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

James sighed. “It’s just a fountain, Leon. Calm down.”

“Why don’t you ever show me pretty fountains and gardens?” Owl muttered.

The confirmation from Leon had been the final piece, though, even if the man didn’t know what he was saying.  Sleeping was how Owl himself wound up back in Alexandria - and even if their more regular guests were planned for, he’d spoken to them enough to know that their visits were tied to sleep as well.

Which meant that, more than likely, it truly was Alexandria letting them in.  They probably weren’t pulling any tricks on him.  “If you wanted more visitors, you could have said something to me,” he whispered, even softer than before.

The wind whistled lazily through the garden in the silence after his words, swirling about him in gentle, comforting waves that nestled under his hood and warmed him to his core.

With every second he wasted griping at the damn building, though, the two pulled farther and farther ahead.  Swallowing his next comment and kicking lightly at the tiles, he hurried after them.

* * * * *

If there’d been any doubt in Owl’s head that Alexandria was pulling out all the stops for James and Leon, they vanished with every wing the trio walked through.  Cathedrals.  Underground caves lit by glowing fungus.  Herb gardens, and wind-swept pavilions, and a pass through the training court that had even James raising an eyebrow.  Each scene was somehow more extravagant than the last.

Through it all, Owl hovered a dozen steps behind, torn but smiling.  They shouldn’t be here.  And he shouldn’t be wasting his day letting these two tromp around Alexandria like it was a damn resort.

“So what do you do here?” Leon said, his head craning around until his eyes met Owl’s.

Owl jumped - and then sighed.  “I told you,” he said, quickening his steps a fraction and drawing closer.  “I’m the Librarian.  I look after our guests.”

“Oh,” Leon said.  “Right.”

And there it was, Owl thought with a chuckle.  Each time he started to dream of slipping away - or casting the two out, throwing them through the front door and reclaiming his peace and quiet - one or the other of them would let fly with a quip, or a comment, or sometimes even a question.

Despite himself, Owl couldn’t mind.  Not when someone was looking at him head-on, filling the Library with the sound of someone else’s voice.

“What guests, though?” James said, and glanced around.  “It’s kind of dead here.”

“They’re...gone,” Owl said.  “We’re closed.”

Both James and Leon flinched, and Owl groaned.  He’d tried to keep the comment a little more neutral, but damn it, it was the truth.  They were closed - and the pair were taking up his time after-hours.

“B-But,” Leon said, slowing to a stop.  “It’s open, sometimes? What about then?”  Open air stretched out on either side of them, with foggy sky showing through the grand windows of the skywalk they’d happened onto.

“Milton,” James said, his voice soft.  “I remember him rambling about some of that. Uh. When you say guests, do you mean-”

“Look,” Owl said.  “Yeah.  That’s...That’s the easiest way of putting it.  People like your professor friend.  And...”

He had to say it.  The words turned to ash in his mouth, bitter and somehow unwanted, but he licked his lips and pulled himself upright.

“They belong here,” he said, even quieter than James.  “They’re planned for.  Expected.  You guys aren’t...and you don’t.”  He lifted his eyes, finding Leon staring back at him.  “I’m sorry, but after this, you’ll have to-”

“But...you said there’s all that information here,” Leon said, craning his head back and forth toward the entrances back into Alexandria.  “You’ve got so much squirreled away here.  Hell, I could spend ten years scraping the top off one of those storage rooms and never even scrape the surface. This place has so much going on, and...I just got here.  I-I still don’t really know what’s going on, but assuming this isn’t a dream, I’d really like to-”

“I’m sorry,” Owl said, and the words rang as heavily when said to Leon as when he’d said them to Olivia.  “It’s...not allowed.”

Leon’s face fell.

James shifted, sighing.  “It’s just a bunch of books,” Owl heard him mutter. “I know you were all amped up for another puzzle to solve, but-”

“Books?” Leon said, spinning on his friend.  “It’s not about the books.  I mean, okay, yeah, I’m intrigued, but this place is some sort of magic. Real magic.  Like...how can I let a mystery like it go? It’s just so damn-”

“Hey, man,” James said, holding his hands up and chuckling.  “I’m still thinking I’m having a nightmare from the leftovers.  But sure.  Maybe it’s real.  Okay.”

Owl watched them go, watched Leon’s back as he darted over to the railing and peered through the glass.

He could tell them whatever he wanted, he realized.  He could make all the declarations about them never coming back that he felt like, but in the end...it didn’t seem to be up to him.  And if it wasn’t up to him-

Leon’s startled cry brought him up short.  Owl’s head snapped up, his eyes darting this way and that as he searched for the threat.

James and Leon were...glowing.  He stared at the two, mouth falling open, as a light grew from somewhere within their skin.  It burned brighter and brighter, limning them both.

“Shit,” James whispered.

“It’s- It’s okay,” Owl said, stepping forward and holding his hands up.  “I think...Alexandria is just sending you home, now.”

“O-Oh,” Leon said.  “Okay, then.  I guess.”  He held his hands up, staring wide-eyed at them as they glowed.

Owl chewed on his lip, a sense of urgency building within him.  They were leaving.  And even if he’d told them they weren’t welcome, that didn’t mean...there was no telling if they’d-

“Like I said.”  He stumbled forward, trying to put every ounce of imperiousness he could into his voice.  “Stay away.  You don’t belong here.  Don’t try and come back.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” James muttered, even as