Page 36 of Librarian

He starts to say something else, but I’ve stopped listening. Lambert. Where is Lambert?

Being in Dakari’s arms gives me a spectacular view of the crowd I’ve drawn, and I clear my throat as I search for a blond head of hair that isn’t among them. I can’t feel him close by either. Though I note with absent curiosity that Icanstill feel the grimoires of those in the crowd. Evidently, some aspects of being the Librarian haven’t changed.

“I need to talk to Lambert.” My eyes fall on Jasper, and I grimace. “Food might have to wait. Would you mind getting the others?”

“I’ll bring everything to the Great Hall,” his mother pipes up from the direction of their home. “You need to eat.”

“And the rest of yous can clear off,” his father adds. “Nosey bastards, the lot of ya.”

“What happened?” Dakari asks me as the others disperse.

Tucking my face against his chest, I use his body to muffle my reply. “I’ll explain when we’re all together. It’s not good.”

I wonder if he’ll press me, but he simply exchanges a look with Jasper, who nods and heads for the keep at a jog. Good. He’ll find the others.

Isidora and Mathias just killed a parriarch. Did they go after Georgina because they knew Lambert had been involved in my rescue? Or simply because she was the one with the fewest defences?

If Mathias did what I think he did and used the dagger to channel her power into the Arcanaeum, it could mean that he’s trying to forcibly reopen the Library. If that’s the case, then the other parriarchs are at risk of suffering the same fate, along with anyone else with significant magical power. Halinor is safe here behind the wards, but what about Artemius Ó Rinn? Someone needs to convince him to step out of isolation for his own safety.

Dakari starts walking, and I glance behind him only to instantly regret it.

Galileo is standing at the edge of the dispersing crowd, staring at me. He doesn’t approach, merely inclines his head to one side in a silent question. Doing so lets the midday sun expose the dark, swollen discolouration around his eye, and I frown.

Who gave him that?

I turn my head and pretend I don’t see him. He has no right to ask after my well-being, not after what he did. And I don’t care if he’s injured. I just wish that those angry thoughts were backed up with real fury rather than wilting despondency that chills my bones.

I shiver, and Dakari reacts by adjusting me so I’m buried impossibly deeper in his embrace.

I can’t hide from Leo forever, and I need him to be at this meeting. I’m perfectly capable of putting my personal feelings aside for the good of the Arcanaeum.

“Benjamin, would you join us?” I ask.

Pierce’s grandfather knows more than he lets on, and maybe the outside influence will encourage the rest of them to be on their best behaviour. I hope so, because when I was confined to bed, reflecting on all the things that led to us losing the Arcanaeum, one thing became painfully obvious.

I was overwhelmed and isolated. I made mistakes—chief among them being lax in hiding the dagger and not noticing thechanges in Eddy’s behaviour. Leo, Pierce, and Dakari didn’t trust one another when they went to that dinner, and as a result, they were separated and cornered.

In the end, it was our own divisions that handed Mathias the advantage.

That ends now. I don’t have to let Galileo as close as he once was, but he knows as well as I do that he owes me a debt larger than he can ever repay. It would be stupid to drive him away when we’re short of allies as it is.

Dakari sets me down on a long bench, and my gloomy thoughts flee as I take in the large room. It’s a banquet hall, more than large enough for our meeting, and I lay my grimoire on the table. I’ve got a warding spell that should deter eavesdroppers and casting it will bring me one step closer to a full bond with the book. It also serves to fill the time while we wait for the others to get here.

Jasper ushers in North and Eddy, then deliberately releases the door just before Leo reaches it in a subtle snub that the Ó Rinn heir doesn’t comment on. Pierce enters a second later, having been fetched by Benny, and Lambert is last, carrying Westley under one arm as he shuts the door behind him with a smile that makes my heart ache.

He takes a seat by my side, nudging aside Dakari, who just rolls his eyes. All six heirs, Eddy, and Benjamin watch me cautiously as I struggle with the words I know they need to hear.

“Georgina Winthrop is dead.”

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that follows. Lambert’s hands freeze midway through petting the cat, and I drop my hand to his thigh beneath the table, squeezing. She was his aunt, but I don’t think the two of them were close. Will he be upset by her passing?

“How?” His single word tells me nothing, and he resumes stroking Westley.

“Isidora and Mathias interrogated her, then killed her with the same dagger and incantation that he used to sacrifice me.” I turn to Benny. “He’s trying to force his way back into the Arcanaeum.”

“It could work,” he muses. “But the dagger is simply a key. Without the spire to funnel the power into the Library, most of the magic he pulls from others will end up wasted. It’s inefficient at best.”

“If he kills enough people, that won’t matter,” North surmises. “How do we find him and stop him?”