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

at the bookshelves, tossing the words around in his mind.  Finally, he shrugged.  “I’ve told you before,” he said.  “I don’t get out a whole lot.”

“Oh.”

“So I really don’t mind,” Owl said hurriedly.  “Really.  It’s nice to hear about...well, about the stuff happening out there.”

Leon was still glaring when he mustered up the will to look his way, still chewing on what Owl had said.  “That’s pretty fucked,” he said at last.

“Oh, screw you,” Owl said.  “I thought you wanted me to save your chem grade.”

“I-I mean, I do, but, like...to be so desperate that you’d rather hear my stupid melodrama than nothing at all.”

“I’m not desperate.”

Leon snorted.  “You’re a little desperate.”

“Again,” Owl said.  “Screw you.”

“Can’t you, like...take a vacation, or something?” Leon said, propping one elbow up on the bookshelves.  “There’s got to be someone out there to...”  His words trailed off as Owl started shaking his head.  “What, never?”

“That’s not how it works,” Owl said, chuckling softly.  “It’s...yeah, it’s a bit fucked, but that’s just reality.  As far as I know, Alexandria is the only Library out there. And I’m the only Librarian.”

“Well...” Leon began, screwing up his face.  “Well, shit.”

“Shit indeed,” Owl said, slapping his hand down onto the next tome.

For a while, Leon let him shelve in silence, staring blankly at the floor as he processed.  Owl focused on the last few books still waiting for his attentions, trying to pretend like his face wasn’t burning.  Through all the years he’d spent as Librarian, he’d never spent so long talking about himself.

“Well,” Leon said.

“Stop saying ‘well’.”

“I mean...couldn’t we find someone to, like, help out?  Hell, I’m good with people,” Leon said, straightening and patting his chest.  He flashed Owl a winning grin.  “I could take over sometimes, couldn’t I?”

“You just want to wear the mask,” Owl said dryly.

“Can you blame me?” Leon said.  “But, seriously.  We could hire someone else, couldn’t we?  How’d you get the job, anyway?  I mean, I don’t think you can be much older than me, and you’re this mystical Librarian.”

It was Owl’s turn to snort.  “How would you know how old I am, anyway?”

“How you talk,” Leon said without hesitation.  “How you move.  You’re not old.  I’m not an idiot.  Answer the question.

“I...don’t really...”

“Come on.  Spit it out.  Stop playing shy.”

“I just don’t remember,” Owl said.  Leon blinked, his eyes wide.  Owl shrugged.  “Sorry.  I just-”

“You don’t remember?” Leon burst out.

“...No?” Owl said, shrinking back.  “I just...it’s been years and years, Leon.  But I remember being here when I was a kid, and...”  A figure flashed through his mind, willowy and black-masked.  “I remember the old Librarian, a little.  That’s all.”  He bit his lip, his head falling forward slightly.  “More than that...I don’t remember.”

“Were they, like, your parent, or-”

“No, no,” Owl said, shaking his head.  “My family wasn’t...they aren’t involved.  They don’t know.”  The years fogged it all, putting a haze over the parts he could almost remember, but more than anything...”I can’t remember anything before being here.  Not even them.  I don’t...I don’t think I ever could.”  He smiled mirthlessly.  “Just Alexandria, and...her.  My old teacher.  That’s all.”

Owl fell quiet, after that.  His brows pulled together.  The old frustration welled up in him again.  It didn’t make sense.  Alexandria was his home, and...Even if he wanted out, he didn’t want to lose her, but he just wanted things to make sense.  Maybe it was time.  Maybe Alex was right, and he should start delving into things.

Too late, he realized that the silence that had fallen between them dragged on still, growing deeper and more fathomless with every second it went unbroken.  He looked up.  “B-But, uh.”

Leon stared back at him, every line of his face appalled. “Owl, that sounds like kidnapping.”

“N-No,” Owl said, shaking his head.  “I mean...I don’t know.  I just-”

“But, then, you didn’t ever get a choice in this, did you?”

Owl stopped, his arguments dying.  “I guess not,” he said finally.

Again, that horrible silence sprawled out, long and heavy.  The books filled his eyes, but he didn’t look away.  It was easier to look at the books than Leon.  If he looked at Leon, he’d have to deal with the pity shining through the blue depths of his eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he heard Leon say softly.  “Shit, you’ve listened to me babble for months, and I never...I never stopped to think.”  More silence.  “I guess...if you want me to leave it alone, that’s okay, but-”

“I don’t...” Owl began, but stopped.  He didn’t want to talk about it.  Not right then.  Maybe not ever.  But Alexandria pressed in closer around them, with the darkness swathing the both of them like a blanket.

A sigh ripped from his throat.  “I think maybe-”

Porcelain shattered from afar, splintering the moment, and Owl stiffened.  More than the sound of it breaking, he heard the voices raised in startled, fearful cries.  He heard the curses.

He took off running in an instant, leaving Leon in that dark, shadowed aisle.  His eyes snapped forward, angled down into the study, where-

His limbs went cold and heavy, freezing him in place.  He reeled, catching himself a moment before he could tumble down.  But his gaze never faltered, never tore free from the sight before him.

The two scholars, standing beside their table, with chairs askew behind them.

The shattered plate, scattered across the ground.  The cup that’d broken along with it, marring the carpet with flecks of broken glass.

And the water that cheerfully hovered in midair before Alan’s shaking hand.

- Chapter Twenty-Two -

The world went very still and quiet, then.  Owl gaped, frozen in place from his spot on the balcony.  Magic.  Alan was using magic.  Inside the Library.  As a guest.

And why couldn’t he? his thoughts shrieked.  That old guildmaster did, didn’t he?  The image flashed through his mind - the man, with shards of ice and fire spraying from his hands.  And the black-masked woman, who’d-

Owl shook his head fiercely, driving the scene away.  Alan was using magic, right there in