Page 17 of Librarian

North has already released his ankles, and I belatedly let go of his wrists. His fingers drop straight to his ribs, tracingthe space where the magic should be, clawing at it, leaving red marks.

I reach down and slap his hands away. “Stop it.”

“Yeah. It’s gone,” North says. “Kyrith sent the runeform through with you.”

Leo’s shoulders shake. His knees draw up, arms wrapping around them like he can hold himself together if he just squeezes hard enough. Still, he doesn’t say anything.

My heart cracks a little as I watch his lips part on an inhale that lasts exactly five seconds, then a pause, before he lets it out again. Five, two, seven. He repeats the pattern over and over before his gaze finally lands on me.

The lines around his mouth ease a fraction, only to return as he takes in the others.

Yeah. That’s right,brother. We’re alive and well. Unfortunately, Kyrith isn’t.

I turn my back on him, pacing back towards the window, my feelings somehow even more messed up than they were a second ago.

“Give him a minute,” Eddy whispers, holding her twin back when North tries to follow me.

“Lambert—” Leo breathes.

Dakari’s grimoire snaps shut, the noise deafening. “If the next thing out of your mouth isn’t a plan for killing the lich and getting our girl back, then we don’t want to hear it. We helped you so you can tell us what you know, but after that, you’re dead to all of us.”

“I—” He swallows audibly. “Thank you. I…I don’t—You’re a Talcott.” The last word is so lost, like he can’t possibly comprehend why Dakari would help him.

“Save it.” The larger man’s lip curls in disgust. “I did it for her.”

“We cannae get into the Library,” Jasper says, breaking the stony stare-off between them. “She’s shut us out.”

North runs a hand through his hair and strides to the door again. “Ad Arcanaeum,” he mumbles, knocking for the dozenth time.

I turn to watch, hope sparking again…

Leo’s face falls along with my heart as the door remains stubbornly fixed shut. “She was protecting her books?—”

“She was dying,” I snap. “And she wasted her last minutes on you, rather than saving herself.”

I can’t get the image of her flickering in pain as she banished me out of my head. My jaw starts to ache from how hard I’m clenching my teeth, and I busy myself with the ancient window mechanism, not really breathing until it swings fully open and blisteringly cold fresh air slaps me in the face.

“Lambert—Bertie… I…”

My frosty glare silences him. “Only my dad gets to use that name.”

Leo’s cheeks lose what colour they regained. “Mam called you that.”

The revelation doesn’t make it better. If anything, it makes the resentment stinging the inside of my skin worse.

“No. You don’t get to do that. You can’t just wake up, curse free, and start dropping facts about my mom while you?—”

“Ourmam,” Leo corrects again.

“Really? She left you.” I regret the words the second they tear out of my mouth, and I pinch the bridge of my nose as I suck in more cold air. “That was uncalled for. I’m sorry.”

I’m angry, but lashing out isn’t who I am.

His chin jerks down, but he says nothing.

“Sort it out later,” North grumbles. “There’s a bossy ghost on the other side of this door, and we can’t get to her.”

Leo nods, swinging his legs over so he’s sitting on the sofa properly as he checks his watch. “Mathias won’t keep the Arcanaeum closed forever. We have class on Monday. As soon as you can get back in, you can get the lay of the land.”