Page 18 of Librarian

“We,” Dakari insists. “You’re not getting out of this.”

“I’m not fecking trying to.” Leo thrusts a hand through his dark curls. “But as far as Mathias and his allies are concerned, I’m dying. He ripped his way into the Arcanaeum through my magical well, and he definitely didn’t expect me to live. I’m going to talk to my grandfather. Have him tell everyone that I crawled home last night, and I’m on my deathbed.”

“Keeping your survival as a surprise,” Dakari surmises. “Do you really think that will give us an upper hand?”

Leo bites his lip and offers an uncertain nod. “I’ll cast as many spells against detection as I can and follow you in…but we can’t kill him.”

“Like fuck we can’t.” North starts to pace.

Leo continues as if he hasn’t spoken. “It’s beyond us. I had contingencies. I was prepared to defend myself or transport out in an emergency. None of it worked. He’s too powerful. He knows more about magic than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Are you honestly surprised?” Eddy demands. “You’re twenty-six. He has hundreds of years of creepy ass necromancy experience under his belt. Only an utter bell-end would think they stood a chance.”

“I didn’t have a choice!” My heart squeezes as Leo lashes outagain. “It wasn’t just about me. There are children out there who need a cure. Bairns with active runeforms who are being neglected because their parents are shit scared of becoming attached! Teenagers with no friends, terrified out of their minds because they don’t know when the bomb is going to go off.”

A little of my anger tries to melt at that, but I cling to it like a lifeline. Our girl was in danger, and he chose kids he’d never met—okay. No. I can’t even say that. You can’t just abandon kids to a curse… Can you?

Silently, in a deep dark part of my mind, I wonder if maybe I would, and what kind of person that makes me.

An idiot who’s stupidly in love with our girl, most likely.

Squirming, I turn back to the window and take another deep breath.

Dakari is less conflicted than I am. “Kyrith needed you.”

The torn noise that escapes the back of Leo’s throat is almost pained. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.”

“Being a wee bit presumptuous there,” Jasper mutters, a shadow passing over his face as he takes a seat on Leo’s left. “She told you she was done.”

I want to tell my brother to stay the fuck away from our girl, but I guess there’s no point now. Despite Dakari’s words and her grimoire still not being summoned to the Vault, I’m not convinced she’s alive.

There’s no way Mathias would spare her. Like Eddy said, she’s the only one who really had a chance against him. But if he did—if there’s even a chance—we have to save her. And if she’s gone, leaving the Arcanaeum to be used by Mathias and Isidora would be like abandoning a friend.

I know I don’t stand a chance against them, but I have to try. The others will feel the same way, because that’sKyrith’slibrary. The lich being there, messing with her stuff, is wrong.

“A lich’s life force is tied to their phylactery.” Dakari’s voice has taken on a lower tone. “If we want him dead, we have to find it.”

We can do that. “It has to be somewhere.”

Leo’s sigh is painfully familiar. “Lambert?—”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” The words shouldn’t come out as harshly as they do. “Anyway, our first priority is getting Kyrithout of there. If she’s alive, we have a chance. She’s smart. She’ll figure this out.”

“She cannae leave,” Jasper says.

“Then we help her banish Mathias. Either way, I’m not abandoning her.”

My chest still aches at the memory of her throwing me out. It should’ve been my decision. I could’ve done something. We could’ve distracted them, if nothing else.

But when it came down to it, she chose to protect us instead of saving herself.

Boss. Why couldn’t you trust us?

Seven

Galileo

The Arcanaeum doesn’t open on Sunday morning.