Page 232 of Librarian

Lightning arcs towards my face.

Turn to stone.

The other team’s reapers are in one spot for a breath too long?

I chuck one of my alchemical bombs in their direction.

One down.

Our scorer takes a piece of shrapnel to the side of the head, but I don’t even notice the substitutes racing onto the court.

An opening lines up.

Like fate is throwing me a bone, the gamma teleports right beside my knee. With a single kick, it soars over the net.

The opposing team’s reaper dives for it. Misses by millimetres.

The metal ball hits the ground, and a shrill whistle pierces the air.

All of the other balls drop to the court, lifeless.

Above me, the scoreboard shouts our victory to the world. My first international league game, over in under ten minutes.

None of it matters. I’m already running for Kyrith. Stars, my mouth actually hurts from how hard I’m smiling as I lift her into the air and kiss the living daylights out of her.

“You won!” Kyrith gasps against my lips.

“Told you he would,” Leo says.

Dad claps me on the back. “Proud of you, Bertie.”

Best. Day. Ever.

Epilogue

Kyrith - Six Years Later

Anthea Carlton’s grimoire appears in the Vault at a quarter to six in the morning.

I know, because the Arcanaeum wakes me with a bolt of urgency that sends me jolting up in bed, gasping for breath. Dakari and Jasper rise with me, searching the room for the threat as they dive for their grimoires.

“Pierce.” I completely forget to give context as I ghost out from the covers. “Pierce needs to know.”

Clothes. Where are my clothes?

I manage to find a wrap dress that covers me just as Dakari catches my hand. “Kyrith, explain.”

I freeze, caught like a deer in the headlights under my husbands’ stares.

I don’t know what to do.

Do I tell them or wait for Pierce? Do I wake him? Is he even here?

I aim the last question at the Arcanaeum, and the shelves around me sag.

He’s not home.

“Anthea’s grimoire just appeared in the Vault,” I tell them, pulling the dress on more slowly now. “It…it feels oily.”