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

didn’t.  I was just- I didn’t...yeah.”  He hadn’t been expecting Leon, for sure.  And he’d let his friend get the jump on him.  It could have been anyone.  He couldn’t zone out like that, damn it.

Leon’s eyes searched his face for a moment - his mask.  “Hey,” he said again.  “Are you all-”

“Holy shit,” Owl heard someone say behind Leon - a woman.  He stiffened again, his head snapping back around to glare at Leon.

His friend grinned again, just a little sheepish.  “Sorry,” he said.  “Uh.  You remember I asked if my friend could come too?  Well, uh, James and I kind of got a little carried away a few nights ago, and-”

Owl reached up, taking Leon’s elbow gently, and nudged him out of the way.  Leon stumbled once, but dropped to the bench alongside Owl, laughing nervously.

James was trudging up the boardwalk from the garden’s entrance - and alongside him walked a woman, with waves of black hair hanging past her round, tawny face. Upon seeing Owl, he grinned, offering him a nod, but didn’t move from her side.

“Oh,” Owl said.  “I...see.”

“Sorry,” Leon said, leaning forward.  “We just...well...I got a little excited, I guess.”

“And you told her.”

“...Sorry,” Leon mumbled.  “I didn’t tell her much.  I just- I mentioned there was a place that I’d been going that had resources other libraries don’t, a-and, I guess-”

“If Alexandria didn’t want her here, then she wouldn’t have let her in,” Owl said.  He pursed his lips, though, eyeing the woman and her friend.  “So...it’s fine.  I guess.”

“Sorry,” Leon said.

Owl turned, then, starting to smile, and kicked Leon’s foot.  “I told you it’s fine.”

“Yeah.  She’s...she’s nice.  She’s in the biology program.  Ah- Right.”  Leon stood in a rush, gesturing Owl after him.  “C’mon.  I’ll introduce you.”

Owl faltered.  “You don’t really have to-”

“Hey!” Leon said, already skittering down the boardwalk.  “This is that guy I was telling you about.”

It was already too late, then.  Owl groaned, gripping the wood of the bench tightly for a moment.  He’d just wanted to be alone, and then, here he was, surrounded by-

He paused, staring at the edge of the pond.  Is this your doing? he whispered silently.  Did you...are you still trying to get me out of this funk?

Alexandria didn’t even have to reply for him to know he was right.  He made a face.  It didn’t matter if he told her to stop, that he didn’t need new friends.  She’d never listened to him anyway.

He stood instead, turning to where the trio was already facing him, silent.  Leon was grinning, glancing between Owl and the others.  James just looked bored - but every so often, he’d steal a glance at the new woman.  And then he’d smile.  Owl smothered a groan.  Be a little more obvious, would you?

Still, if James had found a...friend, then Owl couldn’t help but be happy for him.  He stepped closer, turning his eyes to the woman.  She was watching him, her eyes round and disbelieving.  “Shit,” he heard her mumble.

“This is Owl,” Leon said.  “He takes care of this place.  The Library.  Alexandria.”

Owl lifted a hand in a half-wave.  “Hi.  What he said.”  Well, if Leon was going to keep coming back to the Library, at least having him around to handle the explaining was convenient.

Leon twisted back toward his friend.  “And, Owl, this is Maya.  Our friend.  I promise we haven’t spilled too much of the beans.”

She thrust her hand out.  “Why’s your name Owl?” she blurted out at the same time, then cringed back.  Her cheeks darkened.

“Maya...” James said, wincing.  “He’s...it’s just what he-”

“It’s fine,” Owl said.  James was always...different.  He didn’t come by every time, and he wasn’t the chattiest of people, but he did keep coming back.  If he didn’t want to be here, then Owl could only assume Alexandria wouldn’t keep summoning him.  But no matter if he was coming by choice or by Library-forced visits, he’d always been content to let Leon do the talking.

For him to open his mouth and speak up was notable in and of itself.  For him to speak up on Owl’s behalf...Owl smiled out at James from behind his porcelain facade, a bit of the anxious tension in his chest loosening.

“Alexandria is a special place,” he said simply, clasping his hands before him.  “That means I have to be careful of people who might want to hurt me to get at it.”

“Oh,” Maya said, her flush leaving just as quickly as it’d appeared.  “Crap.  Okay, then, I guess that makes sense.”

“Don’t just blurt things out next time, idiot,” James said, nudging her with his elbow.

“Shut up,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes - and then looked back to Owl.  “This place is crazy.  Seriously insane.”

“You haven’t seen the half of it,” Leon said.  “Some of the stuff in here is straight-up unbelievable.”  His eyes lit up.  “Hey.  Owl.  Do you think you could show her around?  Y’know, like you showed us?”

“W-What?” Owl said, glancing back to Maya.  “Is that really...I mean, it’s okay, but-”

“He’s busy, Leon,” James said.  “Let him work.  We take enough of his time as is.”

“It’s- It’s not that,” Owl said.  His eyes flicked up to hold Maya’s.  She still looked nigh-terrified, but curiosity was starting to win out over her fear.  Heaven save me from scholars and their insatiable questions.  “It’s just that-”

His throat closed, latching tight about the words until the sentence ended in a gurgle.  Adrenaline surged back into his system as he stared into Maya’s warm brown eyes.

Leon and James had said they’d bring a friend into the Library.  A female friend.

A female friend he’d thought he’d chased around Alexandria, just a few stays before.  He’d told himself that was her.  He’d told himself that it hadn’t been anything to worry about, since she was here with Leon and James.

Now, staring into the face of their actual friend, a woman who was very much not her, he realized he had no idea what was going on.

They were still staring at him.  James was