Page 116 of Librarian

Leo looks up from a chair in the corner, cradling a book in his lap. “We decided to keep watch,” he murmurs. “I’ve got the first shift, and North’s swapping with me later.”

Because they don’t feel safe here anymore. Because the Arcanaeum is no longer protecting us.

My throat tightens, but I nod. “Thank you.”

His chin dips. “Sweet dreams, Kyrie.”

Cheeks flushing, I glance over the line of beds and hesitate. They’re all currently occupied by different men. Lambert is spread over the entire mattress—one arm carelessly thrown over North, who looks unimpressed even in sleep. I’d have to wrestle my way between them, which might not work. Dakari and Jasper are healing, and I don’t want to disturb them. Eddy is alone in the bed closest to the wall, but she’s hugging the pillow I would’ve used in a death grip.

That leaves…

Pierce grabs me around the waist and tugs me into his arms without giving me more time to overthink it. His arm wraps around my middle, pulling my ass flush against his hips as he presses a kiss to my nape.

I’m being spooned by Pierce Carlton, and it’s…intimate. Warm. Nice in a way I didn’t expect.

“Goodnight,” I whisper.

He hums softly in response, and then there’s only darkness and the quiet swish of Leo occasionally turning a page.

Sleep claims me faster than I thought it would.

Part Two

Cingulomania

(n.)A strong desire to hold a person in one’s arms.

Thirty-Three

Dakari

Icome awake with a start, my heart still racing. In my mind, Kyrith is right there, being dragged out from beneath that desk, but instead of North pulling her to safety, it’s Mathias. The lich’s bony fingers wrap around her neck?—

My hands battle with the covers as I fight to breathe, to pull myself out of the nightmare and into the present. In the middle of it all, a sharp ache stabs through my chest, and I hiss.

“Careful,” North murmurs. “Leo and Kyrith spent ages healing you. Don’t fuck up their good work.”

It’s dark, so it takes me a second to locate him. He’s sitting in an armchair, illuminated by the faint light coming from his phone. I push myself up until I’m resting against the headboard and run my eyes down my chest. The skin is shiny, and I raise a brow. If Leo’s so deep in his grovelling that he’s willing to heal a Talcott, he must really think he’s fucked.

An obnoxiously loud snore erupts from the bed beside mine. Lambert is on his back, dead to the world, with his mouth wide open. The noise must be what woke me. There’s no way I’mgetting back to sleep even if he miraculously stops, not with the nightmare clinging to me like a second skin.

Someone has partially redecorated the foyer of the Arcanaeum, but I ignore the changes in favour of scanning the mattresses until I find Kyrith, tucked against Pierce’s side. He’s curled around her in his sleep. Shielding her from the world.

I can’t say I disapprove.

The band around my chest eases, then returns with a vengeance when I finish counting the sleeping figures around us and realise one is missing.

“Where’s Galileo?” I grunt, swinging my legs out of bed.

Kyrith’s face scrunches in her sleep, and I wince, counting the seconds until the lines smooth out. I didn’t wake her. Thank magic.

“He woke me for my watch and went for a walk.” North shrugs like it’s nothing. “Seemed fine.”

“He could’ve gone anywhere.” I lower my voice to a whisper.

Lambert is still snoring like a beast, so maybe I’m worrying for nothing.

North is unconcerned. “Relax. He’s still here. Listen.”