Chapter 2
It took all my resolve to make it through my shift at the library today.
I pushed the cart over to the children’s book stacks and started my work reshelving.
The section was massive and always active, but the repetitive movement helped keep me from running out of this place screaming, which I’d been tempted to do quite a few times today.
Peregrine City Library was a marvel, a building I could spend years in and never tire of, and my dream of being surrounded by books was a simple one I’d chased from childhood onward.
When the bullies at school had become loud, I’d run off and escaped with a book.
When the loneliness had corroded me, I’d also escaped with a book.
They’d been a refuge for me from an early age.
Despite the higher volume of people in Peregrine City, the move hadn’t brought me more friends either.
I liked my coworkers, and we got along, but I was shit at putting myself out there.
They made plans with each other, lived in these bubbles of sociability that I could never penetrate, no matter how hard I tried.
The words that had marked me from youth lingered, and no matter how I tried to scrub them off, they wouldn’t leave.
I slipped a few books onto the shelf, taking a moment to make sure they lined up. Haphazard or sloppy books were the worst.
Tonight, I’d be going to the Spires.
If I’d thought approaching Haven was bad, it paled in comparison to this.
However, Maury had given me a direction to go in, and I had to chase the lead. My dad was the only family I had left.
“Beau, someone’s here to see you,” Laura called from the circulation desk. She was a peppy and ponytailed brunette, and she greeted every patron with a smile.
I froze in the middle of shoving a book back on the shelf.
Dad never visited me at work, but he’d also never gone missing before either.
Once in a blue moon, he had a business appointment that took him out of town, but he usually gave me advance notice.
I’d only moved out a few years ago, and we still tried to have dinner on a weekly basis.
When I glanced to circulation, though, the sight there socked me in the gut.
No Dad.
Instead, Damian stood at the front desk next to Laura, and his stare bored into me.
He wasn’t an unattractive guy, and the girls at work told me I was insane for not dating him simply on looks alone.
The swoop of his black hair, the chiseled chin, the muscular chest—yeah, he was built like a fitness model, but he was also insufferable.
Damian was one of those guys who loved to hear himself speak and hated to listen.
He also reminded me far too much of the bullies from my grade school days. Instant pass from me.
I sucked in a sharp breath and plastered a fake grin onto my face. I was at work. I couldn’t break down here.
No, I reserved that for when I returned to my apartment on my own.
“Hey,” Damian said, striding toward me upon my approach.
He must’ve swung by straight from his job, as he still wore his button-down and tailored suit, all neat lines.
He had this permanent swagger some might find attractive, but it set off my warning bells.
I’d spent so long being glossed over or ignored that if I chose to date, I’d want a guy who saw me, not just what they wanted from me.
“Come to pick out a book?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. Damian wasn’t a reader, which he liked to avidly proclaim. He just showed up here to bother me.
He let out a hearty laugh, loud enough that a few patrons glanced our way, and I drew on every withering ounce of patience I could.
“You weren’t home until late yesterday,” he said, his hands on his hips. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
The downside of living in the same apartment complex as Damian was that I didn’t feel like I could escape him—apart from moving to a new place.
He found every excuse to “run into me,” which annoyed the ever-loving hell out of me.
But the rent was the right price, and a librarian’s salary didn’t leave me flush with cash.
“You know, I bet a dozen other people would love this level of attention,” I started.
“Except it’s all going to you,” he said, a smug grin on his face. “Guess that makes you lucky.”
“Mm,” I responded, edging closer to the stacks of books as though they might leap off the shelves and attack him. He did seem allergic to education. “Lucky isn’t the word I’d use. You’ve clearly seen that I’m fine. Is there something else you need?”
“Would you go to dinner with me tonight?” he asked, leaning against the shelf and blocking my way. I heaved a sigh, irritation percolating through my veins. Better to focus on that than the rising fear from the thought of what I’d face when I approached the Spires tonight.
“No,” I responded, a word he’d gotten from me dozens of times by now. “I’m not interested in dating.”
“I’ll change your mind.” He flashed me a smarmy grin, and my shoulders tightened. While I wasn’t waifish, and I did have some muscle to me, he could probably still best me in a fight. And that attitude was goddamn dangerous.
“My mind is made up,” I responded cooly, even though my temper simmered. “I think Amanda in the apartment a few down is interested, though.”
“Amanda’s not my type,” he said. “She’s a four, and I’m a ten.”
“Charming,” I responded, holding back my disdain by a thread.
“You should understand,” he said. “Someone as gorgeous as you wouldn’t date anyone ugly, would you?”
“Looks aren’t what draws me to a guy,” I responded, my hackles up. “There are so many other factors to consider.”
Qualities Damian didn’t have—kindness, empathy, and intellect.
“I think you’ll eventually understand,” he said. “Though I won’t be waiting forever.”
“Well, that’s good,” I responded, unable to restrain the bite in my tone.
“I’ll see you around, Beau,” Damian said, ignoring my comment, and irritation roiled in me right now, so I offered only a nod in return. Not like he listened when I spoke anyway. Then he sauntered out of the library as quickly as he’d showed up, and Laura sidled over, her ponytail swinging.
“So, are you guys going out?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows. Laura was a sweetheart, truly, but her taste in men was horrific. Case in point, she thought Damian was a catch.
“The answer continues to be no,” I said as she walked with me over to the cart I’d abandoned in the children’s section, where I continued reshelving the books.
“You have impossible standards,” she said. “When’s the last time you went on a date?”
“A while ago.” My chest shriveled a little.
Was kindness too much to ask for? I hated the emptiness of my apartment, but I used to go on more dates before the whole process just wearied me.
Dating someone who made me feel worthless or small didn’t seem worthwhile, and the guys on Prowlr were only interested in hooking up. I needed…more.
My fantasies weren’t filthy, but they required one element a hookup didn’t have—trust.
“That’s my whole point, though. Would it hurt to give Damian a chance? He’s made it clear he’s interested in you, and he’s gorgeous,” Laura cajoled.
“You can have him,” I said, gesturing toward the door he’d swept out of.
This library was stunning, with its detailed crown molding and vaulted ceilings, and I adored the place so much.
The thousands of stories contained throughout the stacks made me giddy on a normal day. “I’ve got books in the meanwhile.”
Linda’s eyes crinkled. “Did you read the latest Grimaldi?”
“Yes, and I adored it,” I shared, finishing up with my cart. We strode toward the circulation desk, since someone now waited there. “I hope she keeps writing forever.”
“She’s a demon, and they are known for having a longer life, so at least we’ll get her stories for a while.” Laura slipped behind the circulation desk and faced the patron. “What can I do for you?”
I tuned out the chatter as I got the next cart of returned books in order, getting them ready for reshelving.
Would I even come back to this? Foreboding thumped through my veins.
Sure, I was visiting the Spires, but I couldn’t shake the unease that had taken root in me ever since my conversation with Maury.
Everything I’d looked up about Cillian Ashmore cemented my concern.
The demon was commonly referred to as “The Beast,” due to the way he savaged other businesses.
No one would dare steal from him or try to swindle him because the repercussions were deadly.
And he’d become more reclusive over the years, taking on fewer meetings, walking the casino floors less often, even though he lived in the upper levels of the Spires like a living wraith.
How I’d get ahold of him was a mystery. My ideas stalled apart from marching up and demanding an audience, but I had to try.
I stared at the cover of one of the books on my stack—a dark, forbidding castle with a strike of lightning in the background. Well, that was on the nose. I couldn’t shake the feeling it was the same atmosphere I’d be walking into.
Yet, I had to try.
Dad was still missing, and it had always been us against the world.
I glanced up at Laura, who was deep in conversation with a patron, and then I soaked in the stacks stretched out in every direction, the musty smell in the air, and the antiquated flickering lighting that had led to the joke of there being a ghost in the library.
I could only hope that after tonight, my life would remain the same.
That I’d find my dad and return here for my shift tomorrow.
The alternative was unfathomable.
But as anyone in Peregrine City understood intimately, life could take a drastic turn in mere moments.