Page 125 of Librarian

“Lass,” Jasper begins softly. “If you do that, will you be able to leave again?”

I swallow the lump in my throat and force every ounce of nonchalance I possess into a light shrug. “I don’t know. In thegrand scheme of things, it matters little. Without my connection to the Library, I can’t control who comes and goes. I can’t run things properly. I’m not even sure I can banish someone.”

How can I risk opening our doors if that’s the case?

Stars, I’m not even sure Ican. What few doors remain are noticeably slow to respond to knocks. I’ve even pre-emptively installed a hidden beacon, allowing us to return if we become stuck outside. How will we cope with dozens of people coming and going?

A hand lands on my shoulder, and I glance up, shocked to find Pierce clutching me. “No. There’s no guarantee you’ll survive a third sacrifice. We’ll hire people if we must, but you’renotdoing that again.”

“Sacrifice?” Lambert asks, voice small. “Why would you even consider that?”

“It’s a last resort. Look, I plan to experiment with the spell. Maybe there’s a way to return the building’s magical well without going to such lengths. Besides, it’s not just about whether I can keep us safe and run things efficiently. Right now, it’s like the building is dead.” I meet Lambert’s eyes, pleading with him to understand. “I can’tfeelit. It’s not moving, not teasing me. There are no carts rolling around. I can’t leave it like this. Not for long. Not after everything they did to save me.”

“Boss,” Lambert begins, then trails off. “You said…‘they’?”

I swallow, square my shoulders, and nod. “There’s something I haven’t told you. Something I only learned when I was separated from the Arcanaeum. The other liminals who were sacrificed before me…they’re not entirely dead.”

Thirty-Five

Kyrith

To say that the discussion does not go well would be putting it mildly. I thought it might get better when cold, logical Leo returned, but I was sorely disappointed.

My arguments were politely dissected with a logical precision I used to admire, then finished off with the most brutal finality.

All six of them were more willing to blow up the Vault than they were to face the prospect of losing me. Especially when, as Leo pointed out, this is unexplored magical territory, and there is no guarantee that the Arcanaeum would come back.

Which would leave me dead, the building gone, and no one alive with the knowledge or power to face Mathias.

I can’t blame them. I would say the same in their place.

But I can’t open the Arcanaeum until this is sorted.

To that end, I spent hours yesterday experimenting with the dagger, trying to discern more about what happened when we were separated.

They watched me like hawks, even though, to all outward appearances, all I was doing was sitting in a trance with the blade in my lap.

Thankfully, communing with the dagger is much the same as doing so with the Arcanaeum once was. I simply have to touch it. The magic isn’t sentient, or actively helping me, but it’s familiar. That helps as I silently tease through the layers of magic within, piecing together step by step how the Arcanaeum separated us and how it can be undone.

Now, a day later, my discoveries gnaw at the back of my mind. There are implications to the Library’s actions that I wasn’t aware of before. The bonds between me and my men complicate the issue. I need to think through our options before I explain everything.

Haste paves the road to error, after all.

So here I am, taking a break in the form of dissecting the chant that broke Isidora’s phylactery four days ago.

If I can link the words to a constellation that I recognise, I can produce a runeform that will destroy Mathias’s soul vessel.

Or at least, that’s my goal. Unfortunately, Lambert has a magiball game on the television, Eddy is humming along to music with her headphones on, and North is cursing his way through conjuring more plant pots for Botanical Hall. Pierce is cooking again, which smells wonderful, but every so often he makes a comment to one of the others that steals my attention.

Normally, I enjoy their company. Their noises distract me from the quietness of the Arcanaeum. Only…Jasper left an hour ago, discreetly checking on his family, with Dakari as his backup. Their absence adds an extra heaping of anxiety to the pile already muddying my thoughts.

I just can’t work like this.

With a small groan, I rotate my neck and gather up my notes.

“Where are you off to?” Pierce asks.

“Somewhere quiet so I can think. How long until food?”