Page 205 of Librarian

Beneath those, four more buttons lie atop matching sheets of paper. The pages are crammed with words written in Leo’s neat cursive.

And on the sofa, fast asleep, are Pierce, Leo, Jasper, and Lambert.

“Awe, they passed out,” Eddy whispers, tiptoeing around them.

“Yeah. Doing a great job of waiting for Kyrith’s answer.” North rolls his eyes but keeps his tone quiet as he carries their bags through the door.

“Let them snooze,” she says. “They worked non-stop for weeks, and it’s only been two days since they finished. Kyrith might still be checking through it all.”

She takes a seat beside Jasper, pulling out her phone, but keeps a watchful eye on the buttons.

Stars above, they actually expect me to use these. Also, they spent weeks on this and finished two days ago? Just how much time am I wasting while I’m unconscious?

I frown as I settle in to read the first sheet.

They think they’ve managed to find a way to channel more magic into the Arcanaeum without killing someone. Now they want me to check their work.

If they’re right, it might at least let me assume my ghost form. I would be able to talk to them.

With a groan, I hover horizontally above the mess and get started.

“This would be a lot easier if I could lift a pen,” I murmur.

Fifty-Eight

Kyrith

It takes days.

Not just to check their work, but also to make sure I’ve recovered enough energy to press their magic-damned button without being sucked back to the Vault.

Because they’ve made two mistakes.

Which means I can’t hit the bright green one that says ‘everything is good’ and instead have to look at the three other options they’ve given me.

Stars, this is frustrating. I could justtellthem what’s wrong if I could only speak. But no. I have to pick from these annoyingly vague multiple-choice options andhope.

The second I press the red button, it lights up, and a robotic recording of Leo’s voice fills the living room.

“No. Error in incantationandruneform.”

Lambert rockets out of his chair with a shout, all thought of the game on the telly forgotten. “Boss!”

I don’t have the energy to press the button with his name. I can’t risk wasting any.

Fortunately, his crowing has brought the entire group of them rushing over. I deliberately waited for that quiet lull in conversation after they’d finished eating to make sure they’d hear me.

“Feck.” Leo stares at the still-flashing button like it’s cursed. “You’re sure it wasn’t the cat again?”

“The cat’s sleeping in Kyrith’s room,” Jasper says. “And the only button that thing has ever pressed is the one that swears at us.”

Oops.That might’ve been my fault.

I tried to use the fact that Westley is somehow able to sense me to communicate… Unfortunately, he’s a typical cat. He does what he wants. No amount of ghostly encouragement was enough to convince him to step on the letters I urged him toward. On the rare occasion when he didn’t just weave between them, he discovered an affinity for the yellow ‘fuck you’ button.

“I love that one,” Eddy comments, grabbing an ice cream from the freezer.

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t North’s idea after all.