Page 189 of Librarian

Nothing.

They keep talking, the conversation having drifted to what kind of bombs are in the crates.

I can’t pay attention as Eddy points them out one by one. My thoughts are racing.

“Lambert?” I ask, reaching for his hand.

If I’m a ghost, usually my presence brings with it a kind of chill. He should recognise that, surely?

But he doesn’t. His hand flexes slightly, but that’s it.

“North?” I try to keep the tremor from my voice as I reach out for all of them, stroking their arms, grabbing for their hands. “Jasper? Pierce?”

“There they are!” Lambert leans over the banister, waving to catch the attention of Leo and Dakari. They run into Botanical Hall, charred and exhausted, but alive.

Their eyes scan the mezzanine balcony and pass right over me.

“Hey.” Lambert’s face falls. “Where’s the boss lady?”

“Here.” I want to shout the word, but it comes out as a broken whisper. “I’m right here.”

No amount of yelling will help. It’s agonisingly clear what’s happened. I was afraid of them being consumed by the Arcanaeum, but instead…it took me.

My breathing turns shallow and gasping.

No. We don’t have time for this.

“She’s not with you?” Dakari’s hand darts out, catching the vial Pierce chucks down to him.

Leo does the same, both of them gulping the liquid in two swallows.

Good. That’s good. They need their magic.

Pierce’s knuckles go white around the final potion—the one no doubt intended for me.

“We thought she was with you.” Jasper looks around as if I’ll poke my head out of a wall.

I’m right beside him, my fingers passing uselessly through his.

I’m grateful, really. Better me than them. This is a fairer outcome.

“She was,” Leo says. “But she disappeared when Mathias went batshit crazy and started trying to rip apart the Arcanaeum.”

“The phylactery was destroyed…and so was the dagger,” Jasper explains. “Though the last part was kind of my fault. It was fragile after Anthea—” He cuts himself off with a grimace at Pierce. “Well, it broke.”

“And Kyrith disappeared.” Leo’s expression darkens.

The vial in Pierce’s grasp falls to the floor, where it smashes, spraying its golden contents all over his shoes. He opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out.

They’re getting distracted. There’s a lich out there, and I’m not naïve enough to hope he’ll stay lost in the mists forever.

“Forget about me,” I order them, clapping my hands like it will get their attention. “Focus on yourselves. He’s still coming for you.”

“I’m going to search for her,” Eddy announces, already striding back towards the stairs. “She could be?—”

The front door of the Arcanaeum flies open.

If I thought Isidora was horrifying to look at after her soul vessel was shattered, Mathias is a hundred times worse.