in my bed and then woke up between those infamous lion statues, with no idea how I had gotten there.

Turned out, a whole year had passed.

A year I had no memory of.

And oh yeah.

When I woke up on the steps, I was hearing a voice in my head.

She was ‘the-voice-within-me’ that no one else could hear.

The voice ‘in Anna’ that called herself Inanna.

WE MUST TALK OF WAYS TO KEEP YOU SAFE.

Coming from Inanna, that could mean I had two minutes, two hours, or two days before a shape-shifting Guardian tried to kill me again.

I abruptly stood up and slipped a foot into my sneaker.

Do I need to run?

NOT YET.

I got the other shoe on, stuck the Curi in my pocket, and then did a quick three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn, looking for possible weapons. There were several priceless-looking art pieces that I didn’t want to mess with tucked into bookshelves and square niches in the walls. Otherwise, it was a pretty modern apartment. I figured that the kitchen had knives in one of the drawers, but it would take too long and make too much noise trying to find them.

It suddenly occurred to me, that somewhere in the last twenty-four hours, my brain had decided to skip through the, ‘I’m not a warrior, I’m a sixteen-year-old clueless Heir who had only survived because of other people and sheer dumb luck’ arguments, and had moved to a bizarre, but slightly more productive state of acceptance. What I’d been through would leave permanent scars, both visible and invisible. But surviving repeated kidnapping and assassination attempts was definitely a way to keep your emotional priorities straight.

I wanted to hide my face in the cushions on the red velvet couch I’d crashed on the night before and try to stop the montage of the last few days that was replaying in my head. Curling into the fetal position wouldn’t protect me. Finding a weapon would.

IN ADDITION TO FINDING POSSIBLE WEAPONS, EVERY WARRIOR SHOULD NOTE POSSIBLE EXITS WHEN THEY ENTER A NEW SPACE. YOU MUST KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

I began scanning the room.

The desk was piled high with codices, scrolls and textbooks. Hanging on the wall above the desk was a framed, intricate circle of thick, colorful thread. Extending out from that inner sphere, like rays of the sun, were ornate, frayed strands that had been twisted into different sized shapes and knots. It was a poem, recorded in an ancient Incan writing system, called a Quipu. They had used cord length, color, knot type, and size to represent words and numbers the way we use letters.

Spanish invaders had destroyed all the Quipu they could find centuries ago. Modern scholars were still unable to translate the few that had remained, but Cax had been trained to read Quipus as a child. His family had worked for a Library that collected all-things ancient from the Americas, which the Mayan codices, Aztec art, and Incan Quipus in his apartment clearly showcased.

My family’s Library collected all things Egyptian, Roman, and Greek.

SO WHY ARE THERE SUMERIAN SCROLLS ON HIS DESK?

As my fingers glided over the glyphs on the scroll, my mind automatically began to translate them, but-

I don’t know why he has them. It’s definitely odd, but we don’t have time for this now. I’ll ask him about that later, I told myself, storing the image of the cluttered desk in a memory file before I grabbed a paperweight that had been hiding beneath the scrolls.

A sudden noise made me twist towards the windows, but there was nothing there. There was no fire escape on this side of the building that I could remember, and we were at least three to five stories up. The ledge looked way too small for a Werejaguar to land upon, but I cautiously stepped closer just to make sure. I had seen one of them balance all of its six hundred pounds on a banister before.

The sky was dark blue, signaling either dawn approaching or a recent sunset. I had no idea which, since both Cax and I had gone to sleep at about ten in the morning.

Something moved behind me. I gripped the paperweight, whirled around and hit whatever was coming to get me.

Ow! Cax clutched his shoulder and leapt away.

I dropped the paperweight on the floor, swore several times, and then scrambled across the room to him.

I couldn’t have messed up worse if I tried.

Oh Gods, I’m sorry!

It’s okay, Cax said through gritted teeth. After what we just went through…it’s understandable.

That’s ridiculously nice of you, I mumbled, face heated.

Yeah, well, I’m ridiculously nice, he said, rubbing his shoulder. Just don’t tell anyone, okay? I have a reputation to protect.

I’m so sorry, I repeated helplessly.

Stop apologizing.

Should I get him some ice? No, it’s not my house. That’s rude. Should help? Shouldn’t help? Don’t apologize again. He said not to. Why is this so hard? Not sure how this is going to go, what to say, how to act…

I had only met Cax once before, when we had been children, even though my mother had insisted friends were, for me, forbidden. Yesterday, we had stumbled into each other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was running for my life. In the last twenty-four hours, he had saved me from an assassin, I had rescued him from prison, we had spent the night hiding in the Temple Of Dendur exhibition, he had insisted that I come to stay with him, and then…

We had kissed.

I’d read teen romances where kids passed notes and he-likes-you texts in school; boys hung out by your locker and then kissed you underneath bleachers at football games or in the backseat of their parent’s borrowed car. I had also read fantasy stories of kids who went on quests together and ended up falling in love as they fought to save the world, side by side. That was much closer to this situation, but we weren’t exactly trying to save the world. I was just trying to stay alive. He’d offered me a place to sleep while I figured out how to keep all of my body parts intact and continue breathing.

I repaid him for that with an attack by paperweight. Gods!

To get off the anxiety train, I decided my brain should attempt to recall the passages in those young adult books to try and figure out what a regular, sixteen year old girl would do in this situation…which led to an equally unpleasant spiral of self-doubt.

I’m not a regular girl. This is not a time to be thinking about boys. I have to get real. I have to be responsible. By staying here last night, I put his life in danger.

I should leave, I announced.

Cax stared at me. I stared right back.

Caffeine first, he declared, gently, but firmly pulling me into the kitchen. Discussion afterwards.

I’d never had coffee before. My mother had been strict about, well, everything, but food in particular. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything that had more than two legs. I hadn’t ever ventured into a coffee shop before, even though they were two to a block in the city. I had, however, watched people go in and come out with what looked to me like milkshakes, which mom had deemed legal as long as the milk and ice cream were organic. Before he died, my stepfather always drank a hot, steaming cup of coffee in the morning out of a thick mug. I wasn’t sure which of those Cax was making, but-

I love milkshakes, I thought, just as the machine grumbled and then spit out an unappetizingly brown liquid. Cax handed it to me in the tiniest coffee cup I had ever seen. It was steaming, which was nice, but I couldn’t wrap my hands around it the way I had seen my stepfather do. The looped porcelain handle didn’t seem big enough to fit even a pinky through.

I stared at it and then him, confused.

Oh, did you want a latte?

In the last three days I had acquired the ability to read and speak every language on the planet, ancient and modern. But I had no freaking idea what he meant by latte.

Um, no. This is great.

Great, he grinned at me, which should have made me relax, but instead, jangled my nerves.

My world had been completely decimated in the last few days, but here I was, strolling over to a couch, about to lazily and selfishly sip coffee.

An assassin could be on his way to Cax’s apartment right now—I have to run!

HE OFFERED SANCTUARY. WHY WOULD YOU NOT CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT?

I’m not safe.

That’s good to know.

His voice yanked me into the present, but I had no idea what he was talking about or how much I had missed.

I’m sorry, what’s good?

It’s good to know you like your espresso black.

Right, I said forcing myself to drink.

Bitter. Hot. Tastes exactly how I feel.

But the longer we sat there, sipping from our doll-sized cups, the more the silence stretched out between us. Tension was building up from all the unsaid words choking my throat. I thought that if I didn’t get into the elevator, take it to the street, and run, my head was going to explode.

RUNNING IS A CHOICE.

Quiet! Not talking to you in front of him.

WELL THEN, DO SOMETHING.

As if he heard Inanna, Cax finished his drink like it was a shot, placed the cup on the table, and then turned to face me on the couch.

I mimicked his movements exactly, and then braced myself.

Look, he said. You’re the only other person my age I’ve ever met who knows that the secret Libraries exist.

You’re the only other human person I’ve met who knows about the shape-shifting Guardians, I said, and then added, since it was pretty obvious this was how he wanted to start the conversation about me leaving, You understand the danger I’m in.

We’ve both got baggage from this.

It was a statement of fact, not a question. But I still answered:

Yes. We do.

My point is that… Cax paused, choosing his words carefully, when I wished he would stop prolonging the inevitable and just rip the proverbial band aid off so that I could figure out what in the name of the Gods I was going to do next. I was sure what was about to emerge from his mouth was something like:

Dangerous monsters are chasing you Anna, and I want to help, but I really can’t, and you shouldn’t ask me to risk my life because I barely know you, so it’s time to leave, leave, leave and be alone, alone, alone…

I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about anything, Cax said finally. I know you weren’t either. So it’s kind of hard to trust people. I know it’s really hard for me to share things.

That’s my cue.

I reached over and began folding up the blanket I had used.

You were so kind to let me stay here last night.

Stop! I don’t want you to leave, Cax grabbed the blanket out of my hands. That’s not what I’m saying. I just—last night…

My jaw twitched.

…was really crazy and it’s easier to, to, talk to each other and bond when you’re in a life or death situation. It’s like everything gets bared down to the bones, so it’s all nuance-free. You share things you might not have in a different situation, or, you act as if there aren’t any boundaries. Gods, I’m saying this all wrong, he sighed, frustrated. Let me start again?

Sure, I agreed, hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

So. Last night was great, he began and then stopped. Actually, it was really awful when we were locked up in prison by Werejaguars. That part was bad. But the end of it, when we escaped, hid in the Met, talked all night, and then when we came here and, and we, um…

I finally knew what he was talking about.

He’s sorry he kissed me.

No—please don’t look like that! It was great. I’m saying that part was great.

But.

But I know things are complicated for you right now…

Understatement of the century.

…and I know that we’ve really just met. It feels like I’ve known you forever, because of how we escaped together last night and all the secrets we both know about, but that’s not the truth, Cax ran a hand through his hair, which made it spike up even more obstinately. I was thinking we could fight against that fake intimacy thing, and not make assumptions about each other by starting things off slowly.

You want to take things slowly, I repeated, the last word ending on an upward inflection that made it sound like a question.

Yes, Cax said.

A gong sound rang out.

Cax didn’t react, since he didn’t hear it.

I tried not to react to the sound, since I knew I was the only person who could hear it. Whenever it rang, it signaled to me that the person who had answered my direct question had lied.

Why would he lie and say he wants to take things slowly, even though he doesn’t?

What does that mean? My nerves were wound so tightly it felt like they were about to snap.

It means I like you, he told me.

I like you too, I said quickly.

Then I realized what I had just admitted.

Oh Gods!

But I don’t want to be a stereotypical guy who falls for the girl who rescues him, he said and then paused. That was supposed to be funny.

It was?

Yes. See, I’m funny. I know you don’t know that yet.

No, I do, you’ve been funny! I told him.

Are you always like this?

Like…?

Serious. Worried and serious.

Yes, I told him honestly. Are you always like this?

Like what?

Confusing.

Yes, he told me honestly. I deliberately confuse most people when they meet me. But I don’t want to confuse you. That’s why I’m saying we should slow down and get to know each other. Let me be crystal clear, so that you’re not confused: I want to get to the point where you tell me something about yourself, and I roll my eyes and say: ‘Yeah, I already knew that, because I know everything about you.’

My heart rose up to the fourteen-foot ceiling of his loft and then sank down past my shoes into the floor.

Utterly impossible.

WHY?

I have too many secrets, Inanna.

So, Cax continued, blissfully unaware of my thought process. One thing we just learned is that we both like espresso. So, now, why don’t you tell me one thing I don’t know about you?

I stared at him.

"Something not everyone would