14. Aries
Aries
H ours later, Paige is a shell of herself.
Pale, shaking, eyes wide, she looks nothing like the brazen woman who’d stood her ground when I first appeared in this place. She sits in Hoc’s chair, staring at his computer. Eyes empty, face unreadable.
Blossom stands beside her, a statue of support, while I remain on her other side.
Hoc is dead. Neither of us has managed to get anything out of Paige in regard to how she managed to conjure the former head librarian, but there’d been no denying it was him. And based on the state of decomposition, he’d been dead for quite some time. Likely since the day he vanished.
The librarian tattoo on his arm was missing, cut from his flesh, which explains the missing Vetus collection upstairs. Though it doesn’t answer the question as to why Constantine needed those books badly enough to kill for them and just what he’s looking for within the dusty old tomes.
The one thing it does mean is that Constantine has been inside this library, and none of us even knew it.
He was right under our noses yet again, and we still missed him.
I’ve yet to figure out what to do about the bastard and how to stop him from slipping in again, but I haven’t mentioned it to Paige.
She likely wouldn’t hear me anyway, too consumed by her grief.
Losing a father is a pain I understand quite well.
Tawny steps into the room alongside Oliver. Both of the council members have paled, and Oliver removes his face covering.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he says.
“Sorry?” Tawny snaps, her furious gaze leveling on Paige. “This is a catastrophe of their own making! I’ve never seen such a ridiculous excuse for leadership. Not even in our human corporations." She shakes her head angrily as rage bubbles up in my chest.
My dragon surges beneath the surface of my skin. He wants Tawny’s blood for the way she’s treating his mate.
“How are you pinning this on her?” Blossom demands.
“She’s the only one who stood to gain from this,” Tawny says.
“Gain?” Blossom echoes. “How can you say that?”
“Paige was one mistake away from being dismissed from her internship,” Tawny says. “And then suddenly, Hoc vanishes, and she’s chosen as his replacement. Awfully convenient, don’t you think?”
I snarl before I can stop myself, shoving my hands behind my back so the woman can’t see the claws descending from my fingertips as my dragon surges to the surface.
Blossom looks ready to explode, her arms and hands trembling as she tries to hold herself in check.
“Exactly how do you think Paige knew the library was going to choose her?” she demands.
“It’s not as though we could slip her name in the fucking suggestion box.
Besides, she isn’t the one who sent Hoc through that portal, and she’s not the one who killed him.
So, explain to me just how you think this is her fault? ”
Tawny whirls on the keeper. “Fine. Let’s look at the facts we have. She opened the portal to bring him through, did she not?” Tawny demands. “She is the reason there is a body currently rotting in the basement and the very reason a keeper nearly lost his life.”
I step forward, a low growl rumbling through my chest. But before I can get a word out, Blossom says, “None of that is Paige’s fault, you crusty old goat. I opened the portal that brought Hoc through. And I am the one who pushed forward to keep searching for Hoc.”
I tense at her words, knowing they aren’t going to help the situation. The unicorn is admirable, though. And I am grateful she is on Paige’s side.
Tawny narrows her gaze. “You do realize that, if either of those things is true, I could have you imprisoned or extend your assignment here permanently?” Her voice is low, her tone beyond threatening. It beckons to the creature inside of me. The one that desperately wants this woman to suffer.
“You will not,” Paige says, snapping out of her grief.
Planting both palms on the desk, she pushes to her feet, and her angry gaze flashes with a clarity that has me exhaling in relief.
“You are a member of a three-person council,” she says.
“You are not the head of this library; I am. It was me who gave the order to look for Hoc, just like it was me who opened that portal. A portal that brought him back to us.”
“Brought him back?” Tawny shakes her head in disgust. “He’s decomposing!”
“Yes.” Paige sniffles and crosses her arms. “But now we know he is gone. Which means that I can start putting things back together without feeling like I am abandoning a member of this team.”
“Team.” Tawny shakes her head. “This library never would have these issues if Hoc were still in charge. Of all the people who should have suffered, he is not even close to the top of the list.”
“Is that a threat?” I ask, fury pushing me out of silence.
Tawny turns to me. “Your services are no longer needed. You are to leave this library at once.”
“No,” Paige snaps. “I am head librarian. Not you. You do not run this place!” She yells now, damn near screaming with her own rage.
Cheeks pink, she stares at Tawny as though she’s looking down the barrel of a loaded cannon.
“I was chosen to replace Hoc. I am in charge. Which means that everyone here works for me. You do not have the right to dismiss a member of my staff.”
“Maybe not,” Tawny snaps. “But I do have the right to vote you out of this place. Which is exactly what I will do.”
“With all due respect, Tawny,” Oliver says. “You don’t have my vote. And it has to be majority rules.”
“Then I will go speak with Phillip,” she snaps, glaring at Paige. “Once I have his vote, we will wipe your memories and send you out of this place so it’s like you never even existed.” She turns on her heel and stomps out of the office.
I start to follow, to ensure she never makes it out of this place, but Blossom stops me with a hand on my arm. “She’s not worth it.”
Oliver sighs. “Phillip doesn’t care much for Tawny, but he takes library matters seriously.
If it weren’t for his daytime position, he’d have been here already.
” He smirks. “But I’ll talk to Tawny and see if I can talk her off the ledge.
She means well. The safety of this place is all she cares about. ”
“She means well?” Blossom shakes her head. “That’s a joke.”
He smiles hopefully at her. “We’re not all bad, you know.” He looks to Paige, who has paled slightly. “I will do everything I can, Paige. But my advice? Have this place cleaned up before Phillip gets here. Otherwise, there’s nothing I can do.” He leaves, and Paige sits back down in her chair.
“What are we going to do?” Blossom demands.
“We are going to do what we’re supposed to,” Paige replies. “Protect this library and shelve dangerous books.” She opens something up on the computer, and Blossom meets my gaze before looking back at Paige.
“You can’t be serious. We can’t just sit here and wait for her to come back and wipe your memories.”
“As far as I see it, we don’t have a choice.”
“Paige—”
“This library has to be protected. It’s what Hoc would have wanted.”
“Hoc wouldn’t have wanted you to have everything about your life—every memory of him—wiped. It’s why he protected you like he did,” Blossom snaps.
Paige looks up at her now. “Excuse me?”
“Every mistake you made. Every time you accidentally freed a book. Hoc was there, taking the heat. We’d do clean-up and pretend it never happened.
Not once did any of us report it because you are our family, and as twisted of a place as this is, and as angry as I was to be sentenced here, we were all we had.
” Tears fill the unicorn’s furious gaze.
“And now you’re just going to lie down and take it? ”
Paige stands again. “I don’t know what else to do.
He’s dead, Blossom. Hoc is gone. Rotting.
That entire time we were looking for him—” She stops speaking, her voice shaking.
I cross over and try to wrap my arms around her, but she holds up a hand and shakes her head.
“The whole time we were looking for him, he was already dead. Rotting away in some world where no one even knew who he was.”
“He is gone,” Blossom says quietly. “But you’re not. I’m not. You, me, Mag, Fred, Ted, Ned, Zed, Kitty, Bingo, and even Aries here are a family.” She throws a half smile my way, and the joy of being included brings me is unexpected. “We have to watch out for each other. For our home.”
“I know,” Paige says a little more gently.
“But you heard Oliver. All we can do is get this place running smoothly so that, when she brings the third council member here, there is not a single thing Tawny can hone in on that makes us look inadequate. The way to protect this place is to operate it the same way Hoc did. With me in here and all of you making sure the books stay protected.”
Blossom looks disappointed. “That’s how you want to handle this?”
“How do you propose we do it?” I ask Blossom, genuinely curious.
“Get rid of Tawny and Oliver and pretend they never showed up.” She shrugs. “Seems simple enough for me.”
I snort because I've considered that plan myself—more than once.
“Except, then we’re no better than Constantine,” Paige replies.
While I appreciate Blossom’s idea, I’ve learned that when you cut off one head, three more grow in its place. And in this instance, killing two of the three council members likely means bringing that third to our doorstep—and not in such a way that we can show off how well we protect this place.
He’ll be looking for trouble, then. Just as Tawny is now.
“Speaking of that asshole,” Paige says. “He has to still be alive. Right? With Hoc dead—”
“More than likely, yes.” Paige sighs. “I should have known something was wrong with him when he first arrived posing as a guest. Should have done something before all of this happened.”
“Paige—” I start.
“No! I spent more time with him than any of you, and I failed to realize what he was! And because of that, because of yet another screw-up on my part, Hoc is dead, Mag is injured, and the council is threatening to rip everything away from me.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
“I don’t want to be that person who blames themselves for something out of their control, but this feels like something I should have seen coming. ”
“I’m the one who pawned him off on you, remember?” Blossom questions. “That makes this just as much my fault as yours. More so since I knew something was off too.” She looks to the door. “Just like I know something is off about Oliver.” She starts to leave.
“What are you going to do?” Paige asks.
Blossom glances back. “I’m going to do what I should have done with Constantine and find out just what it is about that council member that bothers me.” She leaves, and Paige turns to me.
“Can you please make sure the gnomes and Bingo are patrolling like they should be? We need to make sure there are no more incidents.”
“I can do that.” I long to reach for her, to pull her against me so I can soothe the ache I sense in her. But right now, I sense that, above all else, Paige needs time. To process and prepare for whatever may come.
“Thank you, Aries. I’m so sorry that I brought you into all of this.”
“Are you?” I ask. “Because I’m not. All of this brought me to you, and there’s not a force in any world that will keep us apart, Paige.” After pressing a quick kiss to her temple, I leave her office to do as she asked.
All the while trying to conjure any possibility where I can save my mate from a destiny that seems bent on tearing her apart.