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

energy that made it tick. And he didn’t love the idea of seeking out a mage to grill them for information.

Owl forced the whispers of worry away, quickening his steps back toward the study. Lenny and Emma were...occupied. He didn’t relish the thought of being called back out to play gopher later in the day, but it was better than having to sit by and listen to them for hours on end. One way or another, he was already up and about.

The two weren’t the only guests the Library had. Ronald was an older man, and quite satisfied to stay buried in his texts - census documents from generations long since gone. That made him instantly Owl’s favorite, naturally. He’d check in on him, make sure everything was still going well.

Resolved, Owl hurried further into the wings. Ron had abandoned the study. In his words, Lenny goes there for books. Knowing Lenny and Lenny’s penchant for overdoing things, Ron’s response had been plenty, and Owl couldn’t quite bring himself to blame the man. He was getting up there in years, but he’d taken to the Library quite quickly - quickly enough to realize that it really didn’t matter which wings he visited, he’d find whatever he needed there, a safe distance from the fray.

It helped that Alexandria seemed to like him, too.

Owl smiled as he turned the corner, finding the older man holed up amidst what looked like a monastic library. Chains linked each book to the shelves by a corner, until the whole room rattled faintly with metal-on-metal. Not quite the atmosphere Owl preferred, but the excitement in Ron’s eyes had been undeniable.

He looked up now at Owl’s approach, the corners of his eyes softening. “Ah! Librarian. Is something wrong?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” Owl said, coming to a stop. “You’ve been quiet all day. Is there-”

A bell rang overhead - not the entryway bells. Those were elegant, each tolling in harmony with the next. These screamed, sounding off a discordant shriek of noise that set his every cell to shivering with the wrongness of it.

Whatever Ron would have said, Owl didn’t hear. He took off, dashing back the way he’d come.

He didn’t have a choice. With every pounding step he took, doors slammed shut on either side of the hall. At each twist and turn, open paths seemed to meld into little more than shadowed stonework.

The Library was herding him, forcing him down a single path. A bead of sweat rolled down his back. It wouldn’t be doing that unless something was really, really wrong - and he’d never heard it cry out like that.

Straining his legs, he bounded just a little faster. With an exhaled breath, he pushed at the space under his heels. The air seethed, bursting beneath each step and sending him careening along faster still.

With the wind rushing through the gaps in his jacket and his legs just starting to protest, he saw it - a single door at the end of the hall, slamming open.

A familiar door. He cursed under his breath, releasing his magic and skidding to a stop.

The lab was in chaos. Shattered glass sprinkled across the countertops, littering the floor with crystalline snowflakes. Smoke filled the air with a hazy murk. A murk that burned at his nostrils, Owl realized.

Lenny was just a shadow within the clouds, batting at a fiercely-glowing spot of light. Owl’s eyes widened. Fire.

Emma hung from his elbow, trying to pull him farther away. Lenny only pushed her back, continuing to smother the fire with what looked like a coat. Both of them were bellowing, screaming words lost amid the chaos of the smoke and bells and steadily crackling flames.

The fire pulsed, seething brighter. Owl’s eyes widened. The colors flared. Emma finally succeeded in dragging Lenny a step back, the man frozen with arms outstretched.

A canister on the counter bulged ominously with a crack that rose over the din.

Owl surged forward, his hand snapping up on instinct more than any proof. His fingers spread wide, tensing to grip an invisible wall.

For a moment, in the crystalline span of that single second, he smiled - and saw flames falling from the ceiling in his mind’s eye, a green-eyed woman stomping into the wings.

Time unfroze with a roar like a train engine bearing down on them. The countertop exploded into reds and oranges bright enough to blind. His guests’ cries turned to screams.

Always remember, he heard Jean whisper in his ear, the words faded from the centuries they crossed. Never allow harm to come to anyone within Alexandria’s walls.

His arms flexed, fingers straining as the force of it pushed against him. His barrier bulged, straining to contain the fires within. Chin lowered to his chest, he stared at the brilliant wall hanging between Lenny and the counter, squeezing harder.

The light shimmered - then moved, coiling in. Flames still churned inside, slamming against the shield like physical blows. His hands burned despite the gloves he wore, searing at the heat wafting off the blaze.

A step forward. His legs shook, his feet on the verge of slipping against the stonework tiles. The shield warped, flexing tighter. Another step. Another.

The tiniest sigh slipped between his lips as the light-wall curled shut around the explosion, hovering in midair like the world’s most extravagant grenade.

A twitch of his finger, and a gap opened in the back. A second explosion rocked the room, fire spraying forth - to harmlessly char the cinderblock wall beyond his guests.

Owl stared at the blackened marks, his hands still outstretched. His heart pounded in his ears, oddly loud in the sudden silence.

Somewhere ahead in the ravaged remnants of the lab, a bit of glass shifted, clinking.

“O-Oh,” he heard Lenny whimper, like the spell had been broken. “Oh. Jesus. I-”

“You two okay?” Owl said, doing his best to keep from spitting the words. He half-turned, unwilling to tear his eyes fully off the lingering sparks and embers.

A little help? Lifting a hand, he dragged his