The Librarian: A Remnants of Magic Novel (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 2) by Casey White (reading list txt) 📗

Daniel stopped, still clutching the door. “Really?” he said. His voice was hoarse, tired. “Stairs? That’s your game?”

Behind him, he heard the doors he’d so-recently come through creak shut.

Something rumbled. He spun, in time to see a bookshelf sliding back behind its fellows, revealing a doorway behind—right alongside the base of the stairs.

“What the…” he mumbled, taking a step forward until he could peer through the newly-opened arch.

The familiar door of the sitting room lay within, a few dozen steps down the passage.

Daniel shook his head, his expression hardening. “Alex. No. I’m not going back, okay? I’m not just going to run back with my tail between my legs and apologize.”

Even if his chest ached. Even if the sight of Leon staring at him, eyes dark, still burned behind his eyelids.

He tore his eyes off the doorway, turning back to the stairs, and gritted his teeth. “I- I have my reasons. It’s-”

Lifting his leg to brace it off the first step sent daggers of fire straight up into his side. “It’s for his own good,” he groaned, holding fast to the handrail. “Y-You know that. Don’t be like this.”

The chandeliers overhead swayed, creaking madly. The candles flickered, casting shadows up and down the walls.

Daniel thumped the wall alongside him with his fist, scowling up at her. “Stop that.”

Higher and higher he went. He set his jaw, still frowning, and just kept his gaze fixed on the next set of stairs. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the top of the stairs, drooping as he clambered onto the landing.

For a long while, he stood there, panting. His mask hung from his belt, bouncing with every shift and heave. He rubbed his foot against the wooden floor, making an irritated noise. “L-Look. I know you’re upset, but-”

Wood scraped against wood. Daniel glanced over.

The stairs waited behind him—and alongside them, a slide hooked into the landing, dropping from sight. It had lights on it, blinking merrily at him.

“Would you be mature about this?” he snapped, wiping a hand across his sweat-soaked brow. “I said I’m not going back. If you feel so strongly about it, just lock me in, why don’t you?”

He hurled himself away from the slide, stalking over to the second staircase.

The first flight of stairs had been hell. The second was worse. By the time he stumbled over the crest of the stairs, his undershirt was soaked through—but ahead lay a plain, ordinary doorway. Daniel grinned at it, stumbling in its direction. “Finally,” he mumbled.

He grabbed the handle. The door rattled, but refused to open.

“Really?” he snapped. Why had he given her the idea? “Did you really just-”

With another good yank , the door snapped open. He stumbled back, clinging to it for support. “Damn it, Alex.”

She rattled her window shutters at him. He scowled right back, striding through the door, and-

And yelped, tumbling down, as the floor fell away.

The ramp waiting on the other side wasn’t tall, exactly. It was just tall enough to knock him from his feet, sweeping him to the ground. He hit the ground ass-first, sliding a few feet to the ramp’s bottom.

“Why?” he cried, his eyes watering. “Alex! What the hell are you doing?”

The books shook, rattling together on their shelves. The wind howled.

“I’m doing my best,” Daniel snapped. “I can’t magic myself out of this. Are you expecting me to drag Leon into it, now, too? Damn it, Alex, I tried for you. But hasn’t he dealt with this enough? Haven’t all of them?”

He hauled himself upright, not bothering to brush himself off. “If you’ve got an easy fix to this mess, help me out. You’re a library, aren’t you? Tell me how.”

A book tumbled from a shelf farther down the narrow, darkened passage. He stalked toward it, stooping to yank it from the ground.

“Self Defense For Dummies: How Not To Get Kidnapped,” he read out loud, his scowl deepening with every word. “Fucking great. That’s so helpful.”

Spinning on his heel, he hurled the book back toward the door he’d come through. It landed with a satisfying thwack.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Daniel cried, striding onward as best as he could. “I’m sorry I fucked up. I’m sorry that I’m a shitty Librarian. Guess you should’ve kidnapped someone else.”

The wind faltered. For the first time since he’d stalked away from Leon, the hallways fell quiet.

This wasn’t a mature way to handle the situation. He knew that. He was well aware. He was old enough to manage this better, both physically and mentally. He just...didn’t care.

When he rounded the next corner, ducking under one of the tunnel’s rafters that seemed to be getting lower and lower, yet another doorway sat at the end. This one was lined with fragments of stained glass, edged in silver.

“Let me guess,” Daniel said with a groan. He shuffled toward it all the while, gritting his teeth against the pain. There was nowhere else for him to go, really. “Another staircase? Maybe a ladder? I’ve never tried rock climbing in here, we could give that a go. What’s it going to be?”

He put his shoulder into the door, pushing hard even as he turned the handle, and shoved it open.

It wasn’t another staircase, or a ladder, or an impromptu climbing wall. It was just...a room, with sweeping windows on two sides and a fireplace ahead. A couch sat in the center of the room, long and painfully soft-looking.

Daniel stared at it, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Okay,” he mumbled at last, trudging toward it. “Okay, Alex.”

His leg cried in relief as he dropped onto the couch. He worked the buttons down the front of his coat loose, raking a hand through his damp hair. He wasn’t comfortable. Not by half. But it was better.

“I know you’re upset,” he said, once he’d wrestled his emotions into check. The flames danced before him, wrapping him in the blanket of their warmth, and he sagged lower. “I know getting captured fucks everything up. All