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

“Good.”

“What’s that, now?”

“Good luck,” Owl said.  “I hope you make some progress.  But don’t work too hard, now.”  He chuckled.  Not that the two had ever struggled in finding Alexandria’s accommodations.  Even as he watched, Dylan glanced sidelong toward the cabinet where Alex had taken to stashing goodies for them.

“Right,” Dylan said, starting to grin.

Alan said nothing at all.  He just kept flipping through the book, completely focused again.  But his fingers rubbed together slowly.  Now and again, he glanced down to them, and snapped his fingertips.

Owl backed away.  Now was his chance.  They were distracted. They weren’t done - he’d heard them gossiping right at the edge of his vision, and he’d spent enough time counteracting their clumsy attempts at magic to know that the two were nothing if not stubborn - but they’d called a halt to the magic for the time being.

Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it now.

No sooner had Owl taken a step away, though, when he slowed again.  Maybe...Maybe this was what Alan wanted.  Maybe they were just waiting for him to get distracted before they tried again in full.  Alan was observant, damn it.  Maybe he’d realized that Owl was up to something.

Owl swallowed, trying to force moisture into his suddenly-dry mouth.  This was the best chance he’d gotten so far.  That didn’t make it safe.

Damn it, he didn’t know what to do, anymore.

He swept toward the door, fighting the urge to look back to where the two scholars worked.  Looking back would make him seem doubtful.  Suspicious.  If this was going to work, he needed to look like absolutely nothing was wrong.

But he sighed as he stepped out of the study, forcing his fists to unclench.

“Hey,” someone hissed.  “You good?”

Owl stopped.  The door swung shut behind him.  “You’re still here?” he murmured, glancing over to Leon.

His friend stood right where he’d been left, at the corner of the main hallway.  His brassy hair looked a little more frazzled and worked-through than it had a few hours before, but his eyes were steady as he waited.  “Y-Yeah.  I mean, where was I going to go?”

“Back outside,” Owl said, walking closer.  “Back to your bed to get the rest of your night’s sleep.  You didn’t- I didn’t mean you should wait around for hours and hours, Leon.”

Leon chuckled, swiping at his nose.  “No big.  Besides.  This is some sort of big-shit deal, isn’t it?”

Owl flinched.  “U-Uh.  I mean.  Yes and no.”

“You certainly seemed to think it was before you went back in there.”

“It’s,” Owl began, then drooped.  “It’s complicated.  The Booklenders should be aware of the fact that people aside from the Librarian can use magic.”

“That’s that guild thing, right?”

Owl nodded slowly.  Indira should remember, certainly.  He could still remember the young woman standing alongside her guildmaster as he sparred with Jean.  She’d remember.

“But it’s...it’s more than that,” he continued.  “It’s dangerous.  They’re not trained.  I just...I don’t like it.”

“Gotcha,” Leon said.  “Yeah.  That’s tough.”

Owl licked his lips, casting a glance toward the study.  “I need to go fix this.  But I also need to keep an eye on them.  So-”

“Can I help?  Can I do anything to fix it?”

Turning, Owl shot Leon a sidelong grin.  “I...don’t think so.  Thanks, though.  Really, Leon, I-”

“So what about babysitting them, then?”

Shock rippled through Owl’s gut, carried on a wash of adrenaline.  “W-What?  I don’t-”

“I can’t guarantee I’ll do any good, but...”  Leon shrugged.  “Even if I do a bad job of it, that’s still better than nothing, isn’t it?  So let me help.”

Let him help?  Leon?  Owl’s pulse thundered.

Him helping would mean him filling the same role Owl had been taking on since this whole shitstorm started - he’d have to counteract whatever attempts Alan made.

He’d have to use magic.  And Owl would have to teach him.

“It’s not a good idea,” Owl whispered, shaking his head furiously.  “Y-You’re not trained.  I don’t-”

“Come on,” Leon said.  “It’s me.”

Owl’s words fell away.  His eyes hovered on Leon, searching every line of his expression for a lie, for a falsehood, for some indication the man was trying to play tricks.

It’d been ages since Leon first appeared in Alexandria’s halls.  And just about every night, Alex would pull him into the Library for a visit.  Sometimes it’d just be Leon.  Sometimes James would come along too.  And every time, Leon seemed entranced by the magical Library and the secrets it held.

He was just a stranger at the end of the day - but Owl had looked into him.  His connections were clean.  And Alexandria liked him.  Out of anyone in the world, Leon was the one person Owl would even consider teaching.  It might not solve all their problems, but if it could just keep things held together for another spell...

“Okay,” he whispered, coming to a decision in the blink of an eye.  “Okay.”

“O-Okay?” Leon said.  “What do you mean-”

Owl snapped his fingers in front of his nose.  A fire blossomed there, like a candle took root over his gloved fingertips.  “It’s about belief,” he said.  “This is the Library.  It’s real, but it’s not.  You’re sleeping, out there.  So-”

“So it’s like a dream,” Leon said, nodding.  “Yeah.  You’ve said that before.”

“Right.”  Owl grinned.  “If you want something to happen badly enough, if you hold the image of it happening in your mind, this space will reflect that.”

He was gratified by the sight of Leon’s eyes widening ever so slightly.  “What, just like that?”

“Just like that,” Owl said, letting the fire over his fingers die out.  “It takes some practice, though.  You have to trust that it’s going to happen.  You can’t doubt.  You have to know - or you have to want it badly enough.”  Like damn Alan in there and his damn razor-sharp mind.

Leon snapped his fingers, just like Owl had.  Nothing happened.  His lips curled down.  “I don’t- I guess I don’t get it.”

“Keep trying,” Owl said.  “It’ll come to you.”

Leon kept snapping, and the air kept failing