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

step slow and careful.  If the intruder ran, slipping into the halls of Alexandria, he might never find him again.  Any other day, he’d have charged straight in, confident that the Library would be his steady partner in containing him.

But the man was here, impossibly - and Alexandria had done nothing.  It’d sat there and pretended nothing was wrong, leaving him to tend to the two chemists.  The silence was so wildly out of character for it that now, Owl couldn’t quite shake the ripple of distrust washing through him.

One careful step after another, he crept closer.  The man was young, he realized.  Probably a college student like...well, like his friends.  He couldn’t be much older than Daniel himself, certainly.  And with every step forward, he knew with more surety that this was not someone he’d let through the gate.

His thoughts raced, screaming questions of how and why.  Before they bogged him down, he surged forward, throwing his arm out.

Fabric and flesh pressed back against Owl’s hand as he grabbed the man, turning him around.

The man screamed - just a little one, bitten off and high-pitched but a scream nonetheless.  “C-Christ,” he stammered, trying to shy away.  “Jesus Christ.  Don’t- Please don’t hurt me.  Oh, god.  I was just-”

“Who the hell are you?” Owl snapped, refusing to relinquish his hold on the man’s arm.  “How’d you get in here?”

The man’s face drained of all color, and he tried to pull away again, but an odd curiosity shone in his eyes.  “O-Oh.  Oh.  Oh.  You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

Owl’s fingers dug into his arm.  He glared at the man, letting his eyes sweep from his brassy-gold hair to the bottom of his worn-out jeans.  “One of who?” he snapped.  “Answer my question.  Who are-”

“I-I’m Leon, okay?” the man said, grabbing for his arm.  “Please.  Ow.  Fuck.  Just- Just let me go, would you?  That’s really starting to-”

“Fine,” Owl muttered, letting his hand drop away.  “Answers.  Now.”

There wasn’t too much to worry about, he reasoned.  If this Leon fellow tried to run, well, he was right here.  He could trip him up easily enough, run him down and pin him with magic before he vanished into the bookshelves.

“Ow,” Leon muttered again, rubbing at the skin of his arm.  Bright white spots shone where Owl had gripped him.

“Now.”

“O-Okay,” Leon said, stumbling a step back.  His shoulderblades hit a bookshelf, and he recoiled, flinching.  “Sorry.  I’m- I was just trying to-”  He licked his lips, his chin lifting.  “This place is incredible, isn’t it?”

“Leon,” Owl snapped, putting an edge into his voice.

“Y-Yeah, that’s me,” Leon said, still bone-white but forcing a nervous smile onto his face.  “Guessing you’re Owl?”

Ice coursed through him.  The guy knew his name?  How?  Most of the guests that were allowed entrance were completely dumbfounded.  But if Leon knew of him...something else was going on.

“I am,” Owl said, drawing himself upright.  Leon had a few inches of long, lanky height on him, but the Library was his.  He refused to let anyone cow him in his own damn domain.  “D-Did Indira send you?  She should have told me.”

Only a flicker of unease slipped into his words.  It was all he could think of to ask the man, though.  Only Indira would have the wherewithal or the knowledge to educate a visitor about him.

But if Indira had found a way to send visitors directly into the Library, bypassing the Librarian’s approval...if she’d slipped them into Alexandria without him even knowing...A shiver rolled down his spine.

Things had been amiable enough between him and the Booklenders’ shy guildmaster for a long time.  Years.  It had taken time for him and Indira to build a rapport, but he’d been satisfied that they’d had a professional enough relationship.  The thought of her working behind his back like this turned his stomach.

“I-Indira?” Leon said, though, his face scrunching up in confusion.  “Uh.  I...I’m sorry, I don’t...Look, man, I don’t even know what’s going on.  Could you, uh.  Could you-”

“Don’t lie to me,” Owl said, spitting the words out.  “You know my name.  I’m not an idiot.  What did she tell you to-”

“Your name?” Leon said, his blue eyes widening dramatically.  “O-Oh.  Is that it?  Well, uh, I mean, I’m just guessing, yeah?”

It was Owl’s turn to blink, staring dumbly ahead.  “Guessing?”

Leon raised a hand, scrubbing at his hair.  “Y-Yeah.  The journal mentioned some stuff like that.  Thought it was just the poor bastard’s imagination going wild, but...well, you don’t seem like a Fox, but that- that mask.”  He lifted a hand, gesturing toward the porcelain mask Owl wore.  “Wasn’t exactly a stretch.”  A gleam entered his eyes.  “Was I right?”

“Journal?” Owl said, his head starting to spin ever so faintly.  “Look, forget about my name.  It’s not important.  You mentioned a journal.  What’s all that-”

“I didn’t think it was real, though,” Leon murmured, leaning back against the bookshelf.  His eyes roamed the racks, filling with awe.  “Thought the old kook was just crazy.  I really did.”

“What old kook?”  Even as he said it, though, Owl knew it wasn’t going to work.  Leon didn’t react to him at all, didn’t even seem to have heard him speak.  He sighed, biting at his lip.

“The others aren’t going to believe this,” Leon breathed, and a smile played at the corners of his lips.  “This is awesome.” The man’s eyes snapped back to Owl’s.  “Hey.”

Owl jumped, faltering despite himself.  “W-What?  Would you just-”

“How big is this place?” Leon said.  “Is it true there’s all sorts of lost knowledge here?  How?  And how the hell did I even-”

“I’m asking the questions,” Owl snapped.  “Just answer me, already.  How’d you get here?”

“Oh, I’d like to know that myself,” Leon said, chuckling nervously.  “Uh.  And, uh.  Do you know how I get out?  I...don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t seem to really want me here. And...I don’t want any trouble.”

He didn’t know the way, did he?  Owl scowled, drawing himself up taller and folding his arms across