PANDORA

Chapter 13

In the library, Pearl had already read about three books and was about to leave when her eyes caught sight of a big black book resting alone on a separate shelf. Curious, she walked over and picked it up. The book was surprisingly heavy, and engraved on its cover were the words The History of Vault.

Intrigued, she opened it-but the words inside weren't in English. They were written in a language she couldn't recognize. Still, she kept flipping through page after page until something caught her eye: a picture.

The picture was faded and dusty. Pearl brushed her hand gently across the page to clear the dirt, and when she finally looked at it, what she saw made her gasp. Her fingers trembled, and the book slipped from her hands, hitting the floor with a loud, echoing thud.

Shaken, Pearl froze. Then, suddenly, a cold breeze swept past her. She knew that feeling-she had felt that chill before. That same breeze... that same strange scent...

Pearl turned to look behind her-it was him.

"Did you do that? Did you turn that picture into that? What did you do to the picture? Are you a wizard? A sorcerer? What are you?" Pearl demanded, her voice sharp with panic as she glared at him.

He bent down calmly, picked up the fallen book, and studied the picture before him. "This is you," he said in surprise. His brow furrowed as he flipped through the pages, muttering, "This isn't English..." Then his eyes landed on the title. The History of Vault.

"Hm. I've never seen this before," he murmured.

"You haven't answered my question Mr..," Pearl snapped.

"Trevor," he corrected softly. "It's Trevor."

He looked up from the book, his piercing gaze locking onto hers. For a moment, he was lost in her beauty-flawless, radiant in a way he had never seen in all his years of wandering.

"Well," Trevor said at last, his voice deep and deliberate, "I am many things to many people. The devil to some, the wind, a demon, a wizard, a god..." He leaned closer, his tone dropping to a seductive whisper that flowed like music. "What do you want me to be... to you?"