Page 164 of Librarian

Kyrith stares at my gram’s ring like it’s about to eat her. Honestly, if she doesn’t speak soon, I think my ego might shrivel up and die, along with the rest of my soul.

“Lambert Winthrop.” My name holds a hint of her usual bossiness, but it’s buried in shock. “What are you doing?”

“Proposing to my girl.” I pick the ring out of the flaky faux-leather box and hold it up. “It’s not expensive, but it’s old, like you.”

“You just called her old, eejit,” Leo hisses, his eyes wide.

“I mean in like a refined way. Like a classic. Timeless! That’s the word. Sorry, boss. Please marry me… I promise I’ll never call you old again.”

She’s crying, but I can’t tell if it’s from shock, horror, or joy. My gut is screaming that she might say no, and the longer I kneel here without her saying something the louder it gets.

The tiniest bob of her head is all I need. I sweep her into my arms, burying my face in her neck.

Stars, I was so scared she would say no.

“I…I don’t know how it will work,” she confesses. “But, yes. I love you. I’ll marry you, whatever that looks like for us, as long as…”

She glances behind her, and I smile. “No. I’m not going to ask you to give them up. This is our polycule right? Our family.” I pin Leo with a look. “Got it?”

He swallows, nods. “Family,” he mouths the word like he’s scared to say it properly.

I lift one of our Librarian’s delicate hands, but Kyrith clears her throat. “I just… before you put that ring on me, please tell me you know what that means.”

“You and me forever, but official.” I grin. “Nothing I want more, boss.”

“I probably can’t have children. This might all end with you being married to someone who can’t leave this building. The Arcanaeum?—”

I kiss her, hoping that it stops her from overthinking. Her concern is sweet, but I kinda figured that stuff out for myself already.

“The Arcanaeum would be celebrating right now,” I tell her, throat thick. “Leaning in, all interested to hear your answer. Then it would shower us with confetti because it knows the seven of us are meant for one another.”

It’s true.

All that really matters is that I choose her. Forever. I was willing to quietly pick her over magiball. She made sure I didn’t have to. She was willing to shut herself away in a closed-up Library so we could go on with our old lives, but mine just isn’t worth living if she’s not with me.

That’s the kind of love I’ve been hoping for my whole life. The same kind that turned my dad into a shell when he lost it. Honestly, growing up in the shadow of what my parents had made me a little bit scared to experience it for myself. But now that I’ve found her, how could I ever settle for anything less?

“It doesn’t matter if there are kids, or no kids, if we’re stuck in the Arcanaeum or taking anniversary trips across the world every year. It could last for a thousand years, or five seconds. Whatever happens, I’m yours. I’ve been yours since you first glared at me, and I’ll still be yours when you’re glaring at mycoffin, because there’s no reality I’ll accept where you die before me.”

I take her hand, slide the ring onto her finger, and lift it to my lips, kissing her knuckles. “I’m even happy to wait and share our wedding with the others when they’re ready…though we might have to bully North into his suit.”

Most of them have given her some kind of jewellery by now. I might be the only one who’s outright proposed, but that’s okay. Asking is a big deal. They’re probably working themselves up to it.

We might have to pick her wedding ring as a group, since I’m not sure she can fit six of them on one finger. Gram’s ring is taking up enough real estate as it is.

Kyrith’s eyes are still wet as I rub my thumb over the smooth surface of the lapis lazuli in the centre.

“I know what this means, boss. It means I love you.”

Forty-Six

Kyrith

By unanimous agreement, we decide not to lock the Arcanaeum that night. Or the night after that.

The patrons are ushered out. The doors close behind them. But we’re not really closed, not properly.

We do the same for the rest of the week. It’s unsettling. Despite casting multiple alarm spells and warding the Clock Tower, the building feels unsafe. I can’t relax.