Page 109 of Librarian

With a war cry, Eddy launches herself out from beneath the desk.

And everything goes black.

Thirty-One

Northcliff

There have been a number of times in my life where I’ve wished I was an only child.

The moment Eddy bursts out from beneath the desk and snatches the dagger from Mathias’s hand is definitely in the top three.

My heart is in my fucking throat as they wrestle for the blade. The lich isn’t letting go, even though she caught him off guard. The only reason she isn’t thrown away or killed is because his grimoire is just out of his reach.

Worse, Kyrith is still under there. My legs tense, ready to dive in between them.

Dakari is faster.

Mathias is shoved back from my sister so violently that he hits the wall beside the door. The impact sends the bricks crumbling, dust flying into the air.

It’s a heavy blow. I take advantage of the distraction to rush to my twin’s side, gripping her arm as she thrusts the cracked golden blade into her belt.

She shrugs me off and turns to struggle with something on the desk. Jesus fucking Christ. The tip of the dagger has broken off entirely. Her fingers turn bloody as she works to pull the last shard of gleaming metal out of the wood.

I push her aside, grip the sharp metal, and tug. It slices my finger, stinging like a bitch, but stays stuck.

“I’ve got this. Get Kyrith,” she says, shoving me right back. “She’s unconscious.”

Dakari is behind us, his eyes never leaving the crumpled lich who’s already shaking himself off as brick after brick pelts him. His immense black grimoire is still on the desk, but it smacks into my side as the lich summons it to him.

I can’t grab it. I’m busy pulling Kyrith out from under the table.

“Gotcha,” Eddy snarls, yanking free her prize. She wraps it in her sleeve, then rushes to a small cabinet, rapping on the door with bloodied knuckles. “Ad Arcanaeum!”

I don’t expect it to work, but the door swings open. She doesn’t wait, cramming herself through the small opening.

Her head pokes back through, eyes wide as she yells, “Come on!”

I heft Kyrith over one shoulder, glancing back at Dakari as I sprint after Eddy. He’s still fighting, but Mathias is armed now.

My twin grabs Kyrith, dragging her unceremoniously through the door. I try to follow, but pause with one leg inside, twisting back to check on Dakari.

He’s barely holding his own. He’s getting closer, but he can’t turn his back on the lich.

“Run!” I urge him, flicking open my own grimoire, casting one of the shields Kyrith taught me.

It’s messy, but I give it everything I have. The paper-thin pearly wall of power gives Dakari enough space to stop attacking and just flee.

He’s three steps away. Two.

I move fully into the Arcanaeum, clearing the too-small doorway as the lich snarls a spell I don’t recognise.

Dakari dives through, smashing into me when his momentum carries him farther than I predicted.

Ooof. The air is knocked out of me as I land on my back on the linoleum floor. Reacting instinctively, I jerk my foot up, kicking the door shut. A half-second later, it disintegrates, turned to ash by the force of whatever spell Mathias launched after us.

The handle, key plate, and hinges clatter to the floor noisily.

“Holy fucking shit,” I wheeze.