The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📕

The glass shifted at his imaginary passing, shimmering once more before fading to nothing. Inch by inch, he wiped away the damage they’d done, a vein in his temple starting to throb.

“Yeah,” Emma said, her voice whisper-soft. “Yeah. We’re good.”

“Holy shit.”

Emma stared glassy-eyed at the wreckage, unable to even glare at her companion.

“Lenny?” Owl said, tapping his fingertips against the air. The scattered flames tamped out, going cold and dark instantly. The ruined chemistry equipment twisted and shimmied, mending itself in seconds.

The scrawny man’s chin snapped up. “W-What?”

Owl ground his teeth together. “Are you burned? You were trying to...I don’t really know what you were trying to do. Don’t fight a fire like that with a coat.” He nodded toward the scholar. “Your hands. How are they?”

“O-Oh,” Lenny said, shoving his hands deep into the pockets on his jeans. “They’re- I’m fine. Yeah. I’m good. Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Right. He was so good, he almost kept from flinching at the brush of fabric against his totally-not-burned hands. Owl sighed, shooting Lenny a reproachful look, but didn’t press the point. He’d bring a first aid kit around later, when Lenny had had some time to settle down and swallow his pride.

“What did I tell you?” he said instead, letting his hands fall to his sides. The lab might not be as pristine as it had been, but it wouldn’t explode anymore, either.

Both Lenny and Emma jumped. “Oops,” Lenny mumbled.

Emma took a deep breath, her expression chagrined. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Thought we would be fine. I...we went too fast. I-”

“It’s my fault,” Lenny said, grabbing her wrist - and winced again, Owl noted sourly. “I didn’t listen. I’m sorry, Librarian. This was all my fault. The lab...such a wonderful facility, and I’ve...I’ve-”

“Just get your shit together,” Owl said. They jumped again, faces paling at his profanity. “You can’t hurt Alexandria. She’ll fix herself. But those protections don’t extend to you, damn it.”

They withered at his words, shrinking smaller. “Y-Yeah,” Lenny mumbled, his head bobbing ferociously. “Y-You’re right. Yeah.”

Owl glared at them, tight-lipped. Distantly, he wasn’t quite sure what it was that annoyed him so much - the fact that these two idiots had nearly blown themselves up on his watch, or the fact the Library hadn’t actually stepped in to intervene.

Why should it? He thumped the floor lightly with one foot, starting to turn away. Handling the issue itself was unnecessary when it had him to intervene on its behalf.

“Do better,” was all he said, stalking out of the room in a swirl of leather.

The door closed on their exhausted sighs.

Owl’s steps slowed as he started back toward Alexandria’s heart. It was supposed to be a quiet afternoon, he thought wistfully. His chair called for him. At least the day wasn’t totally over - he could go back, settle in, and get at least a few more hours’ work done before-

A whisper rang through the hallway, right on the edge of hearing. Owl froze, one foot poised in midair. Waiting.

Silence was all he found - until he exhaled slowly, ready to chalk it up to his own strained nerves, and heard it.

Footsteps.

His head rolled back, leaving him to stare mutely at the ceiling. A dreamer - now. When all he wanted to do was go back to his office and be free from everyone for a few short hours.

“The work never ends,” he whispered. And then he turned, trudging down the entryway into an adobe-walled wing lit by tall, narrow slit windows.

His ears strained, prickling with every step he took. They couldn’t be far, not when he’d heard them from the hallway. He’d find them, and sort them out, and-

A voice rippled across the Library, hushed but...excited. Owl slowed, his brow furrowing. That was...odd. He’d helped many dreamers find closure since he’d started as a Librarian. Each of them was different, but they all shared a few traits. A curiosity. A need. Single-minded focus.

In all the dreamers he’d helped, though, he’d never heard one sound so...alive.

More carefully, he crept forward, lifting a hand to check his mask. If the two chemists’ little stunt had damaged it...if he’d been left with a crack or fracture he hadn’t noticed...

His fingers found only smooth porcelain, though, and he breathed a sigh of relief. One more rack of books, and-

Owl froze, his eyes narrowing. There. A figure waited on the far side of the Library, half-hidden behind a shelf.

He couldn’t quite bring himself to move, though, pinned in place by the sight of the person - an otherwise ordinary, normal person, with no trace of blue glow lighting their skin.

A person who was much, much younger than the amiable Ronald. And who was certainly not Lenny or Emma, even if the pair could possibly have beaten him here. Which they couldn’t have.

He was left staring at the figure, his mouth hanging open, while his mind circled around and around before presenting him with the only possible conclusion left.

Someone else was in Alexandria.

- Chapter Thirteen -

A person.

In Alexandria.

A person in Alexandria, that he hadn’t approved.  They hadn’t come through his gates, he was completely sure of that much.  And so Owl stared, eyes wide and mouth still hanging open.

The stranger was none the wiser, flitting from shelf to shelf with eyes like dinner plates.  His fingers traced over the spines of books, oddly reverent.

And Owl was sure he’d never, ever seen this person before.

Get rid of him, his thoughts screamed.  He shouldn’t be here.  Whoever he is, this isn’t right.

A memory flashed before his eyes - a scene, faded and blurred and right on the distant edge of his memory.  The stonework floor of the Library...and a man, sinking into the mud through a hole in it.  A cloaked and masked woman stood over him, rigid with fury.

Right.  He’d...he’d seen people kicked from Alexandria before.  It’d been...too long, and he’d never thought he would have to do something like that himself, but it was possible.

Daniel padded forward, each