16. Chapter 15 #2
She turned to her right, hurrying down the row.
As she neared the end, a book fell from the shelf next to her, landing with a loud slap against the wood.
Another fell from even higher, crashing next to her feet.
A flutter of pages sounded above her, and she stepped back just before another book could smack into her.
Ivy swallowed roughly, her heart pounding in her chest as she peered up cautiously.
The bookcases on either side of her soared into the darkness above that had not been there moments ago.
The bookcases swayed, and more books crashed from up high. She crept backward, holding her breath for fear that the smallest gust of air would disturb the delicate surroundings. But the floorboard beneath the ball of her foot shifted and creaked loudly.
Her eyes widened in horror. Books cascaded from each row like a tidal wave headed for shore.
“Shit!” she cried out, spinning on her heel.
She ran faster than she ever had before.
Her breath stung the back of her throat as it rushed in and out of her lungs.
The clattering of books against the floor sounded more like fireworks exploding, and she choked on the dust that blew from their pages.
The aisle stretched the farther she ran.
Her cheeks were wet with tears as she fought to escape the darkness that threatened to engulf her as the collapse snuffed out the light.
Something hit her in the stomach, forcing the last of her breath from her throat in a violent cough.
Beneath her hands was smooth wood. Soft murmurs replaced the cacophony of the books.
Her eyes peeled open to the first floor of the library below, and its annoyed students and librarians alike stared at her.
She glanced behind her, and the bookcases had returned to normal.
Not a single book had fallen to the ground.
“Ivy?” Maeve’s voice called out to her right. Ivy turned to see her coming up the stairs, holding a stack of books in her arms as she rushed over. “I heard someone coughing a few stacks down. You good?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking over her shoulder again as if she would be pulled back into whatever that was. “A little dust is all.”
“Getting a little too close to the books?” A smile grew on Maeve’s face. “Is there one in particular you’re trying to find?”
“Oh, right, you had mentioned you were going to be volunteering here today.”
Maeve nodded, concern growing on her face. “Trying to butter up the librarians so I can get the work-study position.”
“Well, I was, but I guess someone beat me to it.” She pushed herself away from the railing, taking a few cautious steps to the row where the person in black was. But nothing was there.
Maeve peeked down the row as well. “Are you…sure you’re good? You don’t look it.”
“Yeah, I thought I saw something, is all.”
“Maybe it was one of the ghosts,” Maeve said cheerfully.
Ivy snapped her attention back to her friend. “The what?”
“Joking!” Maeve giggled. “I mean, there are ghosts in the library. But they apparently only come out late at night.”
Ivy wrapped her arms around her middle. “Oh.” Ghosts spooked her a bit, but a part of her hoped it was one, rather than the likely answer. Between the letter last night and now this…someone was definitely stalking her.
“We can see at the front desk about the book. The library has a two-week rental period, so even if they just checked it out, it shouldn’t be gone for long.”
“Sure,” Ivy said, glancing down the row one more time as they passed to go toward the stairs. They made their way to the librarian’s desk to ask the same woman from before to search for the book she needed.
“Looks like the book was borrowed at the end of last semester,” the librarian groaned before reaching into the drawer next to her to pull out a sheet of paper. “Never returned. Not two weeks in and I’m having to fill one of these out.”
Ivy’s heart sank as she watched the other librarian go to the office on the left side of the room.
“It’ll be four to six weeks before we can get a new copy.”
A new copy would be useless to her. “Can you tell me who borrowed it last?”
“I can’t, unfortunately.”
“It’s just,” Ivy paused, leaning forward slightly on the desk where the woman was filling out a lost book form. “I’m sure it’s a pain to file paperwork, send fines, and order a new copy. If they’re still at the school, I could get the book back from them, read it, and then return it properly.”
“As lovely as that would be, it’s still against policy. I can’t make any exceptions.”
“Got it,” Ivy mumbled before giving a polite smile. “Thank you anyway.”
Maeve walked alongside Ivy as she turned away from the desk. “I’m sorry they didn’t have the book.”
“Yeah,” Ivy muttered. “Just my luck.” Her vision clouded, and she darted her gaze away so Maeve couldn’t see that she was upset.
“Hey,” Maeve whispered, her hand coming to her shoulder. “I’m assuming this is about something other than the book. Is it to do with Ezra?”
“What?” Ivy asked, turning back to face her friend.
“I noticed you two walking to Embry last night.” Maeve pulled her off to the side between one of the book stacks. “I hung back because the energy between the two of you felt intense. I wasn’t going to ask since you seemed so upset. But if you need to talk to me about it, I’m here for you.”
“It’s not about him. Not really.”
“Oh,” Maeve said, her lips pursing from side to side.
“Did you…” Ivy sighed. “Notice anything strange at the party last night?”
Maeve shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary. There were a lot of drunk people. The music was good, and the dancing was fun. Why? Wishing you had been there?”
“I guess so,” Ivy said, chewing the corner of her lip. “I’m sure it would’ve been more fun than running into Ezra.”
“Right,” Maeve said, her brow rising. If she were suspicious of Ivy’s response, she didn’t say so. “Well, I should get back to it. Dinner tonight?”
Ivy nodded. And as she left the library, guilt gnawed at her.
She wanted to tell Maeve everything. About Callum.
About Briar. The letters. She wanted to get this secret off her chest. But last night changed everything.
Finding out what happened last year would involve more than breaking school rules.
It would involve more risk than she’d calculated.
And she couldn’t possibly expect someone would want to jump into that kind of fire with her, could she?