7. Aries #2
“On you,” I correct.
“What?” he demands.
“They used their power on you,” I tell him. “I’m immune.”
He looks at Blossom. “See? I told you!”
She rolls her eyes but otherwise ignores him. “What’s up, Aries? Is Paige okay?”
“She’s fine,” I assure them, “but she told me what happened earlier with Oliver, and I wanted to take a look around for myself.”
“Be my guest. There’s no sign of whoever caused the shelf to overturn.” She gestures behind me. “It’s over there.”
I turn and see where one of the shelves is mostly empty of books. It’s standing upright, which means someone returned it to its rightful position, but the books that were thrown on the floor haven’t been returned to their proper places.
“Where are the books?” I ask.
“I want to go through them to see if there are any clues as to what caused the problem,” Blossom says. “Since the basement is already full with our other investigation, I stacked them upstairs in the Alchemy section.”
“Have you gone through them yet?” I ask.
She shoots Mag a pointed look. “Not yet. I was interrupted on my way.”
He sighs.
“Was there any sign this could have been Constantine?” I ask before Mag can bring up whatever they were fighting about. As much as I appreciate the two of them and our budding friendship, their fight is not anywhere near the top of my list of priorities.
Blossom shakes her head. “None that I saw, but it’s possible.”
“Did the library’s security system offer any more information about whether the breach came first or the shelf falling?” I ask.
“Shit,” Blossom says.
“What?” Mag asks.
“The alarm.” She shakes her head, irritated. “How the hell did I miss that?”
“Shit,” Mag echoes. They share a look.
“What’s wrong?” I demand.
“The alarm never went off when that werewolf fucker came through,” Blossom says.
“I didn’t even realize it at the time, but I only knew there was a problem because Paige yelled for me.
By the time I showed up, the lupin was about to take a bite out of her or Oliver, and I concentrated on making sure to get to him first.” She looks at Mag. “What the hell is going on?”
“Has the alarm ever failed before?” I ask, thousands of possibilities already running through my mind.
“Never,” Mag says, giving me a wry look. “Not even when you showed up.”
Blossom looks at me, and I can see the same worry in her expression that Mag’s tone holds. “I’ve been here decades,” she says, “and the alarm is the only thing that has never failed.”
“Yes,” I say slowly, “It did.”
“What are you talking about?” Blossom asks.
“The monsters,” Mag says grimly, and I nod.
“The cavern was full of them,” I remind them. “Constantine himself admitted to bringing them through their books and stashing them down there.”
“Shit,” Blossom hisses. “You guys think it was him again today?”
“He’s the only one who managed to break through the defenses before,” Mag says.
I look back at the shelf that fell earlier, my hands tightening into fists. The need to hunt something, to find the enemy and neutralize it, is so strong; I consider shifting right here and ripping this place apart by the rafters.
“He might not have done it alone,” I say quietly, and the other two whip their gazes back to mine.
“Paige thinks her magic might have contributed to either the shelf falling or the werewolf getting loose or both,” I say because, if we’re going to stop Constantine, we have to be on the same page about his power. And hers.
“That’s...” Blossom looks like she wants to argue but then thinks better of it. “Even if her magic did play a part, the alarm shouldn’t have failed.”
“Agreed,” I say, glancing at Mag. “I think we need to keep a better eye on things here.”
“We can’t stop looking for Hoc,” he says, looking torn.
“I never thought I’d say this, but we sure could use a few more keepers,” Blossom says.
“What about the gnomes?” I ask. “Would they help?”
“Not if Paige asks,” Blossom says. Mag looks confused, but she waves him off, adding, “I’ll bribe them with candy. Don’t worry about it.”
“We can up our patrols during the day if the gnomes will split up,” Mag tells me.
“Good. I’ll help with the night shift,” I say.
“Bro, you need to sleep sometime,” Mag says.
“I’ll be fine. In fact, I’ll start tonight.” I look at Blossom. “We can split up and cover more ground, but if you need me, whistle.”
“I don’t mind staying tonight,” Mag says, but Blossom pins him with a look.
“Go home and get your beauty sleep,” she tells him. “You’re going to need it for your night shift tomorrow.”
“One more thing. We don’t tell Paige about the alarm failure or the extra patrols,” I say.
Blossom nods. “Normally, I’d be against keeping secrets from my friend, but I agree with you.
Paige doesn’t need the stress, and besides, the last thing we need is the council catching wind of the library’s malfunction.
They’ll only blame her for it, and she’s under enough pressure from them already. ”
“Fine, but if you two are patrolling tonight, then I’m going to get started on the books that fell earlier,” Mag says. Blossom looks ready to argue, but his expression is set as he adds, “Save your ire for the enemy, gorgeous.”
She smirks as he offers me a salute and then walks off. “Trust me, I have more than enough to go around,” she calls back.