The Librarian: A Remnants of Magic Novel (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 2) by Casey White (read ebook pdf txt) 📕

Olivia blinked, then looked up.  “And?  And, what?”

“I knew all of that already,” he said.  “What can you tell me that’ll be useful?  What powers do they have?  What will they do next?  Where are they-”

“T-They’re not all mages,” Olivia stammered.  “The people Rickard brought.  I got that much.  They’re…”  She waved a hand, fighting to find the words.  “Some of them are non-magic members of their organization.  And then Indira sent some of our people to help their people, and-”

“The mages,” Daniel said, slowly but firmly.  “What are we working with, here?”

“Right,” Olivia said.  Her expression hardened fractionally.  “There’s...There were a few.  They didn’t mix with the other Bookbinders.  Stayed apart, kind of.”

This time, Daniel waited.  He could see her chewing on whatever she wanted to say, rolling it around and around on her tongue.

“You’ve seen them already,” she said at last.  “Cyril.  He was...He was the closest to them.  To that Rickard fellow.  I got the impression he’d been in the Bookbinders a while, but…”  She shrugged.  “I don’t think he really wanted to come.”

“What would-”

“He was at the core of their operations,” Olivia said.  “Rickard seemed...cautious.  They all did.”

“They didn’t seem cautious when they were trying to murder us,” Leon muttered, tightening a knot around the bandages.

“I...yeah,” Olivia said.  “I know.  But they don’t want to make this public, y’know?”

“Neither do we,” Daniel said.

She nodded.  “Right.  Cyril’s powers help...keep things private.”

Daniel leaned back, pursing his lips.  The golden line of Cyril’s barrier gleamed in his mind.  “He’s the one who cast that shield?”

“That’s him.”  Olivia returned to her pacing.  “As long as he’s got his shield up...people stay away.  People don’t notice.”

“So they need to have him in place before they can act freely.”  Daniel smiled, and for the first time since he’d woken up, the expression felt genuine.  “We can use that.  Maybe we can-”

“I wasn’t finished.”

Daniel stopped.  Olivia had half-turned back to face him, eyes unreadable.  “There was someone else,” she said quietly.  “Another man.  I don’t think they knew him very well.  I don’t think he was part of their group.”

Leon snorted.  “What, did they hire him special?”

The door to the bathroom creaked, just a little.  Daniel looked up, spying James peering through the crack.  When their eyes met, James pulled back—and the door clicked shut again.  Daniel smothered a laugh.  It’s not quite safe to come out yet.  Stay hidden.

“I think they did,” Olivia said.  “The others…”  She licked her lips, her expression turning intense.  “They weren’t exactly open, but I could figure out who they were.  They’d at least talk to me.  This guy?”  She shook her head once, short and sharp.  “He was all clammed up.  Wouldn’t let even a peep slip out.”

“Helpful,” Leon muttered.

“But...he seemed important, and they wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t.  They seemed to think he could lead them to us.  To...To you.”

The feeling of eyes on his face burned across Daniel’s skin.  Olivia was staring at him, wordless again.

Daniel only nodded.  He didn’t even have to ask who she was talking about—he could still see that man, crouched in the grass.  Glowering at him.  “I think they have a tracker,” he said softly. “It’s probably the same guy. They shot me in the leg, after all. They weren’t exactly aiming to kill me, just…slow me down.” He swallowed. “And that guy was messing with my blood. Afterward.”

Leon stiffened, sitting up taller.  “Wait.  So you think he-”

“We drove for hours,” Olivia said. “They’d have been way behind us.  There’s no way they-”

“I know,” Daniel said, raising a hand.  “I know it’s improbable.  But...we shouldn’t stay here too long.  Just in case.”

Olivia fell back into a heap, collapsing onto one of the no-doubt infested chairs lining the edge of the room.  “I guess,” she mumbled.

For a moment, silence reigned over the motel room.  Daniel sat back, trying not to look as Leon finished tucking away scraps of cloth.  Finally, with a last touch, Leon moved away.

And little by little, that silence grew oppressive.

“Where does this end?” Daniel heard Olivia whisper, once the quiet had dragged on long enough to be intolerable.  “How do- How am I supposed to fix this?”

“You don’t,” he said, but it was weariness in his voice, not anger.  “I don’t know that we can fix this, Olivia.”

“I-I refuse to accept that.”

“I can’t let them leave,” he said.  Each word carried with it enough weight to shut Olivia up.  “They know too much.  They might’ve seen my face.  Hell, they might already know my name.  And…”  He glanced to the side, to where he could still see James trying to not-so-subtly watch.

“I-I could convince them to stop,” Olivia said.  “Destroy the information about your friends.  T-They could leave, and go somewhere new, where Indira can’t-”

“I can’t risk it.”  His heart pounded in his chest, harder and harder with every second that slipped past.  Because he already knew where this was going.  Where it had to go.

Allow no harm to come to those who walk these halls.

“I can’t let them leave,” Daniel said heavily.  “Not Indira, not Rickard, and not their mages.  None of them can be allowed to escape with knowledge like this.  It would put all future Librarians in jeopardy.”

“So you’re going to kill them?” Olivia said, her voice tiny.  “Is that your answer?”

Not a soul moved in that room.  Not a soul breathed.

Finally, Daniel sighed. “I don’t know another way.”

“But- We could-”

“Olivia.”  Daniel watched as she stiffened, going still.  He smiled faintly.  “They attacked us,” he said, as quietly as her.  “They attacked innocents.  They attacked me.  The instant they called those mages, they locked us into this fight.”

“But surely we can-”

“And the instant you called me, you declared what side you were on.”  He watched her face carefully, taking it all in.  The way she flinched at his words.  The desolate sadness lurking behind her eyes.  “Not to be clichéd, but at this stage, it’s us or them.  You