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

The reason all of the books contained in that hidden library’s main room were so short was because none of these mages seemed to live very long.

With every page he turned, the reality of his situation started to sink in a little more.  Alexandria was magical.  The world was full of people who might well seek to kill him at the drop of a hat.  Indira wanted to ‘help’ him - but in doing so, wanted to put her own people closer to the librarian than ever.  Everywhere he turned, it felt like there was another leering face, ready to use him and the Library for their own ends.

The fact one of those faces belonged to Jean made it hurt all the more.

An archway slipped past, then another.  Owl only looked up when the hollow, cozy deadness of the Library gave way to airy silence punctuated only by a gentle tinkling.

The books were gone.  The aisles were gone.  He stood in the entryway to some sort of massive water garden, the stone floors giving way to wooden paths that circled the edges of ponds.  Shapes glimmered within the waters - shapes he could see mirrored on pads of paper left strew on tables and benches.

“You’re really stretching to pass this as educational, aren’t you, Alex?” Owl whispered, chuckling under his breath.  His feet carried him forward, though, deeper into the gardens.

And, he had to admit, it wasn’t bad.  There was a ceiling overhead, but vaulted high enough the room seemed endless, and dotted with skylights that filled the space with a healthy glow.  Tall grasses and cattails grew from planters nestled in alongside the path, until he might as well have been walking through a real-world botanical garden.  At the very edge of his vision, he could see a set of chairs arranged around what looked suspiciously like a bar.

His wry amusement grew.  “Is this your idea of a vacation?”

With the steady trickle of water over a fountain as his only reply, Owl groaned, allowing himself to finally fall onto a wooden bench.  His toes came nearly to the edge of the water, resting against a line of smooth-worn stones.  He stared down into the depths, watching as misty, half-formed shapes darted this way and that.  Were they real, or were they just representations of humans’ perceptions of these fish.

He didn’t know.  And, if he was being honest, he didn’t really care.

His eyelids hung heavy, but he couldn’t sleep.  What was he supposed to do?  Where was he supposed to go from here?

Jean had lied to him.  Or...even if she hadn’t told a falsehood, she’d spent every day he was there betraying him.  She’d been by his side, winning him over.  Acting like she was a friend, a mentor.  A...

He shook his head, letting it droop forward.  He hadn’t found a falsehood in her words yet.  But she’d shaped him into an image of her own choosing.  She’d trapped him here.  Somewhere he never should have been.

And now, he didn’t know the way out.  He didn’t even know if the way out existed.

The rivers around him burbled more brightly.  Owl smiled under his mask, the expression tight-drawn.  “I know,” he whispered, clenching his gloved hands into fists.  She was trying to cheer him up.  Sweet, but...  “It’s not...It’s not your fault.  You didn’t ask for it.  You didn’t...”

If he strained his mind, with the sunlight beating down on his overcoat and the smell of plants around him, he could almost remember...something.  The feeling of stone and concrete under his feet.  The wind in his hair as he ran.  Someone behind him, screaming for him to stop, to wait.

Somehow, he knew that Alexandria hadn’t wanted him to be trapped like this.

He just wasn’t sure that made him feel any better.

With a final groan, he dropped his head into his hands, massaging at his scalp through the leather hood.  He’d figure it out.  He always had - and nothing had changed, when it got right down to it.  He was the Librarian, like it or not.  Jean wasn’t around for him to get satisfaction from.  She was gone, and he was here.  He didn’t have time to sit here overwhelmed by doubt.  He had work to do.

But he couldn’t quite bring himself to move, either.  He just sat, counting off the seconds as his mind screamed and struggled to sort through the mess he was in.

A gust of wind rustled through the garden, like Alexandria sighing.  Owl just kicked at the stones, watching specks of dirt and dust drop into the pond.  A ghostly fish darted past, sniffing at the granules, then vanished into the reeds.

Out of anyone on the face of the planet, he was supposed to know things.  He was the Librarian.  Things were supposed to make sense.

They didn’t - and he couldn’t quite keep that from getting under his skin.

With his eyes on the ripples and the sound of cascading water in his ears, he didn’t notice much of anything.  He certainly didn’t hear the muffled, muted footsteps against the wooden boardwalk, or the low, indrawn gasp that drifted across the water garden.

Owl stiffened as a hand dropped to his shoulder, eyes going wide.  He twisted, ice shooting through his veins.

Leon grinned down at him, his eyes narrowed and altogether too smug.  “Got you.  I fucking got you.”

“L-Leon,” Owl stammered, staring up at his friend.  His heart thrummed like a hummingbird’s, no matter how he tried to settle it.  “I...you.  You showed up.  Uh-”

“I did,” Leon said, his expression turning even more satisfied.  “I told you I’d catch you off guard one of these days.”

“Y-Yeah,” Owl said.  He tried to force a smile onto his face, tried to make his words a little less leaden.  “Good job.  You...You got me.”

Something in Leon’s grin faded, at that.  A bit of the thrill left his eyes - and his brow furrowed.  “Hey,” he said.  “Sorry.  Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Owl shook his head.  “No...No, you