Page 184 of Librarian

Like it’s feeding on the magic or perhaps reacting to protect itself.

Is that even possible?

I can’t come up with any other explanation. If it were simple mist, it would’ve evaporated by now.

I keep running, dragging Dakari and Leo with me. They cast, I direct, until eventually it all…stops.

“Did we lose him?” I gasp.

“Think so.” Leo bends double, bracing his hands on his knees while Dakari watches us both struggle to breathe.

He’s barely winded. Ugh. Maybe Ishouldhave let Lambert talk me into trying that treadmill….

I look down at my screaming calf muscle, now visible through the scorched hole in my skirt, and wince. The wound is red and angry. Not lethal, but debilitating.

I’ll live, but I likely won’t heal until I’m reconnected to the Arcanaeum. Touching one of them might fix the damage, but neither of them has enough power for me to risk it.

We’re running on fumes, and Mathias is out there with three grimoires and an intact phylactery.

“We have to double back. With any luck, the others have finished in the Alchemy labs.” I double check that they’re both still holding the rope. “If not, we need to hurry things along.”

I have a horrible feeling that Mathias won’t stay lost out here forever. That would be too easy.

“What exactly are they doing with the bombs?” Leo asks. “And why is Lambert the one you trusted with that?”

I roll my eyes at him. “While you were obsessing over your curse, Lambert was perfecting just about every lethal alchemicalformula mentioned in his magiball magazines. If Mathias finds his way back to the Arcanaeum, we can assume he’ll enter from the foyer, which makes Botanical Hall…”

“The perfect place for an ambush.” Dakari’s grin is wicked.

I swallow back my nerves as the silhouette of the building comes into view. “Yes. As long as Anthea manages to do her part.”

We can chuck all the bombs and magic in the world at him and it won’t finish him off if his soul vessel is intact.

As if my thoughts are the trigger, the bonds I’m following back to the Library snap taut. The drain that was weakening me trebles in intensity, stealing what little air remains in my lungs.

Pain. So much pain.

Then it’s gone.

Replaced with a horrifyingly familiar numbness.

The rope drops to the ground.

I can’t feel the fog, or the cold, or the pain in my leg. I meet Leo’s widening eyes.

Then I’m gone. Floating. My thoughts scrambled.

Fifty-One

Jasper

My heart is thundering out of my chest as I chase Pierce’s sister through the Library. Anthea was always the kind to power-walk everywhere, and she hasn’t lost that stride as she barrels down Kinetic Hall. Then she takes a left, heading for the wee closet Kyrith calls her office.

The undead Mathias brought with him are tearing through the building, hunting us.

So it would be nice if Anthea let me into the well-protected office with her.

She doesn’t.