{ZEPHYROS}
Days before.
"What's she doing?"
The words left me in a mutter as I hovered near the chandelier, translucent fingers folded behind my back.
From above, the library unfolded like a living organism—rows upon rows of towering shelves, shadows pooling between them, candlelight flickering like wary eyes.
No one noticed me.
They never did.
But I noticed everything.
The quiet rustle of pages. The way the air shifted when someone trespassed where they shouldn't. The subtle hum of wards responding to curiosity or fear.
Including her.
Iris
I watched as she slipped into the forbidden section, her steps hesitant but determined, hands clutching a tome she had no right to touch.
The wards whispered, recognizing her presence, trembling at the edge of activation.
Usually, no student would dare.
They knew better.
