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

for the good of all.  That was your job.”  Daniel’s teeth locked together, his jaw tense as images flashed through his mind.  Of a blonde man, and a young woman beside him, her eyes filled with tears.  Her.  “You were here to help people learn.”

“Yes, and-”

“But from the goddamn minute I started working with you, it’s been nothing but one lie after another.  And now you’re hurting people?  It’s all games.”  Daniel sucked down a lungful of air, forcing himself to pause for a moment.  To settle.  “Alexandria is not your pawn.  And for you to attack others?  To threaten their lives for your own gain?”

The line went very, very quiet.  The others were all staring at him, as silent as the phone.  Leon’s eyes were round, his face white.  Daniel waited, his own eyes narrowed, until at last Indira spoke.

“What I have done, I do for my guild,” she said, but there was no real strength to the statement.  “For their sake, I-”

“Bullshit,” he snapped, his rage flaring again in an instant.  “Another lie, Indira?  Just like that?  You attacked people, people who have nothing to do with you, for yourself.  For your own damn gain.  And now-”

The speaker screeched, grating as though something was rubbing against the microphone.  Daniel winced, yanking it away for a moment, but hesitated.  Something was still coming through, too soft to make out.  Voices—that didn’t belong to Indira.

“Good evening,” a man said, and his words came through all too clearly.  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think it’s best you and I talk directly, now.”

A younger voice, almost as young as Daniel himself—and with a faint European accent.  Russian?  Finnish?  He couldn’t quite tell, not from that, but it gave him all the tools he’d need to make an educated guess.

“Rickard.”

“Ah,” the man said with a laugh.  “You know my name, already?  You are quite well informed.”

“It’s my job,” Daniel hissed.

“Just so.  Indeed.  You are correct, my friend.  And I suppose you must be Owl, then?”

A chuckle burst from Daniel’s throat.  “You’re pretty well informed yourself.”

“My colleague has...filled me in.”  Rickard paused, as though mulling something over.  Daniel waited, glancing around the room.  James and Maya had slipped from the bathroom at last, watching him with growing confusion.  Leon scurried over to them, whispering something he couldn’t hear.  “There are things I don’t know yet, of course.”

Daniel blinked, coming back to reality, and scowled.  “Google it.”

“Hilarious,” Rickard said, and for a moment, he almost sounded like he meant it.  “But unhelpful, I’m afraid.  I’d like to know more about you, you see.”

“I’m sure you would.”

“Calling you ‘Owl’ is so...cold.  So formal.  Surely, there’s something else-”

“Go to hell.”

His pulse thundered in his ears, almost deafening, but he heard Rickard sigh.  The sound shifted, drawing away, as though he was pinching the bridge of his nose.  “I understand,” Rickard said.  “I can only imagine the strain you’re under right now, Librarian.  And I apologize for putting you in this position.”

Daniel chuckled again, sinking to the foot of the bed.  From the corners of his vision, he could see Leon and Olivia drawing closer again.  He couldn’t blame them for wanting to eavesdrop, not now.  “Bet you’re not sorry enough to leave us alone, though.”

“Your friend Indira did say you were wise.”

“She’s not my friend.”

“This is a difficult time, Librarian,” Rickard said, and the tone of his voice had changed.  There was still a light, cheerful tenor to it, but it hardened.  “As I’ve said.  I do understand the difficult situation you are in.”

“Then-”

“But you are a very important person, as I’m sure you’re aware.  This is not something that can be so easily put aside.”  Again, Rickard paused.  “There is...a choice before you.”

Not one he would like, probably.  “Go on.”

“Option one,” Rickard said, the cheer returning to his words.  “You allow us to meet you.  We provide medical treatment for your wound.  Your friends will be allowed to leave in peace.”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed.  “And?”

“And you return with my colleagues and I as...a partner, of sorts.”

He couldn’t help but scoff at that.  “A prisoner.”

“Librarian,” Rickard sighed.  “It does not have to be so.  Your actions have put me in a difficult position, you see.  You have killed men I’m responsible for.”

“They were trying to kill me.”

“They were not.”  That steel returned in the blink of an eye.  “They were merely-”

“I’m sorry,” Daniel snapped.  “I should’ve realized those were friendly bullets.”

“You are making this difficult,” Rickard mumbled.  “Why must this be difficult?”

“Go to-”

“You have put me in a position where you cannot be fully trusted,” Rickard said, slowly.  As though he was explaining to a child.  “But we can be civilized.  You would be afforded a measure of independence, and your stay with us would be of the utmost comfort.”

“Right,” Daniel muttered.  “It sounds lovely.”

“There is also option two,” Rickard said.  “You will find it substantially less comfortable.”

The flames of Daniel’s anger were starting to ebb, fading with every word Rickard spoke. It flared back to life in an instant.  “I don’t appreciate threats.”

“If you continue in this fight, we will find you,” Rickard said.  He hardly seemed to notice Daniel had spoken.  “It seems your focus’s magic is...limited.  You do not have the tools to evade us.”

“Try me.”  Daniel glanced to the others, though.  It was true—he didn’t have any of the powers these mages seemed to, and even if Leon had gained magic of his own, it didn’t do a damn thing for them if he didn’t know how to use it.

“I am not saying it to brag, Librarian,” Rickard said, and now, he just sounded sad.  “It is inevitable.”

“Then-”

“We will find you, and your friends will die,” Rickard said.  “I don’t wish it on them, but we can’t afford threats.  And then you will return with us, as before, however unwillingly.  And you will no longer be entitled to our goodwill on the matter.”

Daniel sucked in a breath, ready to reply, but forced himself to stop.  Snapping back in the heat of the