Page 165 of Librarian

All of my nervous energy goes into my work on the runeforms. So much so that I completely neglect my duties at the desk.

The others do their best to continue the charade in my absence, but by the time we shut on Friday evening, everyone has noticed the Library’s ‘decline’.

At least our new policy of closing on weekends spared me the assessing looks of the patrons. It also gave me more time to throw myself into protecting the collection. I’ve used every spell I can think of. Fireproofing. Waterproofing. Acid-resistance…Please let it be enough.

Tomorrow, the plan comes to an inevitable crescendo. Blanche has confirmed that the aegis is planning a raid, seeing the damage to the building as proof that they can get away with it. According to her informants, they’ll wait until an hour after opening, when Monday morning lessons are in full swing, to maximise the number of arrests. Just before their arrival, I’ll use the dagger to rescind every banishment that’s ever existed. Including the one keeping Mathias out.

Even if he suspects it’s a trap, once the aegis has control of the building, he’ll likely feel secure enough to enter.

The thought has my gut in knots.

The lich’s banishment wasn’t my doing. It can only have been the Arcanaeum’s decision. I can’t help hoping…perhaps…perhaps the Library is still there, under everything, keeping us safe.

Lambert has roped the others into a game of magiball. I almost joined them.

But my heart just wasn’t in it.

So now I stand here, in front of Pierce’s door, clutching two pieces of paper as I wait for him to answer me.

Finishing the runeforms that will destroy Mathias’s phylactery and channel his magic towards the Arcanaeum doesn’t even feel like an accomplishment. At most, I’ve achieved a hollow kind of relief.

Because the loathsome spells alone don’t solve everything. Someone still needs to cast them. We still need to confront him.

Pierce answers in a pair of silken pyjama bottoms and nothing else. His hair is unkempt, making me itch to run my fingers through it, and his skin is flushed from his shower. It’s an uncharacteristically messy and vulnerable look on him.

His scars are covered by the illusion, and I can’t tell if he’s tweaked the enchantment to work on the one on his face, or if the light is making it harder to see.

When this is over, I’ll help him remove it entirely, if that’s what he wants. He doesn’t deserve to be branded as a traitor when he’s been nothing but loyal.

“Is that it?” he asks, when I don’t say anything.

He reaches as if to take the papers from me.

“No. Hear me out.” I hold them behind me instead. “I want you to take the soul vessel, and I want you to destroy it away from the Arcanaeum.”

He nods. “You don’t want necromancy in the Library, I understand.”

“No. That’s not it.” I reach for his arm, the warmth of him steadying me. “If Mathias is coming here, then the dagger and the phylactery need to be far away when he does.”

We can’t risk letting him get his hands on them.

“Once the gem is broken, and he’s incapacitated, you can bring the dagger back, and we can use it to channel his magic into the Arcanaeum. As long as we do it away from the altar, then the spell shouldn’t be able to bind anything as nuanced as his consciousness to the building.”

We only need his power. The runeforms across the granite slab, and the immense spire above it, are critical to ensuring none of it is wasted during the transfer. Without them, there's a very low chance of the lich being added to the collective consciousness. The spell won’t be as efficient, but even half of his magic, added to mine, should be adequate to stop the heirs being bound to the building.

Pierce doesn’t argue. “Yes. No one wants him tainting the Library.”

“Thank you.” My shoulders ease.

“And if the dagger is far away, there’s no chance that he’ll be able to use it to control us.”

My throat bobs. “Exactly.”

It’s a risk, having Pierce away from the Arcanaeum, but it's riskier for him to be in the Library and performing necromancy when Mathias and his aegis enter. If all goes well, Pierce will be safely away from here while the others and I incapacitate the lich.

“I’d also feel better if you took someone with you.”

He pins me with a look. “No. They’re better off not knowing. Like you said; deniability is safer for them.”