Page 9 of Librarian

Stars, there are more names on the floor. I was raised to think of liminals as little better than inepts, who in turn were barely better than animals. I’ve long since abandoned those beliefs, and even if I hadn’t, I’m not sure I’d be able to remain unmoved by the scale of the mass murder that led to this. There must’ve been hundreds of other women who probably begged for their lives, just like Kyrith.

Even if we get her back—and we might not—she’d be stuck here. We need a plan to deal with Mathias and…

The door behind me creaks open.

“What do you want me to do?” I demand of the Library. “How do I save her?”

In answer, the door knocker slowly bleeds into a single number.

6

Its meaning couldn’t be moreobvious. Get the other five heirs here. Get them to touch Kyrith.

I can do that. One step at a time.

I straighten my spine, bracing myself, and step back into the Vault. My disappearance now would only make things worse. I have to keep playing along until the other heirs inevitably make their move.

The moment this place is open, they’ll come running back. I just have to make sure they don’t get themselves killed before they reach her.

Easier said than done, given that Lambert and North share a single brain cell and Jasper has as much guile as a pebble.

First, though, Leo.

Last I saw, he was sprawled on the floor of the Rotunda. Kyrith needs him alive, which means I need to kick his ass out ofhere before my mother and Mathias decide to put his life force to better use. If I give him Eddy’s grimoire, maybe the others will get the hint that she’s been taken and rescue Kyrith’s friend.

Decision made, I set my features into a casual mask of disinterest and check the pile of scraps in my pocket. I have half a dozen left before I need to make more. My fingers heat again as I pluck one out and it bursts into flame.

My breath leaves me on a hiss as the mark flares with renewed pain. It can’t be helped. The covenant mark couldn’t be an illusion if it was to fool my mother. Unfortunately, if I continue reopening the wound, I risk the scarring on my cheek becoming permanent. Ugh. Still, scarred and alive is the best outcome I can hope for at this point.

Maybe Jasper can do something about it.

The door shuts quietly behind me, like it’s as afraid of detection as I am. Then the damned thing disappears.

How am I supposed to get the others to Kyrith if I can’t even find my way back to her?

I really hope this old place knows what it’s doing. Mathias can’t have the same level of synchronicity with it as Kyrith did, given that he’s controlling it through the dagger. With luck, he won’t be able to monitor the Arcanaeum the way she did. That gives us some leeway when it comes to sneaking around, but not much.

I just hope it’s enough.

Four

Kyrith

The Rotunda is cold.

Icy.

The ceiling is missing, I note with absent curiosity. Yet, the shelves are arranged the same way, and the chairs are all neatly tucked beneath the reading tables. I can smell the Arcanaeum’s unique scent of fresh paper and ink, comfort and home.

The hush is the same familiar one that descends just after closing. Like the building and I can finally drop a little of our guard.

Only…who’s that behind my desk?

I glide forward, only to stop as the other woman retreats, but…doesn’t. Her original form stays in place as two new women step back, blurring out from her body until they flank her on both sides. It’s disorienting.

One woman has become three, and swiftly they multiply again, becoming five, then nine, then fifteen. All young. All female. All wearing clothes from my era or earlier. More andmore of their silhouettes appear in the fog, their faces lost in shadow.

I jolt as my hand touches my lips, but no sensation accompanies it.