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

For a single, perfect moment, it floated in midair.

Just as quickly, it dropped, falling the scant inch to Leon’s palm.

Leon sagged, panting. “Shit,” he gasped. “That- That didn’t feel so good.”

“You did it, though” Daniel said. Elation shot through him. “You did it!”

“No, I didn’t. It fell right back down.” Leon scrunched up his face, squirming back deeper into his seat. “I don’t get it. What the hell is different? That was a tree. This is a damn slice of plastic. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, you were-” Daniel stopped, eyes widening. “You were touching it, before.”

“I- What?”

Daniel leaned over him, gesturing madly to the card. Olivia made a noise of protest, and he sat back, but waved his hand still. “You were holding the tree. Maybe-”

“Oh.” Leon’s voice brightened—as did his eyes. That old spark was back, the one he’d had that first day when Daniel had followed him around Alexandria. He’d found another mystery. “Yeah, that’d make sense, wouldn’t it? Direct contact might make things easier.”

“Yeah,” Daniel mumbled. “Maybe.” That pit hadn’t left his stomach, even while he rested. He didn’t feel as desolate as before—as empty—but he still felt...wrong. Empty.

He watched, though, swallowing the bile in his throat, as Leon’s eyebrows pulled closer and closer together.

This time, he didn’t bring his whole hand away. When he moved, he kept one fingertip pressed against the smooth plastic.

And the card held. It floated there, impossibly suspended.

“Wow,” Leon breathed. His eyes were wide, round as dinner plates. “Holy shit. Is that- That’s me, right? You’re not doing anything?”

“Nope,” Daniel said with a chuckle. “What could I do? That’s all you.”

“W-Well,” Leon said. A grin spread across his face. “You did that- that thing, back there. The water. I just thought, maybe-”

“Nope.” Daniel shook his head, sitting back at last. “Not me. This is your own magic.”

“Holy shit.”

“Dammit, Leon,” James said, twisting in his seat and leaning back toward them. “Would you just-”

Maya groaned. “I’m trying to drive, here?”

“Hey, don’t-”

No matter how Leon squirmed, though, James’ thumb and forefinger zeroed in on the plastic card. Grinning wickedly, he flicked.

“N-No! Don’t-” Leon flinched once, but his protests died away as the card didn’t budge at all. He leered up at James instead, the card hovering beside his hand. “Ass.”

“Stop crying,” James said, rolling his eyes, and sat forward again. “Can we be serious, yet?”

“I’m being serious,” Leon mumbled, dropping back to his seat. “This is serious work. This is important. I need to-”

Olivia yelped, shying away as the card smacked into her midsection. “W-What the- What the hell?”

Leon sat frozen, his hand palm-up. “I...I didn’t-”

“It’s fine,” Daniel said, nudging Olivia’s knee with his. “He didn’t mean to.”

He watched Leon, though—and caught Leon’s eye as he glanced over. Again. And again.

So Leon knew it too, then. That the way the card moved had been...something. More than just a blip. There was too much new, too many things to try and work through. Leon was doing about as well as could be expected of him—so if Leon wanted to leave that mishap alone for the moment, then Daniel wouldn’t force the topic.

Instead, he turned his sights forward, leaning back enough to kick James’ seat.

“Stop kicking me,” he heard James mutter. “Christ.”

“Hey, you said it,” Daniel retorted. “Let’s be serious. So how about it?”

James glanced back, scowling. “The hell you talking about?” Ahead, Maya’s hands tightened on the wheel, but she didn’t so much as look in their direction. She’d be listening, though.

Daniel put a casual smile on his face, forcing himself to stay casual. Damn it, he’d just done this with Leon. He didn’t want to have this conversation again. But...he didn’t see a way around it. They needed answers, and they needed to make the most of the tools they had.

No matter how unhappy it made them.

“Do you want to tell me about your hammer, now?” he said.

- Chapter Twenty-Seven -

The SUV rattled, bouncing its way down the exit ramp.

“You’re sure about this.”

Daniel sighed, scratching at his head, and peered out into the darkness. It was still night, but only barely, with the sort of inky, murky haze to the air that came in the hours before dawn. “I’m not thrilled either,” he muttered. “But we’ve got to do something.”

“But...here?” Maya said. She shrank back in her seat. “This part of town sucks.”

“Right,” Daniel said. “That way-”

“That way no one will notice when the bad stuff starts happening,” Olivia said quietly. She’d been almost silent for the last few hours, but she hadn’t slept. It’d been her and Daniel left staring through the windshield, mute, as Leon and James snored their heads off.

Maya licked her lips, nodding. “Right.”

Another snore tore through the cramped cab. Olivia jumped—and jabbed her heel toward the sleeping form of Leon. “Hey. Wake up.”

Leon didn’t move. Olivia rolled her eyes, kicking harder. “Leon. Would you-”

“W’ssat?” Leon jolted awake, sitting bolt upright fast enough Olivia lurched back. “Where? I’m good. I’m good.”

“You’re fine,” Daniel said. He had to say something—from the way Olivia turned her face away from Leon, pressing a hand over her mouth, he knew she was hiding a chuckle. “We’re just...we’re nearly there.”

Leon blinked, rubbing at his eyes. He turned back to the window, leaning close enough to press his nose to the glass. “What...What d’you mean? We’re nearly where?”

“To our giant mistake,” Maya mumbled from the front seat. She reached out, though, slapping at James’ shoulder. “Hey. Time to wake up.”

“You remember,” Daniel said, more quietly. “I explained before. We talked.”

Leon kept blinking, but his brow furrowed. “I...I don’t-”

“It’s time we make our stand.”

Finally, some recognition—Leon’s eyes went wide. “Oh,” he mumbled. “Right.”

“I still think this is risky,” Maya said. She hit the brakes, turning them onto a surface street, but glanced to Daniel. “This. It’s-”

“I know,” Daniel said. “But I don’t know another way to get them off our trail. We need to get rid of their tracker. That’s all.” He squeezed his leg again, wincing. The ache had gotten worse.