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

it wasn't every day that two of their guests destroyed an entire section of the Library.  These were unusual times.  Logically, he knew he should be ecstatic.  He'd gotten out months ahead of when he’d planned on.  And yet...he couldn't bring himself to pick up the phone, to call any of his friends or set up evening plans. They seemed a million miles away, more distant than ever.

With a groan, Daniel drooped, leaning forward to rest his elbow against the table.  His other hand wandered to his chest, his fingers curling in meaningfully.

Blue light flared for a moment, glowing in the space about his hand.  A moment later, it faded - and a golden pendant dropped into his hand.  The chain extended upward, hanging about his neck.

Daniel squeezed the beautifully-fashioned book facsimile, running his thumb across the tiny metal pages.  "You're still here," he murmured.  "I get that.  You're always here."

And yet, out in the real world, the Library felt...impossible.  It felt like Alexandria was a world apart, like he'd been plucked out of his home and dropped into a distant world.  It felt like his mind was his own, however little that meant.  Inside, she could do...anything.  Here?

He smiled, closing his hand about the pendant.  Here, Alex was just a necklace.  A magic necklace, it seemed, but still a necklace.

The breath slid from his lips as he exhaled slowly.  Dust crumbled between his fingers - and the necklace was gone, vanished again.  It didn't matter, he knew.  She was still with him.  If he reached for the necklace, it'd appear again, no matter how many times he played the game with it.  She always came back.

"Damn it," he whispered, shaking his head and leaning back against the table.  "It'd be easier if you'd just stay away, you know."  He could be his own person.  He could live his own life - he could have friends.  Actual friends.  He wouldn't have to feel like he was lying to Nate and the others.

Or to Leon.  His eyes tightened.  He could actually see Leon.  In person, not in some fantastical realm and swathed away behind masks and thick leather coats.  He could have a person in his life that he didn't have to keep lying to.

He'd...said too much to Leon, probably.  That last visit.  He'd been more open than was wise, certainly.  Outsiders didn't need to know about the Librarian, or their predecessors.  They needed to know about his own personal history even less.  Daniel groaned, shaking his head.

And yet...Ever since he'd gone back to the quiet of his corners, lying wide-eyed on the bed until sleep finally found him, he couldn't get it out of his mind.

The sight of Leon staring back at him, horror and pity etched into his expression.  His words still sang out again and again at the very edge of Daniel's hearing.

Owl, that sounds like kidnapping.

"What did you do?" Daniel whispered, one hand flat against his chest where the necklace would lay.  "What happened, back then?  Why the hell did you bring me into this?"

The wind rustled through the trees overhead.  A bird screamed its song for the world to hear.

And Alexandria remained silent.

"This would be easier if you could talk," Daniel mumbled.  He took a long, ragged breath, wrapping his hands about each other.  "I'm...This is probably in the journals, isn't it.  Hers."

A black mask swam before his face.  He smiled hollowly.  He should read them.  He knew he should. He’d been leaving notes in his own journal when he could, and now and then he’d sift through one of his earlier predecessors, but...he still couldn’t bring himself to open hers.

And yet...whatever had happened, whatever the previous Librarian had done, they'd been in the same boat as him, wouldn't they?  They were just another cog in the wheel of the Library, driven by whatever Alexandria demanded of them.  They'd been a prisoner, just like him.

When he'd gone back to his quarters in an empty Library, he'd heard their voices - Alan and Dylan.  He'd heard them scream as the room came down around them.  He'd heard the pain in their voices, the terror.  He'd seen Alan's wounds.  All of it was avoidable.  All of it.  Alexandria had charged ahead instead, leaving him to clean up her messes.

"Am I just a tool to you?" he whispered.  "Am I just a means to an end?"

His lips fluttered, shaping words he couldn't bring himself to voice.  Was this what it'd be like for the rest of his life?  Just an eternity spent running around at her beck and call, trying to hold their world together while she acted on her own?  Was he to be her slave forever?

"I never asked for this," he whispered, the words quiet enough to be lost under the wind that drifted through the forested clearing.  "I didn't sign up for this, Alex.  It's not fair."

It's not fair.  The words rattled through him, sinking all the way to his gut.

And there, with the rich smell of coffee still rising around him, he reached his decision.

* * * * *

Daniel opened his eyes.

Sturdy wooden rafters sprawled over him, speckled with fairy lights that glowed to life at his awakening.  He lay there a moment longer, letting the misty sleep fall from his eyes.  His fingers splayed back and forth, enjoying the soft plushness of the sheets that wrapped about him.

And then he pushed the covers back, rolling upright.

His door creaked shut only a few minutes later.  Daniel crept out into the Library like a thief, clad in a t-shirt and plain grey sweatpants rather than his uniform.  "Don't screw me over here, okay?" he said, casting a glance up at the walls.  "I have...business.  We need to talk.  Leon's cool, but I...I need a minute.  Don’t go letting anyone in, please."

He waited, watching, but got no outward sign of a response.  That...would have to be good enough.  Daniel sighed, turning toward the sitting room.

Rather than taking a seat, though, he only eyed the