8. Paige #2
Grief tightens in my chest at the mere thought of all I would have lost. And what’s worse is that I wouldn’t have known it. He would have died, and I would have continued existing without realizing a part of me was missing.
A part that he somehow gave to me.
A hand goes to my lower back, and I know, without a doubt, it’s his.
“We will ensure nothing happens to them,” I say. “But I won’t stop looking for Hoc.”
“Then their lives are in your hands, you foolish, foolish girl.” She shakes her head and leaves without another word. Oliver flashes a supportive smile my way then turns and follows.
As soon as they’re gone, Blossom turns to me. “Please let me kill her. Or, at least, strand her in a world far, far away.”
“No,” I reply. “We need them on our side. And now we don’t have to be secretive about looking for Hoc.”
Bingo growls, and Kitty snarls again, just as she and the gnomes take off down the stacks. Bingo trots off toward the basement. I shake my head, wondering why they hate each other so much.
When I look up, Aries, Mag, and Blossom are all looking at me with a pointed expression.
“What?” I ask warily.
“We need to talk about how to harness your magic,” Blossom says, keeping her voice low.
It’s so close to what Aries said to me last night that I look up at him with instant suspicion.
“What is this, an intervention or something?” I demand.
“Relax. Dragon man here mentioned it this morning,” she says.
“As he should because what affects you affects us all.” I sigh, knowing damn well she’s right.
“Besides, if we can help you control it, then you don’t have to worry about whether it’s your fault every time something in this place goes wrong. ”
I swallow hard and nod because not wondering if I’m the problem anymore is an offer too good to pass up. “Fine. But I don’t know how to do what you’re asking. I don’t even know where I came from, Blossom, much less what kind of magic I have or how to use it.”
She reaches out and squeezes my arm. “I know. But we can figure it out if we all work together.”
“We’re already stretched thin as it is,” I remind her. “Especially now.”
“But now, Aries is out in the open, and we can use him without having to keep it a secret.”
I shake my head, feeling helpless and completely inadequate all at the same time. Why did the library think I was the best option to lead it? Why not Blossom? Or Mag? I mean, even the gnomes would be better choices at this point.
So why me?
“While I would prefer to maim or kill an enemy, I am more than happy to help with research,” Aries says, earning a grin from Blossom and an agreeing snort from Mag.
“That’s the spirit,” she tells him.
I sigh. “Where would we even look?”
“You have access to the Vetus collection now,” she reminds me. “We could start there.”
I consider her idea.
If there were ever to be a book with answers, it could very well have been here this entire time. Right under my nose and I never even considered checking.
Aries frowns. “Isn’t that the same section Constantine tried taking a book from?”
“Shit.” Blossom’s eyes widen. “I forgot about that.”
“Whoa, when did that happen, and why wasn’t I told?” Mag asks.
“Because not everything revolves around you,” Blossom tells him.
“He didn’t get away with it,” I explain to Mag.
Blossom continues, “If that asshole was poking around there before, maybe there really is something to find. Or something that will tell us what he really wanted from the library in the first place.”
Or from me.
“It could be our answer.” I look up at him, hope filling my chest with warmth for the first time since Hoc disappeared. Turning, I sprint down the stacks toward the stairs that lead up to the collection.
I don’t have to look to know that Aries, Blossom, and Mag are following me.
Upstairs, I head straight to the back wall where the collection is displayed behind lock and key.
I pull up my sleeve and press my tattoo to the lock.
It clicks free, and I pull the case open.
The moment I see the shelves, my heart plummets.
Hope disintegrates like smoke in a gust of wind as I stare at the empty wooden shelves.
“What the shit?” Mag says.
“They’re all gone. Why are they gone?” I look to Blossom whose expression has gone far harder than I think I’ve ever seen it.
“Did you move them?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“No,” I whisper.
“Well, someone sure as hell did,” Mag says darkly.
“Someone being Constantine,” I say quietly.
“I think, if they were gone before Hoc was taken, we would have known,” Mag agrees.
“But how could it happen in the first place?” Blossom demands.
Possibilities I want to refute rush through my mind.
“What if Constantine brought Hoc here and forced him to open the cage?” Mag asks.
I shake my head. “Now that the library has marked me as head librarian, Hoc wouldn’t have access. Would he?”
“Maybe,” Mag hedges.
“If he portaled out and then immediately back in the day he took Hoc...” Blossom muses. “He could have done it right before your mark overtook his.”
I don’t answer. Mostly because my mind has already wandered into even starker possibilities.
What if Constantine found a way to draw on my magic again and I’m the one who opened the case?
What if, once again, this is all my fault?
“This is a big problem.” Blossom steps forward and runs her finger over an empty shelf.
It comes away clean. “They haven’t been gone long.
There’s no dust where the books were sitting. "
“What I don’t understand,” I say, “Is how did we not hear the alarm go off? It would have gone off if anyone but the head librarian had tried to access these, right?”
Blossom and Mag exchange a look.
“What?”
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “You can’t panic. We already have it covered, okay?”
I step forward. “What?” I demand again.
“The alarm didn’t work when the werewolf got out either,” she says.
“It didn’t...” I trail off, though, because I realize she’s right.
I was so distracted by my own fear that I didn’t even notice.
And if the alarm isn’t working, there’s no telling just how much damage Constantine can inflict before we manage to figure out what’s going on.
I look at Blossom then Mag, determined to focus on the solution rather than the mounting list of problems. The idea that Constantine might have used my magic without my knowledge or consent—again—is a final straw for me.
I have to find a way to stop it from happening, starting with making sure he can’t get into this library undetected ever again. “How do we fix it?”
She shrugs. “I have no clue. It’s never failed before. Not in the entire history of the library as far as I know.”
“Not until Constantine,” Mag adds, earning a glare from Blossom.
She turns back to me and says, “I’m not even sure it can be repaired.”
“There has to be a way, and we need to find it.” I shut the case and wave my tattoo over the lock to secure it. Then I turn on my heel and head for the stairs. “No one finds out about this,” I tell them. “We don’t breathe a word about this missing collection. Not to anyone.”
“Agreed,” everyone says in unison.
My gaze lands on Aries, and the vise around my heart tightens as I remember how Tawny looked at him—like he was disposable. I brought him into this. Ripped him from his world and subjected him to danger time and time again.
But I refuse to let anything happen to him. A silent promise I make to myself right here and now.
No matter what happens to the library.
No matter what happens to me.
Aries will return home.
He will survive.