The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (ebook reader 8 inch .TXT) 📗

Footsteps echoed across the stone-lined walls of Alexandria, breaking the quiet.

Someone else was here.  Ice raced through his veins.  Was it Leon and the others?  He’d told them to go find another room.  Maybe they’d gotten bored.  Maybe they’d wandered off.

He needed a new way to distract her - no, to get her out of here entirely.  But how?  He could see her face.  She’d looked up at the sound, too.  Unlike the mask of horror his face had begun, she looked curious more than anything.  Before Owl could stop her, she spun.

Will walked from around the corner, his steps brisk and measured.  He stopped at the sight of them, relief washing across his face.

“Oh,” he said.  “Good.”  His eyes flicked to Olivia - and to Owl.  Something akin to tolerant amusement slipped into his expression.  “I found you.”

“Was there something you needed?” Olivia said, working her way around until she sat facing him.  “I was just-”

“You said you’d help me,” Will said, shifting from foot to foot.  He had books with him, Owl saw at last - a narrow, leatherbound journal, along with a few of the Library’s customary doorstops.

Olivia only blinked at him.  “Uh.  Will, what-”

He did roll his eyes, then.  “Good Lord,” Owl heard the normally-quiet man mutter under his breath.  “You said you’d help me copy it out.  The village records?  From-”

“Wait, really?” Olivia said, her expression brightening.  “You found it?”

The look Will gave her could have cut glass - but there was a certain pride underneath the raw smug of it.  “Yeah.  I did.  So would you come on and-”

“Right.  Right!”  Olivia hopped to the ground, stumbling once before catching herself.  “I remember.  I just- You were fast about that.  Nice.”

Will chuckled, shrinking a little lower.  “S-Stop.”

“You’ve got something to keep you busy?” Owl said, rising with a little more care.

“Yeah,” Will said, nodding.  He shifted from foot to foot, drawing his books up closer to his chest.

“He’ll have me stuck copying lines for the rest of the morning, if I know where this is going,” Olivia said with a sigh, turning back to Owl.  She smiled, and he was pretty sure that she actually meant the expression, this time.  “Thanks.  For hanging out with me.  You don’t have to make excuses next time, you know.”

“I wasn’t-”

“And next time I come?  Even if it’s just to the front door?”  She took a wobbling step backward, toward the rapidly-receding form of her companion.  “Show me your art again.  Your real art.”  She grinned.  “Or whatever hobby you’re working on this century.”

Not waiting for a response, she spun on her heel, darting after Will.

Owl watched her go, holding his seat until the sound of their shoes against the stone and tiles faded out entirely.  And then he turned back to the bar, starting to gather up the pad and pencil.

Well.  That had been...something.  But at least he’d-

Right.  Leon.  He shook his head, straightening.  Are they still hanging around here?  Are they waiting for me to-

The fireplace alongside him dimmed, going sad and dark.

No, then.  A muted frustration washed through him.  He was glad to have seen his friends for even a short while - and logically, he knew that they should never have come in the first place - but it irked him to have his brief window of seeing them wiped out by...by the damn Booklenders.

“Next time,” he whispered, sliding the pad into a particularly-large pocket of his coat.  “Next time, there’ll be longer.”

If Leon, James, and Maya were gone, there was nothing else out here for him.  He pushed their stools back under the bar, turning for the main hall.

With the memory of the fire’s warmth still lingering on his back, he trudged after Olivia and Will.

- Chapter Thirty-Seven -

One more week.

He could do one more week.

“Pass a stack,” Owl said, reaching a hand out.

Olivia leaned closer to the books instead, narrowing her eyes like she could see through the covers into the pages themselves.

He waited, hand outstretched.  Her fingers flew from spine to spine.

“Olivia,” he said more loudly, once it became clear she wasn’t listening.

Another handful of books slipped past her nose.  She took another step farther down.

Owl rolled his eyes, crossing to the cart and taking a stack for himself.  His foot came up, though - and he kicked her in the calf, ever so lightly.

Olivia yelped, jumping.  She spun in the next instant.  “Why would you kick me?”

“Pay attention,” Owl said.  “I know you’re worried about your own research, but-”

“S-Sorry,” Olivia said.  “Sorry.  I’ll- I was just-”

“Breathe,” Owl said, pausing.  The books in his arms left them just starting to ache.  He shifted, fixing a tolerant look on his companion. “You still have time.  But for now-”

“I know.  I’m sorry,” she said, running her hands through her hair.  Her face had gone pale, leaving her looking tight-drawn.  “I still have to uphold our end of the deal.”

The deal with Indira.  Right.  Owl stared at her a moment longer, gauging the heaviness that seemed to burden her every movement, but she grabbed a book and turned away without another word.

He understood.  Oh, he understood.  It was a story he’d seen play out over and over again, through the myriad visitors that visited the Library.  Everyone treated their stay like a fun adventure - right up until it came time to say goodbye.  And the closer they got to the end, the more frantic they’d get.

“It’s not the end, you know,” he said, crossing to a new shelf to slot a book in.  “You only signed up for a three-month stint.  You’ll have to apply again, but-”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll come back,” Olivia said.  A tiny, wry smile lingered on her lips.  “But soon I’ll have to go home.  And even if I get myself another trip, that one will come to an end too.”

“All things end,” Owl said.

He earned himself more of a true smile for his efforts, flashed back over her shoulder as