Chapter 9

Nine

Lambert

“ A re you ready?” North asks, for the hundredth time.

Has anyone told him black is really his colour? Slimming—not that he needs it—and refined. His outfit might just be a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved top, but it matches the dark locks of his hair and brings out the bright amber streaks in his eyes. I’m not into men, but I can’t help but think if he just asked Kyrith nicely while wearing this outfit, he might get further than he will with this dumb plan.

Yeah, somewhere in the last three weeks, I’ve started to think of the plan as stupid. And no, it’s not just because Kyrith has amazing tits.

I look up from the table and pin him with a look. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

He runs a hand through his hair and glares at me from where he’s been pacing across the back wall of the living room in the house Josef’s given him. “You’re getting cold feet? Now?”

Galileo is in the corner, watching both of us with the poise of a great owl from the depths of a wingback armchair, but he says nothing.

Leaving me to be the bad guy.

“I’m just saying, if you get caught…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to grass on you?—”

“You won’t have to. She’s not stupid.” Kyrith’s intelligence is a piercing, terrifying thing, and it’s also sexy as fuck. “We’ll all be kicked out.”

While she might keep revoking my strikes every morning, she’s never actually banished me before.

“I actually passed my Alchemy test this week,” I continue, puffing up with pride. It’s the highest grade I’ve ever gotten in something that isn’t in transmutation. “I don’t want to give that up.”

Plus, spending that time with the boss lady has kinda made me sweet on her. I mean, she’s tough, yes. But underneath that, she’s fragile. I don’t want to do anything that might hurt her.

“Relax.” North shoves a copy of the ancient blueprint of the Arcanaeum into his pocket. “I’ll be in and out before she even notices. Besides, books go missing from libraries all the time.”

“Not the Arcanaeum.” Galileo finally sees fit to interrupt, his arched brows creasing in concern.

There’s a heavy pause where both of us try to figure out how much to tell him. North’s lost when it comes to the basic things about our society. The dude’s a liminal, after all. He didn’t even know any of this existed until Josef turned up in his life and demanded his cooperation half a year ago. Part of the reason Leo and I decided to take pity on his ass was because he literally knows less than nothing.

Most of the time, he’ll let us explain, but sometimes reminding him of how out of his depth he is just makes him clam up. It’s better to just let him ask the question instead of assuming he wants to be told.

“What makes it so special? It’s just a library.” He’s fumbling the straps of the grimoire holster around his waist, and my fingers itch to help.

Unfortunately, bro code states I must allow him to suffer in silence and not offer help unless he asks for it, and even then, I’ve got to make a dick joke to disperse the tension.

“It’s more than that. Its name literally translates from Latin as ‘place of secrets.’” Galileo snaps his book shut and brushes his thick curls back out of his face in exasperation before waving at me to continue.

Like I have a better chance at explaining than he does? “No one knows how this shit works, but the books are all summoned back as soon as they’re taken out, and it’s an automatic ban for the person removing them.”

It’s part of the reason why I don’t believe this plan is even going to work.

“Whatever. It’s one book. Besides, Josef is pushing.” North finally manages to get the straps arranged so he can fit the slim blue book into the holster.

Does he actually have any runeforms in there? I doubt it. At least he’s actually carrying it around now. For the first few months, he wouldn’t even touch the thing.

Out of the three of us, he would probably benefit the most from Kyrith’s tutoring. Hell, she may seem to dislike him, but Galileo’s trick with the book definitely worked. A few tomes from the Ackland collection and she’d be eating out of his hand.

I flip my fingers through the page of my latest gift with a grin. Of course, she probably likes my books better than the ancient shit Leo gives her. If this isn’t enough to distract her, I’ve got both my arms on display. Girls love my arms.

Briefly, I wince, imagining the Librarian turning an icy, unimpressed stare at them, then shrug it off. She hasn’t asked me to stop staring at her beautiful tits—and I would if she complained—so there’s got to be some interest there, right?

“Hey, are you even listening to me?” North demands.

“Nope,” I admit with a carefree shrug. “Too busy daydreaming about the glorious set of tits I’ll never see again when this all goes to hell.”

Leo and North both look at me like I’ve gone insane.

“Lambert,” Leo begins, voice tinged with exasperation. “You realise…she’s a ghost. Right?”

So what? I let the question show in my face. “She’s cute.”

I never knew I had a thing for historical babes. Kyrith is broadening my horizons, and isn’t that what everyone is always on my case about?

North prowls towards the door, anger written in the way he rolls his shoulders. “Let’s get this over with. The sooner we get that fucking book, the better.”

Galileo shoves past him, taking a deep breath. “We have to go first, remember? Give us fifteen minutes to distract her before you enter, then cast every spell against detection you have and try not to get caught.”

Erm… I’m not sure North’s grimoire contains any spells like that, but before I can figure out how to broach the subject without triggering one of his classic North shut-downs, Leo is rapping his bone-white knuckles on the door.

“ Ad Arcanaeum .”

Ah, well, I’m sure North’s got this.

The door bursts open, filling the over-pompous living room with the scents of ink, old parchment, and fresh late-autumn rain.

Ah, she’s opened the Botany Hall windows.

I step forward, slapping North on the shoulder. “If we survive this…” and I’m not convinced we will.

“I’ll owe you.” He grunts, like it’s obvious.

I frown at him. “I was gonna say, I hope you’ll let me meet Eddy.”

I want to do something nice for the girl. If she’s had to put up with North’s grumpy ass for this long, she deserves a cake. A chocolate one with thick, sickly sweet frosting and maybe some sprinkles to counteract his bitterness.

All thoughts of baking flee my mind as I step through the doorway into the Arcanaeum. Because there are orange and black streamers everywhere, paper chains strung in cheerful garlands between the shelves, and pumpkins decorating the desk.

We’ve entered into the Rotunda—that vast, circular hall where the Librarian’s desk is located—and directly opposite me, hung by shackles from the end of a bookshelf—is a skeleton that might actually be real.

My chest does a happy little flip. I’d only casually mentioned that it would be cool if she decorated the place for the holidays yesterday, but now…

“No. No, no, no.” Kyrith is lecturing someone, her back to us as she waves a hand at an enormous pumpkin beside the desk. “This is ridiculous. This is a hall of learning, not some tacky establishment taking advantage of an over-commercialised pagan festival.”

Her hand shoots out, and the pumpkin disappears.

Wait, my brow furrows. She didn’t decorate? Then who did? She’s arguing with them with a kind of easy familiarity that makes a swirling bolt of…jealousy stir in my gut.

Normally she saves her boss lady voice for me, but she used it on Goodberry, too. My stomach sinks. I thought it was our thing .

I edge around the room, searching for the other person who has the right to be here after hours, Galileo by my side. She’s arguing with…nothing.

There’s no one there.

Is this a ghost thing?

“Hey, boss lady?” I inject careful cheer into my voice. “You okay?”

Kyrith whirls, those beautiful sad doe eyes fixing on me in shock. “Mr Winthrop.”

I wince internally as she uses my family name again and raise a brow. Hell, I’d take ‘Bertie’ over ‘Mr Winthrop.’ That discomfort is quickly banished, however, when those same eyes trace the lines of my arms. I flex a little and am rewarded when her gaze darkens. Even for a ghost, she’s really pretty. Like a medieval pin-up girl made… Well, not flesh, but you get the idea.

“Erm, we have tutoring?” I lift the book in offering. “I got sixty-three percent on the last paper, so I brought you a thank you present!”

Kyrith’s mouth drops open as she dumbly accepts the book. “Sixty-three?”

The pages rustle, the glossy front restored effortlessly without her even whispering a word, then it disappears entirely. Then her eyes stray to my biceps, and I grin as her lips part slightly.

“It’s his best grade yet,” Leo says, interrupting smoothly. “I brought the paper so you can look over it and decide where to focus next.”

She’s already tugging at her sleeve, and I eye the crack in her ghostly blue form, wondering if it hurts her.

Her expression breaks, going from concern to a soft, genuine smile. “I’m glad. We can aim a little higher, though, surely? You’re better than sixty-three.”

I shrug, because it still feels like a win. A step on the right track. “Come on. Did you decorate our study nook, too? It looks great.”

The building does one of those strange tiny rustles, the ones you get used to after a few hours of being here, and Kyrith’s frown returns.

“Let’s go.”

Her lack of answer confirms it. She didn’t do this, and she has no idea what awaits us.

As it turns out, it’s awesome. The colour of the stuffed leather chairs has turned a black and orange checked velvet unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and the table has a spiderweb design burned into the surface. There are even tiny bats hanging on strings from the ceiling above.

“This is epic!” I trace the lines as I drop my grimoire down. “Hey, are you going to do Christmas next? I love Christmas!”

I’ll have to get her a huge present for all her help, and to make up for… well… this .

Swallowing the thick lump of guilt in my throat, I remind myself that she has thousands of books here. The one Josef wants can’t be that important, right?

Kyrith holds her hand out for the paper Leo is still holding, and he passes it to her.

She doesn’t grab it, not really. Things tend to just hover above her palms.

“Wait.” My jaw drops. “You’re using manipulation magic to hold stuff.”

Those pretty eyes narrow. “Obviously.”

Leo gives me an exasperated stare, like I’m dumb for not figuring it out earlier.

“That’s so cool.” And impressive. Telekinesis is difficult as all hell. I tried it once, hoping to impress a girl, but gave up after the first few days. “I bet you have awesome runeforms for transmutation, too. Care to share?”

Kyrith sighs, exasperated in a way that looks good on her. “We’re here to focus on your Alchemy. Now?—”

Her voice cuts off. The temperature of the library dropping sharply. Those wide eyes—clear and colourless—go unfocused for a second before snapping back. Confusion darkens that tiny line between her brows, then it’s replaced by heartbreaking betrayal.

“Kyrith?” I ask, my heart missing a beat as I take in the rigid lines of her body. “Is everything…”

“Scaesh ,” she hisses.

A force, like a fucking hammer blow, sends me buckling onto my knees as our girl’s hair whips around her in some invisible breeze. Her eyes narrow, and the pressure doubles, forcing my back to bend until my cheek is pressed against the cold wooden floor.

She’s never sounded more inhuman than she does now. “You. Dare.”

Then, as suddenly as the chill invaded, it’s gone. The ambient temperature returns, and when I manage to crane my neck to look at where she was, she’s disappeared. The papers she was holding flutter slowly through the space, landing on the floor in front of me with accusatory softness.

Shit. She figured it out. I search for Leo, finding him stuck in the same position I’m in. My heart pounds with worry for North. Shit, what will she do to him? He’s not a bad guy, for all my complaining. He deserves a chance to explain himself. Somehow, I don’t think Kyrith is in a listening mood.

She wouldn’t hurt him, right?

I strain, forcing every single muscle to tense in an effort to break the noose hold of the gravity spell. It’s useless. I’m powerful, but she’s off the charts.

Will there even be anything left of North to rescue?