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

she said.  The wheels in his head had begun turning, spinning faster and faster as the world started to clear around him.

Olivia, who’d been so attached.  To the Library.  To him.

Will, who always seemed to be somewhere else.  Who always seemed to be conveniently busy with his work when Olivia wanted to drag him away on her adventures.

Alexandria had locked them in. Alexandria was flighty, but not evil. And not stupid.

More than anything, though, it was Olivia herself that emblazoned the truth across his heart.  Something in her voice.  A bit of reservation, a plastic veneer to the words she was even then murmuring into his chest.  And in her eyes.  She’d been afraid, when she saw him.  But was it really fear for him?

And had it really been love in her eyes, back in that sunny courtyard?

Slowly, painfully, he reached up, taking her hand.  For a single, hopeful instant, her fingers tightened about his.

And then he pushed her away, and she stiffened.  Her eyes darkened, falling into shadow.  “Owl?” she said, in that same too-perfect voice.

Not this time.

He stared down at her - at Olivia, the woman he’d come to have more than a little affection for.  Her dark eyes searched his, filled with confusion.

Some part of him cried to stop grabbing at straws, to stop poking holes in the good things he’d found.  It wasn’t too late.  He could pull her back into his arms, and it’d be like nothing had changed.

But it had.  And he couldn’t.  And so his hands stayed about hers, holding her at arm’s length.

“Owl, what’s wrong?” she said, trying to push closer.  When he didn’t release her, she stopped - and there it was again.  That odd, lidded look to her eyes.  He knew that look all too well.

He wore a mask every day, after all.

“Why would Alexandria lock you in?” he said, his voice unreadable.

She stiffened, her eyes going wide. “W-What?”

“It’s a simple question. What have you done, that she didn’t want you to leave while I was away?”

Slowly, Olivia shook her head. “Owl, I-”

He wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t wrong, damn it, however much the truth hurt. And if they’d done anything, either of them, then it’d have to be while he wasn’t looking. While he was occupied.

He could guess when it’d happened, of course.

“How much of it was a lie?” Owl whispered.  “How much of this has been a game to you two?”

Behind her, still framed in the doorway, Will pressed a hand to his face.

“N-No,” Olivia said, shaking her head.  “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Owl, but-”

“Don’t you dare look me in the face and lie to me.”  His words lashed out like a whip-crack.  Olivia went silent.

The pieces were still lining up in his mind - and the more he thought about it, the more he looked at it, the more he knew how true it was.  Her play.  It’d been so abrupt.  Why had he gone along with it?  Why hadn’t he seen her as she was?

Because you were lonely, his thoughts crooned.  You’re just a sad, lonely man, alone in your library, and so when she batted her eyelashes at you, you lay back and-

Owl jerked his head to the side, hissing.  “If you really give even a single shit about me, Olivia, then don’t you dare lie,” he said.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her flinch.  “I...I’m not,” she said, more softly.  “I meant what I said.  I...I do like you.  I do think you’re a good man.  I wasn’t-”

“Was it Indira?”  Olivia jumped again, and her whole expression went...blank.  Empty.  Owl smiled mirthlessly.  “You were willing to go so far for her approval, weren’t you? Sleeping with the Librarian would have been a hell of a trophy to your name. She’d have liked having an in, wouldn’t she?”

“It’s not like that,” Olivia whispered.  “Owl, I swear, I-”  She tugged her arm against his grip, and when he let go, she stepped back.  “I would’ve...I wasn’t lying.”

“But she did, didn’t she,” Owl said, glaring at her.  “She wanted this.”

Olivia opened her mouth, but faltered - and for an instant, her eyes flickered to meet Will’s.  Owl turned with her, his anger reigniting in an instant.  “And you.”

Will stumbled back into his room, clutching at the frame.  “L-Librarian, I’m not- I wouldn’t-”

“You were in on it too, weren’t you?” Owl snapped, pushing Olivia aside as he lurched forward.  “Olivia knew just where you were when the explosions started.  What were you doing?  What did you do, while my back was turned?” Fires still burned across his mind’s eye. “Did you have a hand in- in that?”

“N-No,” Will said, and he started shaking his head furiously.  “That’s not- I didn’t have anything to do with-”

“Owl, no,” Olivia said, hurling herself up alongside him again.  “Will didn’t- We’d never attack the Library.  That wasn’t us.  I swear.”

“But you were so sure.”  Owl shook his head once, decisively.  “You expect me to fall for that?  Again?”

Olivia’s hands grasped at his arm, trying to pull him back.  “Please,” he heard her say, her voice trembling.  “H-He didn’t do anything.  I just-”  Her fingers gripped him more tightly.  “I t-thought...I thought some privacy would be...nice.  That’s all.”

Owl yanked his arm back, pulling free of her arms.  “As if I’d believe a liar,” he hissed.

Olivia shrank back, her eyes tightening.  He could see the hurt glistening within their depths.  He just couldn’t bring himself to care.  She’d used him.  That much had become painfully apparent.  She’d worn him down, worked past his defenses until he let them slide.  And then she’d tried to seal the deal.

They’re probably not lying, the insidious whispers in his mind pointed out.  It was a dreamer.  A magical storm.  A storm that you caused yourself, not them.

A pang of guilt shot through his chest - one he dismissed with a clenched fist.  They’d- They’d distracted him.  They’d come to his Library with their own plots and plans and they’d kept