17. Paige
Paige
D read coils in my stomach as I write down Accidental Fae onto my notepad right above where I’ve already scrawled Goddess Ascending . And those are just two of the twenty-three missing books I’ve discovered.
There’s no telling if the others have found more missing books or what the villains in those stories are capable of. All I know is that Constantine is stealing books again, and I don’t know how to stop him when the alarm isn’t even going off at his arrival.
I know he’s not coming in through the normal channels because, even though the alarm isn’t working, we should be able to track the portals…and the tunnel he was using before is vacant. So how is he getting in? Is he the one who killed Tawny? And if so, why?
Seems to me that her wanting me gone would have made him an ally. Unless she caught him in the act.
“Anything?” Blossom asks as she rounds a corner.
I hold up my notepad. “Twenty-three so far. You?”
“Shit.” She shows me her palm. More titles are scrawled on her pale skin in fresh ink. “I found seventeen.”
“How is he getting in here?” I turn in a slow circle—as if the clues are right in front of our faces. Honestly, it feels like they are. Like we’re missing something super simple.
“I don’t know. But he’s first on my list to deal with as soon as the council is off our backs.” She falls into step beside me.
Her mention of the council drops a brick of dread into my stomach, but I refuse to let it distract me.
Instead, I focus on Constantine and the missing books.
It’s a solvable problem—at least in theory.
“We know the alarm is working because it went off when Mag was attacked by the zombie that tried to follow him through. So why isn’t it going off for Constantine?
” I freeze in place as it hits me. My stomach rolls, recalling the patch of missing skin on Hoc’s forearm.
Blossom turns to face me, her eyes widening. “What is it?”
“Hoc’s tattoo,” I manage. “It was missing when we found him. Constantine must be using it for more than just stealing the Vetus collection.”
Blossom’s gaze turns downright murderous. “Surely not. I mean, at some point, the magic would rot, right? As the flesh does?” I wince, and she adds, “Sorry, Paige. I know that was callous.”
“No, you’re right. But I don’t know. We need to assume he’s figured out how to use it. I mean, he stole the entire Vetus collection, which contains instructions for ancient magic. What if he found a way to keep Hoc’s tattoo from rotting?”
“Sick son of a bitch.” Blossom shakes her head. “I can’t wait to kill him.”
“Who are we killing?” Mag strolls around the corner with his usual swagger, and Blossom rushes over to him.
“You’re not supposed to be at work yet.”
“I’m fine.” He pulls his shirt up to reveal his wound has closed over.
The only sign he had a chunk taken out of him is a patch of red skin that looks stretched too tight over the wound.
“Supernatural healing, baby.” He winks then looks between us.
“Besides, we need all hands on deck. Now, who are we killing?”
Blossom mutters a string of curses but doesn’t argue him being here, so I launch into my theory to fill Mag in.
“I think Constantine is using Hoc’s tattoo to bypass the alarm.
It explains how he’s getting in and out of the library and how he got all the books out without us noticing.
He could have just opened a portal between the stacks and thrown them in.
Since you don’t patrol up there, no one would have suspected anything. ”
At my words, Mag’s cheeks flush with color. “That asshole deserves a slow death.”
“No argument from me. But in the meantime, we need to figure out how to turn off Hoc’s tattoo.”
“How do we do that?” Blossom asks. “I mean, isn’t that up to the library’s discretion?”
They glance around as if the library itself might answer us, which only I know, obviously, she could. But she doesn’t.
“You know the library’s magic wasn’t always so autonomous,” Mag says, and both Blossom and I swivel to stare at him.
“How do you know that?” she asks.
“Hoc talked about it once. I mostly tuned him out because it was boring history that had nothing to do with me, but I remember him saying the library’s magic came from a collective.”
“You mean it was created by a group of people?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I guess so. Anyway, if that’s the case, maybe we can find whoever it was and get some answers about how the alarm keeps being overridden in the first place.”
“And they can help stop the council from voting me out,” I say.
“Where do we find that kind of history, though?” Blossom asks.
“I don’t know.” My shoulders sag. “The Vetus collection contained the only history older than the library, and since it’s gone...”
“Is there anything in Hoc’s personal journals about it?” she asks. “He was kind of obsessed with the history of this place. Maybe he wrote something down?”
“Maybe.” I turn on my heel and start toward the office. Blossom and Mag follow quickly, and I can tell we’re all hoping there’ll be something worth finding.
After sitting behind the desk, I open up my computer and click on the folder labeled simply Athenaeum History.
Scanning quickly, I look for anything about who or what created the magic the library now possesses.
“What does it say?” Blossom asks impatiently.
“According to Hoc’s notes, the Athenaeum dates back over a millennium and was once part of a thriving city called Atlantis.
The city was destroyed, and now all that remains is this library, which preserves all worlds that exist in all universes and dimensions so long as the library’s magic continues to withstand any forces that come against it. ”
“Damn, so like, we’re the center of the entire universe in here?” Mag asks.
“Do not make this about you being the most important being in the world,” Blossom warns.
“Hey,” Mag tells her with a wink. “You’re important too, sweetheart.”
“Guys,” I say, waiting until I have their attention again before continuing, “In order to protect and preserve the connection to all worlds, the library was gifted a well of magic from the last remaining survivors of Atlantis—a coven of mages whose power, combined, serves as a renewable power source for the library’s heart. ”
“What do you mean? How can a building have a heart?” Blossom asks.
“It just says whoever possesses its heart rules the Athenaeum,” I say, scanning the notes.
“What about us, though?” Mag asks. “What does it say about protectors of the library and all that?”
“What did I say about making this about you?” Blossom asks.
“Not for me, for Hoc,” he says, rolling his eyes. “For our tattoos.”
I scan until my eyes snag on the word “tattoo” and then read it aloud. “Looks like our tattoos are gifted by the library upon the beginning of service, through a spell conveyed by the mages at the time they created the library, and removed via the same spell as soon as your term is up.”
“In other words, when we expire, so does the spell gifting us our ink?” Mag asks.
“Mag,” Blossom hisses.
“Yes,” I say, ignoring Mag’s terrible attempt at humor while I try to glean more info from the scant notes that are left in the file. “Whoa. Wait.”
“What is it?” Blossom asks.
They both crowd in closer to read over my shoulder.
“This says the library only has access to remove or install a mark while the person is inside the walls of the library.”
“And since Hoc isn’t...” Blossom says.
“His tattoo remains in play,” Mag finishes.
We’re all silent as we think through the implications of that.
“What else is in there?” Mag asks when I finally go back to scanning the document.
“Nothing useful.” I sigh. “The rest of the file talks about the mage’s spellwork stipulating that the library’s magic must be tethered to a living being in order to continue.”
“The head librarian,” Blossom says.
I nod. “It says the bond can only be severed through death, in which case the library’s magic chooses another to take the position.”
I look up at them, tears burning my eyes as I realize something. “That means Hoc died as soon as Constantine dragged him through that portal.”
“Paige.” Blossom’s expression is full of sympathy, but she doesn’t tell me I’m wrong.
“This whole time, I've been making us all search for someone who...”
“We all wanted to search,” Mag says. “And we all needed the closure.”
I look up at him, managing to keep the tears at bay. “Thank you, Mag. That means a lot.”
“We have your back,” Blossom says. “And we had Hoc’s too.”
I take a breath to steady myself. “I appreciate it.”
“So, the library runs on magic,” Blossom says, a gleam in her eye.
“What are you thinking?”
“Well... you have magic. You’re a mage,” she adds.
“I don’t know what I am,” I say.
“Well, maybe what’s in you can tap into what’s in this library and—”
“You’re forgetting I still have no idea how to fully tap into either one of those things,” I say.
She shrugs. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
I don’t bother pointing out that, up until now, I haven’t figured out much when it comes to this place. Instead, I lean back in my chair and run both hands over my face before resting them on the table. “Oliver said something to me—”
“And you’re listening to that asshat?” Blossom snaps.
“He asked if I’d considered replacing Tawny as a council member.”
Both Blossom and Mag stare back at me in stunned shock. “When?”
“Right before I found her dead,” I tell them.
Blossom folds her arms. “Maybe I misjudged him.”
Mag snorts. “Only you would feel like you misjudged a murderer.”
“I don’t think he killed her,” I tell them. “When I told him that I had no idea how to remove a council member, he said that I didn’t understand the depth of my power as head librarian.”
“Did he bother to help you figure it out?” Mag questions.
“Apparently, his manual didn’t come with instructions on that subject.”
“Of course not.” Blossom groans. “Because that would be too easy.”