Page 15 of Librarian

Dakari nods. “It’s not been summoned back to the Vault. If she were dead…”

“She said her tether to it was weak—” I cut myself off. “It’s a nice sentiment, but…”

“Pierce left the door to his mother’s office open, knowing I was hiding nearby. He’s on our side, and he’s the only one of us still in the Arcanaeum. If he can help Kyrith, he will.” Dakari tucks the book back into his jacket. “In the meantime, we need to wake this asshole up and find out what he knows. You work on his magical well; I’ll deal with the ensorcellment.”

“Then he can spend the rest of his time in the dungeons,” I grumble, rounding the sofa and dropping Benny Carlton’s book onto the table behind it. With a sigh, I flip open my own grimoire and begin the long process of copying out the runeforms. “He’s not a guest here.”

If Kyrith is dead, Leo won’t be far behind. Fuck the consequences.

Six

Lambert

“Howcouldyou?” Eddy snarls, smacking her twin’s arm for the tenth time.

North, to be fair, looks suitably sheepish as he accepts the reprimand. “I said I was sorry!”

“Your owntwin. Yoursister. The person you shared awombwith, and you didn’t even notice I was body snatched and then replaced!” Eddy’s voice is nearing a screech—not for the first time—and my face scrunches up as I brace my eardrums. “I don’t even get migraines, you dumbass!”

“I didn’t know that! It might’ve been one of those period things!”

I wince on his behalf as Eddy hits him again. Dude really needs to learn when to shut up. You can’t just invoke period-ignorance as an excuse.

“Whenwereyou ensorcelled?” Jasper asks, cracking his neck from side to side as he sets his grimoire down in mid-air, letting it float effortlessly beside him. “I reckon they probably replacedyou when you went shopping with Pierce, but you didnae leave our sight before then.”

“It was Anthea.” She glowers at the floor like she can see down into the dungeons. “She gloated about it while we were in the Carlton’s basement together. When North was summoned for the meeting about Mathias being made vicegerent, she used the opportunity to hit me with a bunch of spells.”

“That bitch.” North looks about two seconds away from marching downstairs and pummelling Anthea, but Eddy’s soft words stop him.

“I don’t even remember it. There are so many blank spots in my memory. I don’t even remember going shopping with Pierce or getting in the car when they replaced me with that revenant… Why wouldn’t I think that was weird at the time? I should’ve noticed!”

“There were a tonne of ensorcellments on you,” Dakari points out, his finger tracing the runeform in his grimoire as he checks it against the one in Kyrith’s letter. “You were alone with Anthea for long enough for her to plant a tracker, subjugation spells, and more. I’d be more shocked if she hadn’t added something to keep you unconcerned about what was going on.”

Eddy’s jaw drops, and I grimace all over again. Yeah. Ensorcellment is a shitty school. Destruction gets a bad rep, but any magic that lets you take over someone’s mind is just awful.

Worse, I feel like a terrible friend. They got to Eddy not once, buttwice, and the second time they replaced her entirely, and I didn’t even notice? I suppose North didn’t either, and he’s her brother, but that doesn’t make it better.

I stretch, grimacing as the motion brings Leo into my field of vision.

I’ve been doing my best not to think about him. Eddy’s return distracted me, but every time I have to look at my brother, everything he did comes rushing back.

A fine sheen of sweat covers his skin, and his bones are stark in this dim room. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool that the McKinleys have an honest-to-god castle, but the tiny windows barely let in any of the morning sun. What little light there is only seems to highlight the obvious signs of his self-neglect.

He shivers. I should do something about it, but my jaw clenches, and I lean over the table instead.

My gut twists with nerves as Jasper silently mouths the incantation, practising.

When he heals Leo, I have to face him. I’m not sure I can do that without putting him right back into a coma. I don’t believe in grudges or violence…usually. Buthedid this. He let Mathias into the Arcanaeum. Whatever happened to our girl is a direct result of his actions. Even if he hadn’t, he’s broken her heart over and over again.

Sure, Mathias could just have easily used Dakari or Pierce in his place, but they would’ve fought. Would’ve gone in prepared for battle and done everything to protect Kyrith and the Arcanaeum. It makes me sick that I can’t say for certain if Leo did the same or if he just handed himself over.

And for what? He’s still cursed, and we’ve probably lost the boss lady because of his stupidity.

When I was younger, I always wanted a brother or sister. Now?

I think I’m about to have my first sibling argument.

I’ve done a lot of work to calm myself to the point where I can think past the instinctive rage. It doesn’t help that the breathing exercise I’m doing is one he taught me.