Page 22 of Librarian

“Our new library monitors will be happy to escort any belligerents from the premises.”

Two blockheads step up to frame her, both wearing enforcer uniforms. I recognise one of them as my fecking cousin.

A hand grips Lambert’s arm when he would’ve forced his way to the desk, tugging him out of the crowd entirely. I barely catch a glimpse of a hooded figure before they’re both gone.

No.

I grip Dakari’s arm and nudge Jasper, who immediately notices and drags North after us. Together we push through the crowd in the direction my brother was taken. Lambert is tall enough that it’s not hard to follow them back to the foyer, and then right into the Transformation Tower.

The room is empty. All of the overstuffed chesterfields and cosy nooks are gone. The new setup wouldn’t look out of place in a Canary Warf office. Muted, professional, and completely soulless.

Lambert’s abductor is nowhere to be seen, until the door shuts behind us, revealing Pierce Carlton. He’s wearing ahoodie. I didn’t think he owned anything other than suits.

Dakari lets our invisibility spell drop, and a second later, I realise why. There, on the asshole’s left cheek, is an unmistakable blood-red mark. It only gets clearer as he shoves his hood back.

I release the silencing spell I was holding, but before I can say anything, Lambert swings. His metal-covered fist flies straight for the Carlton heir’s bleeding face.

“Wait! I can explain!” Pierce dodges—barely—not even drawing his grimoire.

But Lambert isn’t giving up so easily. The two of them end up in a weird dance until Pierce trips, raising both arms to cover his face.

“Cut it out, you star-spangled tosspot. I’m on your side!”

“If you hit him, you’ll break the covenant, too.” I rush to put myself between them. “By all means, kill him. But do it outside!”

Lambert’s face scrunches, but he lets Dakari drag him off and pretends I haven’t spoken. “Oh yeah, so why do you have that mark on your face?”

“Wait, he broke the covenant?” North guesses.

Pierce huffs. “Of course not. It’s fake.”

Jasper gets closer to the Carlton heir than is really necessary, pulling him up from the floor and putting them almost chest to chest as he examines his cheek. “Looks real to me.”

“It had to. Otherwise, Mathias and my mother would’ve figured it out. Look.”

Pierce reaches into his pocket, pulling free a handful of identical scraps. “I’ve been slicing into my face every few hours fordayswaiting for you lot to show up.”

“It’s not like we stayed away by choice,” North protests. “Kyrith chucked us out, and Mathias had the place locked down until this morning.”

“I figured that much out by myself.” Pierce watches Lambert warily, like he’s waiting for my brother to swing again, but Dakari is still holding him back.

Pierce isn’t even surprised. “Did you get her grimoire?”

The Talcott heir nods once as he releases my brother. “And your sister and Eddy.”

Pierce sighs. “I know. My mother wasn’t pleased about the breakout. Fortunately, she put it down to Anthea being cunning rather than you sneaking around. I don’t think she’s discovered anything is missing yet.”

“Where are they now?” Dakari asks.

“Down in the Vault. We’re lucky they’ve been distracted with the Arcanaeum?—”

“What are you doing?” I demand, moving between them with my grimoire still out as I face down Dakari. “We can’t trust him?—”

“Oh, and we can trust you?” Pierce snorts. “That’s rich, given that you handed Mathias this place on a silver platter.”

“I—” I choke off. “I thought I had it handled.”

His saccharine sweet smile makes the runeform on his cheek crease, sending a fresh bead of blood running down his jaw. “Oh yes, I forgot how well you can handle things.” His expression drops, becoming cruel. “Look around. Does this look handled to you?”