by Lola StVil
More questions. Why would we destroy the books? What sort of a monster destroys books?
I don’t have time to ponder on it as Regal pushes the door open. He steps inside, and I follow along with everyone else. Kane slips his hand into mine as we enter. I turn to him and smile. He smiles back, and it looks more like his usual smile.
He’s been quiet since we left his place, and I think whatever he wanted to tell me is still playing on his mind. I hate that I can’t make the time to hear him out, but it won’t change anything between us. Whatever he’s done, I can deal with it. I think deep down he knows it, but he’s so used to being abandoned and written off as the bad guy, it’s hard for him to just accept that as the truth.
I push my thoughts about Kane to one side, determined to concentrate on the task at hand. I look around as we step into the shack. My jaw drops open as I take in the sight before me. Perry wasn’t kidding when he said the place is well hidden. It might look like a tiny little shack from the outside, but inside, it’s enormous.
Shelves of books line every available wall and stand in rows along the aisles, stretching out further than my eye can see. There are books of every size and color, and the place has that dusty smell that only really old books can produce. I think I have died and gone to heaven.
Regal begins to walk, leading us between the shelves.
“We need the records room,” he says. “The stuff here is just your run-of-the-mill books: spells, creatures, potions, legends, history, that kind of thing. The good stuff is kept locked away.”
If this isn’t the good stuff, I can’t wait to see that.
We walk, and suddenly, I feel something pulling at my hair. I reach up and feel around my head. A book flutters around me, grabbing at my hair with its pages. I bat at it, trying to get it away from me. I feel a completely unjustified sense of panic. It’s only a book, yet I feel a lurking danger all around me.
“Stop,” Regal shouts. “You’re going to damage the book.”
“Screw the book. It’s going to damage me,” I shout.
“No, it isn’t,” Regal insists. “It’s a book on panic-inducing spells. It’s harmless. Unless you panic.”
I force myself to calm down, bringing my hands back down to my sides and reminding myself a book can’t hurt me. As soon as I’m calm, the book slams shut and floats back to its place on the shelves.
“What the…?” I start.
I shake my head, unable to finish.
“Let’s just say some of the books here are pretty special,” Regal says. “But nothing here can hurt you. At least not in this section. It’s all just trickery to see if you’re worthy of entering the records room.”
“I almost destroyed it,” I say quietly to myself.
Regal shrugs. “But you didn’t. I should have explained more. I always forget how little you know about the Shadow world and the dangers that lurk here,” Regal says.
I don’t know why, but I feel like that was somehow a dig at me. I decide I’m being paranoid and I shrug.
“Let’s find what we came for and get out of here,” I say, and we all begin walking through the shelves again.
We wander deeper into the maze of shelves, and I’m more desperate than ever to find the symbol because I have to wonder how we’ll ever find our way back out of here any other way.
We pass books that breathe plumes of fire at us, books that squirt water at us, and even one that explodes in a burst of flower petals as we pass. I can’t hold in my delighted squeal when that happens, and the team laughs at me. I don’t care. I’m loving it here.
I scan the spines as I walk, and I see books on vampires, werewolves, and trolls. I see books on healing and books on black magic. Anything you want to learn about, I think you would find it here. It’s the Shadow world’s answer to Google in one hugely dangerous yet magical place.
We come to the end of a shelving unit, and I can see a desk in front of us. Before we can reach it, the lights in the library flicker and an army of demons springs to life in front of us.
I feel Kane tense beside me, and he steps in front of me, ready for a battle. Regal spins around.
“Remember, none of it is real. Those demons are a projection from a book on the history of the demon world. That’s all. They can’t hurt us,” he says.
“But how do we get past them? I’m assuming the desk is our goal?” I say.
The demons bray angrily, their faces masks of evil. Sparks of electricity and something even more dangerous fills the air around them.
“Like this,” Regal says.
He turns and walks up to the demons. They all fix their gazes on him, snapping their teeth at him and hissing, but they make no move to fire on him.
“Regal, stop,” Saudia shouts, stepping forward, ready to blast into the demons.
Regal ignores her and calmly walks between two of the demons. He turns back to us.
“Just stay calm and walk through them. Once we pass, they’ll return to their pages. Don’t let them smell your fear, and don’t let them suspect you’re about to attack.”
He aims his last words at Saudia, who drops her hands, looking ashamed. I shrug and step forward. Kane is instantly by my side. I can feel my heart hammering as I step up to the demons, resisting the urge to fire into them. It feels like I’m walking into certain death, but I’ve just watched Regal walk through them easily.
I still breathe a sigh of relief when I get through them unharmed. True to Regal’s words, once we’re all through, the demons disappear. It’s not instant. They turn into a whirl of pixelated color and get sucked up into a huge book. The History of Demons is printed on its spine in black lettering.
It seems Regal really does know this place.
We step up to the desk and Regal smiles at the young woman sitting here.
“Hey, Sophie,” Regal says. “We’re here to see Farro. Any chance you can grab him?”
Sophie looks around her to make sure she isn’t overheard, even though we appear to be the only people in the library.
“You didn’t hear? Farro was replaced. I’m not one to gossip, but the word in my coven is that it wasn’t exactly a mutual decision. Apparently, Farro was running himself a nifty little sideline: charging Shadows exorbitant fees to get bumped up the waiting lists,” she whispers.
“That sounds like Farro,” Regal comments. “So, who is the head librarian now?”
“Oh, you know I can’t tell you that,” Sophie says. “But she’s out back. I can ask if she’ll see you if you want me to.”
Regal glances at me and I nod my head. I don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into, but we’ve come this far, and I’m not turning back now.
“Thanks, Sophie, you’re a gem,” Regal says.
“Do you think you could stop flirting for five minutes and pay attention?” Langston snaps to Regal.
“Flirting? Sophie is like six hundred years old. She’s one of the most powerful witches to walk the Shadow land. It pays to keep her sweet. That’s all,” Regal says.
“Perry. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon. In fact, I was hopeful I’d never have to see you again. What do you want?” a voice demands from behind us.
It’s a voice I recognize, and I know who I will see before I even turn around.
The Valkyrie who hates us is the new head librarian. Perfect.
Perry turns to face her.
“Hello, Carla.”
“We are so screwed,” Perry leans in and whispers.
He turns to Carla and gives her a beaming smile.
“Carla, great to see you again. How are you?” he asks in a sweet voice laced with charm.
Carla raises one eyebrow in amusement.
“You think your charm will work on me a second time?” she says coolly.
Perry shrugs.
“I cheated on you. You strung me up on a ceiling and humiliated me. I’d say that makes us even,” he replies.
“Not even close,” Carla replies.
&
nbsp; “Dammit, Perry, why do you have to be such an ass?” Regal snaps. “Surely it’s not that hard to be with one girl at a time.”
Perry snorts and spins to face Regal.
“Really? You of all people are the one judging me? Need I remind you that you cheated on Quinn? And you’re still trying to persuade Atlas to kiss you again even though she’s with Kane?” Perry snaps.
I feel Kane tense beside me, but he makes no move to interrupt. Regal blushes and looks down at his feet.
“Yeah, we’ve established I’m a shitty boyfriend, and my actions caused Quinn to go postal. But it was one kiss. You dated Carla and lord knows who else for months,” he says.
Perry turns back to Carla.
“It really wasn’t that many,” he assures her.
“Yes, so you said in the bar. See, I thought it was only my best friend and me, but you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? Four-timing me I think it was, right?”
“Yes, that’s all,” Perry says.
“Because that’s not enough?” Carla snaps.
Perry shrugs.
“I was young and stupid,” he says.
I turn to Carla.
“I think what Perry means is younger and stupider. But this isn’t about Perry. It’s about something bigger than that. We need to get into Vulture Valley. And if we don’t, then the world as we know it will end. Surely you don’t want that?” I say.
“Not really. But I don’t want to help Perry either. And even if I did want to, you heard what will happen to me. I’d be exiled from Valhalla,” she says.
I step closer to her and lower my voice even though there’s no one around.
“Well, no one would have to know you helped us,” I say.
She considers my words.
“Yeah, okay. But it would still mean helping Perry. And that’s not on my priority list right now. Maybe try again in, oh I don’t know, fifty or sixty years?” Carla replies.
“Perry, you are such a dick,” Saudia snaps. “You know what I think? I think you should become celibate until you learn how to treat women.”
“Really?” Perry says. “Because everyone else is so damn perfect?”
“Well, I’m far from perfect, and even I have more sense than to date not only multiple women at one time, but multiple women who know each other. That’s fucked up,” Kane puts in. “It’s a shame the world will end because your libido is bigger than your brain.”
“Well, that doesn’t take much, does it?” Langston adds.
Perry walks towards Carla and takes her by the elbow. She allows him to lead her away from us. I’m not sure why, because we can all still hear every word.
“Carla, listen. The team is right. I’m a jerk. But please, don’t punish them and all of humankind because of me. For what it’s worth, I am sorry. And I think you’re a great person who deserves so much better,” Perry tells her.
He sounds sincere, and I see some of the icy coldness Carla has shown him start to melt.
“The truth is, I should have seen back then that you deserved better, and I’m sorry I didn’t see it until now,” he says. “Carla, please, I’m begging you. Help us.”
Carla smiles gently at him, and I begin to think she’s coming around.
“I don’t know. It’s a lot to ask,” she says.
“I know. And I’m not asking you to forgive me. I understand why you can’t do that. I’m just asking you to help us with this one thing. And then you can go back to hating me,” Perry says.
“No,” Carla replies.
“No?” Perry repeats.
Carla shakes her head. “No. Because if I do that, it’s like saying what you did was okay. And it wasn’t.”
She smiles wickedly at him, and I realize she had no intention of agreeing to help him. She just wanted him to beg for a bit. I’m ready to tell the team we’ll find another way when Langston steps forward.
“Look, Carla, I get it. Perry is like a child. He’s silly, irresponsible, and can get on your last nerve from as far away as Jupiter,” Langston says.
“How is that helping?” Perry says. “Words hurt, you know.”
Langston ignores him and keeps talking to Carla.
“But I bet you one thing. I bet the whole time you two were dating, you never frowned. I bet you never had so much as a sad thought in your head when you were with him.”
I see the ghost of a smile play over Carla’s face, and I know she’s thinking about Langston’s words and seeing the truth in them. I decide to hold off on demanding we leave and see how this plays out.
“That’s because he made you laugh all the time. It was impossible to be sad when he was around. Because he always knows the right thing to say to make everything seem better. Even on your worst day, you know there’ll be some sort of light, and that it will come from Perry. I know what he did to you was bad, and I get why you might want to string him up by his balls. But for all of that, he’s just stupid, not a bad person. You know that,” Langston says.
“I did always feel happier around him. Lighter somehow, like my problems didn’t matter as much,” Carla muses.
Langston nods encouragingly.
“That’s the effect he has on people. So, what I’m asking is this—for all the times Perry cheered you up, made you laugh, and distracted you from the awful things that happen in the Shadow world, can you please just do this one thing for him?”
I hardly dare to breathe as Carla thinks it over.
“Okay, okay. It’s clear you are just going to hound me until I agree,” Carla says finally.
I let the breath out and snatch it back in a gasp when Perry nudges Carla playfully.
“See. I knew you’d come around,” he says.
Cara glares at him.
“Yeah. And maybe while I’m showing you the book you came for, you can ignore it and read some of the others,” she snaps.
“Nothing wrong with a little multitasking, right? I always said there was enough of me to go around,” Perry jokes.
We all glare at Perry. This is so not the time for jokes. He has the decency to look embarrassed.
“Sorry,” he mutters.
Carla turns her attention to the rest of us. “Come on. Before I change my mind,” she says.
She walks towards a brown door, and we follow her.
“What’s it like in there?” I ask her, nodding towards the door, suddenly nervous.
She gives me a quick smile.
“It’s incredibly dangerous. The things in the books in there are uncontrollable, and many of them are deadly,” she says.
I feel myself pale, but I nod and croak out an okay.
Carla laughs and holds up a bunch of keys.
“That’s why they’re all kept locked away in separate cabinets. The book you need gives nothing away about the horrors you’ll face.”
“How did you know what we were looking for?” I ask.
I see a flicker of disappointment cross Carla’s face. She might have agreed to help us, but she’s far from on our side. She was waiting for me to react to her implied threat.
“The whole Shadow world knows what you’re looking for,” she says. “The demons are already celebrating your death.”
“Nice,” I say. “Damn, they’re going to regret that tomorrow when we’re still alive, and they’re nursing hangovers and disappointment.”
Carla laughs.
“There’s something about you I like. Shame you don’t choose your friends more wisely,” she says.
I bite my tongue to stop from telling her that at least I’m only friends with Perry, I wasn’t the one who was stupid enough to sleep with him. For once, Perry also bites his tongue, and we enter the records room in silence.
I feel kind of let down. I mean, I didn’t want to be attacked by rabid creatures from the books, but after the main room, I was expecting more. The records room looks like the reference section in any library, full of fat books bound in brown leather. The only thing that marks it as different is
the toughened glass cages that surround each book.
Carla sees me looking at the books.
“They’re bound in enchanted leather as an extra precaution. It’s a shame really. Some of them are quite exquisite.”
She walks along in front of a shelf, scanning the titles of the books. Most of them are written in exotic, flowery script in a language I don’t understand, but there are a few I can read. One catches my eye and makes me shudder: Extracting Angel Souls: A Step by Step Guide to Controlling an Angel.
Carla follows my eyes, and she shrugs.
“It takes all sorts I guess,” she says.
“And she thinks I’m the bad guy,” Perry mutters.
“Ow,” he shouts indignantly, and I know one of the team has sent an elbow into his ribs to shut him up.
Carla reaches up and pulls down a book. She carries it, still in its glass cage, to a table, and we gather around her.
“Are you ready to make your sacrifice?” she asks as she unlocks the case.
“Sacrifice?” I say.
Carla rolls her eyes.
“The drop of blood,” she prompts.
“Oh, of course. Yes,” I say.
Carla certainly has flair for the dramatic, and again, she’s enjoying our discomfort. Kane pulls out his dagger and makes a small cut in everyone’s palm.
“Ready?” Carla says.
I nod, and she opens the book to a page displaying the symbol I recognize from Loom’s map. The instructions are in the unfamiliar language I’ve seen all across the library, and I take a second to send up a silent prayer that Saudia and Tracey have remembered all of the steps perfectly.
As one, we drip our blood onto the symbol.
I see a whirl of color, like a spinning rainbow, and I feel as though I’m being thrown in all directions at once. The rainbow fades to black, and I’m falling into a void of oblivion.
“Ouch,” I say, getting to my feet and rubbing my tailbone.
That’s going to bruise. The rest of the team is around me, all getting to their feet. I look around. All around us are broken-down wooden shacks. They stand crammed together like sardines. Some of them, I see, aren’t even wooden. They’re just mud pressed tightly together. People mill around everywhere, but if they noticed us appearing there, they don’t react.