Page 4 of Librarian

She’s barely made it to the door before she collapses beside the enforcers. Her head cracks against the stone floor, and Eddy winces.

“That was cool,” she says. “So, are we leaving her here or taking her with us?”

“Youare taking her with you,” I correct, handing her a scrap for invisibility. “Cast that once you’re past those runeforms.” I point at the etched markings above the door. “I’m going to use a weightlessness spell on her, so she’ll be easy to drag up to the garage. Pick the fastest car you can and hide in it. I’ll find you when I’m done.”

Her grin lights up the room, only to fall seconds later. “What are we going to do about the Arcanaeum? Is Kyrith going to be okay?”

“She’s smart and powerful,” I hedge. “She has North, Lambert, and Jasper with her. They’ll take care of her.”

If I see Pierce or Leo, I’m dragging their asses out of here. Things are lining up too perfectly. Isidora and Mathias have been planning Abe’s death for a long time; they set up a situation where three heirs were guaranteed to be under the same roof.

Eddy gives me a look—one that says she thinks there’s more going on here—but she trusts me enough to nod. She waits quietly while I flick open my grimoire to the runeform for weightlessness.

“She should be out for a while,” I mutter, dragging Anthea past the runeforms, and wasting my final slumber scrap on her—just to make sure she doesn’t wake and start causing trouble. “At least an hour. Tie her up if it makes you feel safer.Fiethir bardinci.”

Anthea floats upwards, and Eddy grabs her wrist, tugging her along like a balloon.

“The garage is down the corridor on your left. Don’t use the bottom stair, it’s alarmed. Stay quiet and out of the way. Don’t get close to any enforcers, and?—”

“I got it.” She gives me a mock shove towards the stairs. “We’ll be there.”

With a final look at her, I race up the steps, casting my own invisibility scrap the moment I reach the top. There are still toomany people in the hallways, but I dodge them as I head for Isidora’s study.

I screech to a stop just in time to avoid running into Isidora herself. Slamming my back against the wall, I narrowly avoid knocking over a potted fern.

The new rector steps out of her study with an approving nod. “We’ll have to come up with a good explanation for your affliction. Perhaps we’ll say Anthea tricked you into a covenant and you broke it in order to do the right thing and report her. Over time, your covenant mark can become a show of strength.”

“Yes, mother,” Pierce intones, his gaze fixed on the back of her head as he leaves.

Covenant mark?

My heart sinks at the deadness in his voice. I peer past the plant and accidentally brush the fronds.

He turns his head, following the sound, which gives me a perfect view of the scarlet wound on his face.

It’s still dripping blood.

Fucking traitor.

I want to throttle him, but I can’t risk revealing Eddy and Anthea have escaped. Already, the asshole and his mother are disappearing down the hallway.

“Mathias will be waiting for us, providing the Ó Rinn heir hasn’t caused him too much trouble. Have you…?”

She’s too far away, and I can’t hear her. It’s clear that they’re following Leo through that portal. That stupid idiot Ó Rinn has walked right into a trap.

He’s not the only idiot, though. I should’ve known a covenant would mean nothing to Pierce.

Apparently not even the threat of random, agonising bursts of pain and being marked for the rest of his life was enough to keep him from turning coat.

I take a step after them, then freeze. Pierce turns his head as they disappear around the corner. For the briefest instant, he’s staring right at me.

The wink, when it comes, is brief. A flash I might’ve imagined if not for the way he jerks his chin in the direction of the door to Isidora’s office.

The…opendoor.

Two

Northcliff