Page 140 of Librarian

I suppose that means it’s time to show him my work.

Taking one long, steadying breath, I slide off my stool, cradling both illusion-shrouded books against my chest as I head for the stairs.

“Taking a break?” Dakari asks.

My smile wavers infinitesimally as I jog up the stairs. “I just need to check something.”

Pierce’s room is on the first landing. He’s probably still asleep, so I whisper the unlocking spell and slip inside?—

Only to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, like he was waiting for me.

I pull my spine straighter and force a little more confidence into my step as I approach. The illusion falls away, and I’m left holding out both grimoires.

“The duplicateshouldwork to fool enforcement, but I’d recommend keeping it as a last resort.”

He accepts the books without a word. Those pianist’s fingers trace over the covers, flicking through the thinner volume.

The silence is thick, and I shift my weight from side to side as he inspects it.

“You didn’t have to,” he finally says.

“I wanted to,” I push. “It was important. The Library reopens tomorrow. Mathias is going to do his best to discredit all of us. If what you know comes out, they can cast doubt over all of us.Without the Arcanaeum, it isn’t perfect, so don’t just hand it over if you don’t need to, but?—”

“Kyrith.”

I take a deep breath, cheeks heating. “You just need to cast the binding rune on the cover one last time. It’ll set all of the other spells in place. Once the Arcanaeum is back, we can make it foolproof.”

He nods. “Thank you. I know necromancy is evil…I’m sorry you had to deal with so much of it.”

“Necromancy in and of itself is neither good nor bad,” I correct. “No school of magic is. Even restoration can be used to kill, remember? I can’t say what all of the spells in your grimoire are for, but I know a good many of them wouldn’t require a death.”

“I avoided it for as long as I could.” His expression hardens. “Not that it matters. I still bled them for their magic, even if my mother preferred to finish them off herself.”

I perch beside him on the bed. “That’s over now. I don’t know if it’s any consolation, but what I’ve learned from your grimoire has helped with my other projects. The things she taught you are being put to some good.”

Pierce scoffs, but leans against me, accepting the comfort I’m offering.

“Cast it,” I say. “Then come downstairs with me. Lambert has made muffins.”

His eye roll is half-hearted. “Of course he has.”

Pierce might sound unenthusiastic, but he’s just as enamoured by the baked goods as everyone else. He didn’t even test yesterday’s batch for poison.

I wonder if he’s accepted that Lambert truly has no intention of hurting him, or if he simply forgot in his eagerness to eat the biscuits. I hope it’s the former, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Once the binding is set, and the forgery is concealed safely behind his true grimoire in his holster, he lets me drag him down to the kitchen…and I wait for the scraps to come out. For the food to be tested as it has been before.

It doesn’t happen.

Pierce’s sinful lips close around the muffin, and his jaw works as he chews it. Finally, he rewards the chef with a muttered, “Passable.”

Lambert breaks out in another grin, immediately starting to badger him for more compliments, but I tune him out. My eyes meet Dakari’s, and the quirk at the corner of his mouth tells me he’s noticed the change in the Carlton heir as well.

The progress might be incremental, but we’re getting there.

Thirty-Nine

Kyrith