Chapter Sixteen

Sage

As soon as I step through the door, any amusement I had at the potential of Asher losing his eyebrows disappears immediately.

The Darkness in me stirs in warning, "Do you feel that?"

"What are you feeling, Sage?" Cain asks, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

"The library is panicking," I reply, unsure how the hell I know that, but I do.

Cain frowns slightly, and then I feel his magic grow in the air around us. "I don't feel it but I believe you. We need to proceed with caution if an entity like this is panicked."

"Got it," Levi replies, "everyone stick close together. We'll head toward the artifact area as planned."

Silence falls over us all as we move further into the library. I glance at the desk where the person who normally takes care of the library should be even though it's after hours; the fact that they aren't there is even more concerning considering that they are supposed to live in a small apartment just behind the desk, and if they're not there during the day then it can be explained way pretty quickly but at night when the library is supposed to be shut and they're definitely supposed to be here the fact that she isn't here makes me suspicious. Extremely suspicious, and I make a note to check on when they were seen last.

I think the librarians continued absence and the fact that the object is actually in here is concerning, because I doubt the object was placed here when there was a chance that students or other teachers could witness someone messing with the artefacts, which means that the most logical time for them to do it, would be when the only possible witness would be the librarian and that's it, it's easier to take care of one witness than it is taking care of multiple witnesses. Of course, I'm assuming that the librarian is innocent, and there is a chance that they aren't and either placed the object themselves or allowed the Order in to do it.

Since the Order would then have to get through the library that's known for throwing magic at intruders, then it would actually make more sense if it was the librarian who brought the object in. Either way, whether they are innocent or not we need to check in on them.

My inner ramblings, are pretty inconsequential as I manage to still stay focused on my surroundings to make sure that whatever is making the library uneasy isn't about to jump out at us and cause a problem. Everything seems pretty normal, or at least it does at first, but the closer we get to the vast space where all of the artifacts are kept, a heavy feeling starts to thread through the air, and I have absolutely no doubt that something evil is happening or has happened, there's a leftover dark, sour and almost moldy magical signature that can't be anything but evil.

Fortunately, this time, I'm not the only one who feels it and everyone either calls on their magic, getting it ready for whatever we're about to face or pulls out a weapon.

When we get to the bookshelves that lead to the artifacts, that horrible feeling intensifies, and the Darkness inside my magic stirs, becoming agitated. It"s clear to me that it wants out, it wants to protect, and I have to admit that it is pretty reassuring to know that it wants to protect me, it's also worrying that this dark and unknown magic that's inside me, that's vast in its own right, wants out to protect me, that can't be good.

I can't let it out, I don't know what it is, what it will do, or how to control it, and now is not the time to be experimenting with it.

As soon as we round the corner into the open space where all of the artefacts are kept, the reason for the sour magic becomes apparent, and I have to quickly swallow down the bile rising up my throat as several of the others curse loudly.

Pinned to the wall high above all of the artifacts, with stakes through each eye and a spear through the stomach, is a person. I don't recognise them. Scratched in blood next to the body are the words Kronos won't lose. You're next. They make a shiver go down my spine, and the bile tries to rise in my throat again.

"It's only just happened," Kai says, his voice low, "the blood is still dripping."

"Fuck," Levi replies.

"They're gone," Cain adds, staring at the body in horror and sorrow, "there's no magical trace in here except for us."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"One hundred percent," he replies, "that's the teacher that I was speaking to, the one that was slowly beginning to realise that something more was going on here."

"Oh fuck," Hunter exclaims, and then adds, "I'm really sorry man."

"I didn't know him that well. No one should die like that though. I should have looked for him harder when he went missing; he's never missed a meeting with me," Cain's voice is full of regret, and it"s clearly affecting him more than he thought it would.

"Dude, it's not your fault. You had no way of knowing, and you did look for him. You said that you looked for him in all of the usual places that he'd be." Maverick tries to reassure him.

"Don't forget if the Order did have him; then you had no chance of finding him in time even if we did know that he was missing. They're working with resources and magic that are beyond what we have." Asher points out.

Cain sighs, scrubbing his hand through his hair and suddenly looking a lot older than he did when we first walked in here. "Yeah, you're right." he pulls his shoulders back and changes the subject, "You lot should probably get out of here before I inform the teachers; explaining how I got in here as a teacher is going to be difficult but not impossible, explaining how you all got in here as well will throw up all sorts of red flags and considering that they're looking for any excuse to get you in trouble and your magic stripped, so that you're no longer a threat to them, this is the last place that you need to be."

My eyes widen, "I hadn't even thought about that, but now that it"s been mentioned I feel the urgency to leave, right now."

Cain studies me closely, "Then you need to trust your instincts, Sage, always trust your instincts. You need to get out of here as quickly as possible before you get caught. I have a feeling that I'm not going to need to contact the teachers."

"Got it," Cole states, for all of us.

"Are you going to be okay?" I ask Cain, the worry evident in my tone.

His eyes soften slightly, losing the hard edge, "Yes, I'll be fine. Unfortunately, I have been through much worse in my long life." I open my mouth to question him and point out that even for a supe, he doesn't seem as old as he made out, but he interrupts me and looks at Erin, "Don't do it yet, but be ready throw up a shield as quickly as you possibly can, just like I've had you practicing in our sessions, okay?"

Erin nods, her expression serious, before she smiles confidently, "I've got this, don't worry."

"Good, go."

We don't need to be told again, and we all jog back through the bookshelves and toward the door. As we exit the oppressive space, I instantly feel lighter; I had no idea just how much that sour stain of magic was affecting me. Erin doesn't wait for it to be at the last second as I suddenly feel the familiar feeling of her shield that blocks us from the view of anyone who could see us. We've only gotten a few steps away from the library door when it opens again and Cain steps out.

"It's Cain," Maria says, looking pale but surprisingly handling it better than I thought she might.

I step out from under Erin's shield and I ask, "Is everything okay?"

He smiles, "Yeah, I actually figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to be found with the body, so I'm going to report it even though I'm fairly certain that I'm going to run into someone on the way."

"Fuck yeah, probably not a good idea to be the only one in a room with a recently dead body," I reply.

"Exactly. I'll come and find you tomorrow at some point and let you know what happened. You need to go." He says urgently, and I listen, stepping back under the protection of Erin's shield.

We head in the opposite direction of the way that Cain is going, although I know that Erin's shield is soundproofed as well, no one says anything until we get up onto our private hallway and she drops it.

As soon as she does, Cole says, "I'm going to need therapy, lots of fucking therapy. That was fucked up."

"You're not the only one," Dash agrees, looking pale.

"Do you think Cain is really going to be okay?" Jax asks.

I shrug, "I really have no idea. I think he knew him better than he let on."

"Defnitely, his reaction was emotional too not just shock and horror," Ty says thoughtfully.

"I really wish we didn't have to leave him behind to deal with all of that," Maria says.

"No, that's a lot for anyone to deal with, even more so if you know the person," Dean adds.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not ready to just call it a night," I say, I have a feeling I'm not going to get much sleep anyway. I won't be able to get the image of him out of my head for a while. "Do you guys want to come in and have a hot chocolate? It's not that late anyway."

Unsurprisingly, everyone agrees, and we quickly make our way into our rooms; everyone takes seats apart from Kai, Kyle, Harry, and me who all move into the kitchen to start making the hot chocolates. I'm grateful for their help or it would've taken me a lot longer.

Once we're all sitting, Kyle says, "Do you think that the Order knew that he was starting to break the control and decided to make an example of him?"

We all make sounds of agreement as Erin answers, "Yeah, I think that is exactly what happened. They're probably aware that Cain isn't under the influence of it, and so they started paying more attention to who he was talking to."

"Yeah, that would make sense," Dash agrees.

"Do we know where the librarian is? They haven't been in there once, not even tonight, so they're either in trouble or involved." I say.

"You know what, you're right, I don't remember seeing him recently either, and I've been in the library a lot," Asher agrees with me.

"So, they're a he then?" Levi asks, and Asher nods, "Do you know anything else about him? Do you think he would be likely to work for the Order?"

Asher takes a moment to think as he sips his hot chocolate, "He's quite unassuming, doesn't really say much, and obviously keeps to himself, but he has to have a pretty high power level, or he wouldn't be able to control the library. Having said that, he's always given me a weird vibe. I did think that maybe it was because the library let me do things that it wouldn't let others, even him."

"Wait, the library doesn't like him?" I ask.

Asher shakes his head, "No, well, that's the impression I got anyway, the library messes with him. Hides books, drops them on him, all of that sort of thing."

"Well, I think that's a massive sign that the librarian is up to no good or certainly needs looking into," Jax points out.

"Yeah, I agree. We can go and see if he's in his apartment tomorrow," Cole suggests.

I shake my head, "No we cant, they aren't going to let anyone in the library for a while now that there's been a murder. There's no way that we could sneak in, either. They're going to be watching it like a hawk."

"Shit," Jett says, "you're right, and that also means that we aren't going to be able to get in to find the object either."

"True," Erin replies with a deep frown.

"They obviously know that we know that it's there. Otherwise, they wouldn't have killed the teacher and put him there. They were letting us know that they know, and now that we won't be able to gain access to it, they have the perfect opportunity to move the object, and we will have no idea where it is and have to start from scratch again," Maverick adds, making a very good point although I don't think it"s one that any of us want to hear.

"Maybe not, if they follow protocol then the Enforcers will be brought in to deal with it, and they won't be able to gain access either," Damon says, sounding somewhat hopeful.

"Unless they have a member of the Order in the Enforcers," Ty points out.

"That would be extremely hard for them to do. The Enforcers are trained rigorously and get vetted by the Realm," Dean replies.

"True, but it"s not entirely impossible," Maria adds.

"Also, what are the chances that they're going to follow protocol, the only teacher that isn't under the influence of the Order is Cain," Hunter adds.

"Also true, but I imagine that he'll make sure that the Enforcers are called so even if the Order tries to intervene, hopefully they won"t get very far, and won't be able to remove the object," Levi argues.

"You're all forgetting something important," Asher states, and when we all look at him curiously, he explains, "The Order was already in there. They had time to kill him and stage the body; they've already had the perfect opportunity to move the object that's controlling the teachers."

"Shit," a few of us curse together.

"I can do the location spell again," Maria offers.

I shake my head, "Let's call that the last resort. I feel like now they know that we've been able to find the area once they're going to be watching us extra closely to see how we managed to do it, and you'll be under suspicion because you're with us anyway, I really don't want you to be in any more danger."

"Yeah, I agree," Erin adds, and then looks at me, "Why don't you get Knot or Ghost to watch over them?"

I frown, "I would, but I haven't actually seen them for a while."

"Why do you sound confused?" Levi asks.

"Because it's only just occurred to me that I don't know where they are. Normally, I'm extremely aware of where they are and when they leave to do their familiar stuff, whatever that is," I reply.

"I wouldn't worry too much, like you said, they're probably off doing their familiar stuff, and you've had a hell of a lot on recently, I'm sure that they'll turn up soon," Levi replies reassuringly.

I nod, I'd know if they were in danger, I'm absolutely sure of that, so I just have to trust that there is a good reason why they aren't here now.

"It really means a lot that you would do that for us," Maria says, happiness in her eyes along with surprise.

"Of course, not only is it our fault that you're in danger in the first place, but you're our friends. We never leave friends in danger if we can help it," I reply honestly.

"Although we're always in danger, so really it's a hazard to be friends with us," Erin smirks.

Harry chuckles, "She has a point. I don't think any of us would blame you if you walked out of that door and never spoke to us again."

Dean, Yates and Maria all grin, as Dean says, "We're good, and we aren't nieve, we knew what we were getting into hanging out with you guys."

"I don't know whether to be offended or not," I tease with a smile.

"Definitely don't be offended," Maria replies, "and I won't use the locator spell again unless it's the last resort."

"Good," Levi replies.

We talk for a bit longer, now studiously avoiding the topic of the murder, and then, group by group everyone slowly says goodnight.

"Do you think they'll close the school tomorrow?" Mav asks as he stretches and yawns, showing off a strip of toned abs that have me drooling despite how tired I am.

"We really need to see if Kysen can get us another stone," I mutter out loud.

I am suddenly the sole focus of all of my men and their heated stares, I squirm, "Yeah, that's not helpful guys, quit looking at me like that."

They of course ignore me and start to take a step closer to me, all of them. I know for a fact that if they touched me now I wouldn't stop them and we wouldn't stop and all of our magic could potentially explode most likely this wing of the castle and the Order would then have the perfect excuse to arrest us and strip our magic.

I'm rambling.

However, before they can reach me Knot and Ghost appear in the middle of the room, in an explosion of magic. They instantly rush to me, and start to check me over to make sure I'm not harmed.

"Whoa, what's wrong with them?" Mav asks, as the heat in the room dissipates, thanks to the interrupition which is actually probably a good thing.