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

Or they wouldn’t. The thought wasn’t as unhappy as he’d have expected. Maybe Leon wouldn’t come to seal the deal. Maybe Maya would just drive off into the sunset, leaving them behind. Rickard and Indira would be so happy to have their hands on Alexandria that they’d never stop to worry about the others.

No one would be in danger. No one would have to fight. It could just...end

The shriek of metal against metal rang out from the back of the garage, echoed by a triumphant call.

Olivia pressed against his side, gripping his arm like her life depended on it. “T-That- They must’ve-”

“They got into the garage,” Daniel whispered. “We’re still okay.”

Probably.

A chill ran through him as the triumphant cry turned dark, surprised. They’d figured it out, then.

Daniel slid his fingers through Olivia’s, squeezing faintly. “Come on. We should-”

“What the hell do you mean, he’s not inside?” he heard Rickard cry. The sound came from the back of the building—right by the door that had just been opened. “Where the fuck is he, then?”

“Crap,” Daniel muttered, stiffening. He inched away, rising into a crouch, and Olivia followed along with him. “Let’s-”

His ears pricked. Something hummed, right at the edge of hearing. A low rumble, rising against the distant noises of civilization.

A new engine. A new car.

Lurching toward the half-wall, Daniel peered over again—and was gratified with the sight of the painfully-ordinary car rolling toward them. “Maya,” he breathed.

“They got the message,” Olivia said. He could hear the smile in her words without having to look. “Sweet.”

“Yeah,” Daniel whispered. “Then, we should be ready to move once they-”

His gaze panned down, and he froze.

The two vehicles waited at the curb where they’d been parked, and figures milled about them—but not the one they needed. Not that asshole in the coat, the one who’d sniffed at his blood back in the minigolf park.

Teeth gritted, Daniel’s eyes darted across the scene. Two men hovered around Indira, pale-faced and tense, with poorly-hidden guns in their hands. Another two strode along the sidewalk, decidedly more casual but still casting wary glances toward the garage’s front door.

Off to one side, a man stood with a rifle. That man. The one who’d put the bullet in Daniel in the first place. He seemed as casual as anything, leaning against the brick wall puffing on a cigarette.

But the damn tracker wasn’t here.

“Shit,” Daniel whispered.

Olivia’s fingers dug into his arm. “Owl? What’s wrong?”

“He’s not here.” Daniel spun, crawling away from the half-wall. Gritting his teeth, he lurched to his feet, shuffling awkwardly toward the back of the building.

Her grip on him became a vise. “You can’t. We have to-”

“If we don’t get rid of that asshole, all of this will be for nothing,” Daniel hissed. Half of his mind screamed to keep quiet, to keep his voice low. The other half just screamed.

Everything was going wrong. He wouldn’t let it.

The purr of the engine dippd lower. His breath caught in his throat. Were they waiting? Had they seen it, then—that the plan was falling apart right in front of them?

Stupid. He cursed himself, latching onto the wall lining the back edge of the garage. Idiot, to think it’d be that simple.

Pulling himself higher on arms that shook, he peeked over the edge.

“Well, he had to go somewhere,” he heard Rickard hiss. He could see the man, too, a wiry figure with a shock of close-cropped, honey-colored hair. Rickard stood a few paces back from the garage in the beaten-dirt lot behind it, pacing back and forth. The door below Daniel hung open, held by someone he couldn’t see. “Unless you got it wrong? Maybe you-”

“I ain’t wrong,” a low voice rumbled. Daniel shivered. That...was not a nice voice, rough and gravelly. Something in it just oozed disdain, as though Rickard wasn’t worth the time it took to have the conversation. “Kid’s around here somewhere.”

“So where is he?” Rickard snapped. “If you’re so sure, answer that.”

The tracker chuckled. Daniel had no doubt anymore as to the man’s identity. “Check the place again. Blame your half-assed mundanes, not my focus.”

“You lot and your damned foci,” Rickard hissed. “Can’t you lot just-”

The sound of an engine revving hard brought him to a stop. Daniel twisted, eyes snapping wide open, just in time to catch a glimpse of Maya accelerating down the street. In the blink of an eye, her headlights vanished below the building, swerving wildly.

He stiffened, flinching, as screams rang out—followed by the sickening crunch of twisting metal.

Daniel’s ears were still ringing with the sound when chaos erupted across the scene.

First and foremost came the people yelling, which seemed to include everyone. People screamed from the scene of Maya’s destruction, although they seemed to be more angry than in pain. He was relieved to hear that, but not as much as he would have been if they weren’t trying to capture him.

So too could he hear Rickard bellowing...something. The words were lost to the chaos as footsteps pounded across the pavement.

Olivia tugged on his arm. He looked up. She was straining, trying to drag him to the edge of the roof. “Hurry,” she gasped. “We have to-”

“No,” Daniel said, and yanked his arm free. He could see her destination—the ladder hanging off the side of the building. “We can’t leave yet. We have to find him.”

Right. The tracker. He threw himself back against the half-wall, risking fate by leaning over the edge.

Rickard charged into the building just as Daniel looked out, his face contorted. “Janik!” Daniel heard him roar. “Get those screens going before-”

Gunfire erupted around the front of the garage. Daniel jumped—as did Olivia. And Rickard, he noted, watching the man backpedal out of the garage. “Janik!” he cried. “Damn it, would you-”

“I’m trying!” someone else yelped. “J-Just- Just give me a minute!” As the voice faded, Daniel caught a glimpse of the speaker—a dark-haired man, bolting toward the garage from a nearby alley. “I-Is it-”

“In,” Rickard said, just a hair shy