Spinebreaker
Page 15
“What is this?” Thaddeus asked.
“This,” Mason said. “Is the Pagewalker’s weakness.”
Chapter Eleven
April didn’t know what Rico told his mother, or how he’d explained the fact that his hair had grown an inch in three days. She must have been so happy to have him that she was willing to overlook these details, because she came in the next morning to let the library staff know he’d shown up. Rico wasn’t with her. April hoped he was okay.
She and the others still met every weeknight to combat the ink rot, but thanks to the break-neck pace they’d been working at, there was less and less of it until they were able to go home after an hour or two.
The following Friday after Barty and Randall had left for the night, April walked over to the Werner shelves.
Dorian walked up behind her. “One Thousand and One Nights?” He asked. “Not that it’s any of my business.”
“No.” she pulled The First Adventure of Braddy Evers off the shelf, then opened it to the beginning. “Just wanted to see if Braddy’s home yet. Want to come?”
Dorian shrugged. “Why not?”
The walk down the road to Ever Home was uneventful. April rapped on Braddy’s door gently. No answer. She sighed and leaned against the door.
“Are you worried about him?” Dorian asked.
“A little,” she said. “Shouldn’t he be back?”
“It depends. Maybe the story isn’t done yet. Maybe he decided to go on more adventures rather than return here.”
“I hope so.”
“We’ll keep trying.”
April looked up at the stars, which were brighter than any she’d ever seen at home in the city. She laid down in Braddy’s garden and stared up at the sky. Dorian lay down next to her. He pulled off his jacket and lay it out beneath their heads.
“Did we ruin this world?” April asked.
Dorian sighed. “I’m really not sure how to answer that. You seem to take things pretty hard. If anything can be construed as remotely your fault, you fall to pieces. No offense.”
She was about to argue, then sighed. “That’s fair.”
“We probably knocked this world off course, but can you really say that’s not how things were supposed to happen in the first place? Does this world really look ruined?”
She gazed up at the thousands of twinkling lights showing between the tops of the massive trees. She thought about how Braddy knew about the danger and chose to face it anyway. “No.”
“So, there. It’s not ruined. Different, maybe.”
“Will it ever become like the other books again? Like, will the story reset itself?”
Dorian shook his head. “I don’t think so. I believe this world will just continue on.” He added sarcastically, “though every day with you is disproving something I once thought was fact.”
“Existing between the lines,” April said.
“Yes.” He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her. He lifted his free hand, and for a second she thought he might reach out and touch her face.
But then his open, peaceful expression darkened and he lay back down and looked up at the stars. They watched the sky for a few more minutes, then he said, “I have something I want to ask you but I’m afraid to.”
“What?” She said, feeling the anxiety rise up in her chest again.
“The night Rico got lost… you said he saw one of the black books. Why did you have it open in the first place?”
She thought back. Why had she opened it? It seemed so long ago now. “I don’t know,” she said. “I thought that if I could save enough people from the rot it would make up for what happened to Andre.”
“You weren’t planning on going in, were you?” His voice was tense.
“No,” she said. “Not really. I mean, the thought crossed my mind for like, a split second. I just… it’s hard to explain. I guess I just thought seeing was better than leaving them forgotten beneath the floorboards. It was, like, my penance to witness what they were going throught.”
Dorian said up and looked at her. “Penance?” he said. “You were talking to Reverend Dimmesdale, weren’t you?”
She nodded. “He’s a priest, right? He has to know what he’s talking about.”
Dorian pinched the bridge of his nose. “The whole point of The Scarlet Letter is to face your mistakes and not let them eat away at you. To move on. Taking advice about guilty consciences from Arthur Dimmesdale! You really need to read more.”
He lay back down. They remained in silence for several minutes. Just when April was going to say they should head back into the library, he spoke again.
“And if you had gone into that book, where would that leave the rest of us?”
“You would have found someone else to be the Pagewalker. Someone better. Then you wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore.”
Dorian sat up. He looked agitated. “Is that really what you think? That I was saddled with you and am now making do?”
“Well, yeah.”
“It’s not true, April. You’re smart, kind, And,” he said, a smile on his face, “You don’t let anyone push you around.”
“That sounds like what you say to make someone feel better.”
“It’s not. How many people would have done everything you did to find Rico? How many would have put their life on hold to help their grandmother? How many would care about the people in the black books? Most people would say ‘that’s not my problem,’ or, ‘I can’t worry about that right now.’ Not you.”
“But I did think those things!” She said.
“And you keep doing this anyway!”
“It’s what anyone would do.”
“No, they wouldn’t.” Dorian looked agitated. “I’ve been in hundreds of books and dealt with thousands of different people. The majority are self-centered and short-sighted.” He sighed. “So please don’t think you’d do anyone any favors by disappearing. Me least of all.”
“Oh.” April couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I always thought you were annoyed by me.”
“What?” He saw the look on her face then said, “Well, if I am it’s because I think you need to give yourself some slack. Most of the time.”
She was about to argue some more but he held up his hand. “Just… trust me.”
The earnest expression on his face made her nod. They lay back down on the ground and stared up at the stars.
“I did learn one thing through all this, though,” Dorian mused.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“I need to assign you a reading list. Starting Monday.”
April groaned.
~~~
April leaned against the wall, a cup of bitter hospital coffee cooling in her hands. Gram preferred privacy during her checkups, so April waited in the hallway. The fluorescent light made her eyes water.
An alcove across the hall was filled with children’s toys and a small television played cartoons. It was empty except for a small boy playing with a set of Legos and his mother, who surreptiously watched him while she flipped thorugh a magazine. The boy looked up at April shyly. His eyes were bright blue. Except for a man walking down the hallway towards her, the place was empty.
She watched the boy a few moments longer. It wasn’t until the man came and stood next to her that she recognized him. Thaddeus. She was suddenly wide awake.
She looked around. Should she yell for help? Run? Calling out was a bad idea—what would she say to the people who came to help her? He hadn’t done anything to her. Yet. Running was an even worse action. What if he went after Gram?
She took a sip of her coffee, careful not to let the shaking of her hands show. She noted a security camera in the corner of the alcove. He wouldn’t do anything to her in front of it, would he?
Well, she wasn’t going to let him know he’d spooked her. “What do you want?” she asked, like he was no more than an old high school enemy.
He held up his hands to show they wer
e empty. “Just to talk.”
“Yeah, right.”
He reached out towards her neck. She would have pulled away if she wasn’t against the wall. He lifted the stone amulet Barty had given her. It had slipped out from beneath the collar of her blouse.
“A protection amulet? I see our would-be warlock is back in town. I imagine it’s supposed to glow if I mean you harm, is it not? So either I’m telling the truth, or your friend isn’t as competent as he believes.”
He was right, the amulet was as dull and unattractive as ever. She wasn’t convinced—Barty’s charms had failed before—but what else could she do? She took another sip of coffee to keep the cup from spilling in her shaking hands.
“I hate hospitals,” he said, glancing around with distaste. “You should have taken the deal I offered. Your grandmother could be on her way to a full recovery now.”
“She wasn’t going to do the treatment anyway. She said she didn’t want to spend her last days being prodded by needles.”
Thaddeus nodded. “I respect a person who can look death in the face with acceptance. Too much of the human existence is spent shying away from the inevitable rather than enjoying the miracle that is life.”
She looked sideways at him. He sounded like a religious person who might invite her to a singles mixer at his church. She could tell he believed what he was saying.
“You have no idea what you’ve taken on. You chose the wrong side.”
“I chose the side that hasn’t killed a bunch of people and isn’t okay with killing a bunch more. Seems like the right one to me.”
He wrinkled his brow as though the accusation confused him. “Do you mean the wizards? The otherkin? They’re dangerous. Humans once lived in fear of them. The life you live now, all of this”—he swept his arm around his head to indicate the hospital—“is only possible because of what my forefathers did.”
“The victors do get to write history.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Thaddeus said, “though now we’re the evil overlords, so we didn’t get to write it too much.” He shrugged. “Even the Catholic church was an underdog once. Now it’s one of the most powerful and corrupt institutions in the world.”
“What do you want, Thaddeus?”
“I told you my superiors want to come at you with everything they have. They’ve decided harsher tactics are necessary.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
He looked at her gravely. “I was able to find you here. They will, too. They know about your grandmother, and anyone and anything else you hold dear, and they will use them against you.”
“Gram isn’t involved in this!”
“She is, whether you like it or not.”
Her pulse fluttered in the back of her throat. She turned to run down the hall towards the room where Gram was, but Thaddeus stepped in front of her, almost pinning her against the wall.
“They’re not here. But if they were, what could you do? Nothing.”
She stopped. He was right. “Why are you telling me this?”
He sighed. “My superiors and I have a very different outlook on our mission. They are willing to sacrifice the lives of innocents to achieve their goals.”
“And you’re not?”
He paused. “Casualties are… inevitable,” he said, “But I believe they must be minimized. Our goal is to protect people from magic, not kill them anyway in the process.” He turned to her. “They will come for you. They’ll come for your grandmother, and they’ll come for your friends. They will show no mercy.”
“Then help us, if you care so much.”
“I can’t. If they knew I was talking to you…” he paused. “Just prepare yourself, though I’m not even sure you can do anything.”
He turned and walked back in the direction he’d come from.
She watched him go, a sinking feeling in her chest. She was so screwed.
~~~
Thanks for reading Spinebreaker, I hope you enjoyed it!
April’s story continues in book three of the Library Gate Series, Wordeater. Wordeater releases July 29th, 2018! Pre-order it today because you don’t want to wait!
Click here now to pre-order Wordeater!
(HDukeAuthor.com/Wordeater-book)
~~~
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Thanks for reading!
You just finished Spinebreaker, book two in the Pagewalker series. Thank you so much for reading! If you liked this book, click here to leave an honest review on Amazon. Leaving reviews is the number one way to support writers. As a new indie author, I truly appreciate it.
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More books by H. Duke
Fantasy
Jeremiah Jones Cowboy Sorcerer Series
Jeremiah Jones Cowboy Sorcerer: The Complete First Season
Season One Episode One
Season One Episode Two
Season One Episode Three
Season One Episode Four
Season One Episode Five
Season One Episode Six
Season One Episode Seven
Season One Episode Eight
A Cowboy Sorcerer Christmas (reader group exclusive)
Taming the Wolf (reader group exclusive)
The Pagewalker Series
Pagewalker
Spinebreaker
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The First Adventure of Braddy Evers (Coming soon!)
Horror (written as H. H. Duke)
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Find an up-to-date list at http://www.hdukeauthor.com
About the Author
H. Duke has written over ten works of fiction, including the weird west serial Jeremiah Jones Cowboy Sorcerer and the Library Gate series.
These days, she can be seen travelling the United States in her travel trailer with her husband Giru and a shiny black dog named Jupiter. To see an up-to-date list of her works and find out where she’ll be writing next, visit http://www.hdukeauthor.com.
Table of Contents
Dear reader
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Thanks for reading!
More books by H. Duke
Table of Contents
Spinebreaker
© 2018 by H. Duke
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, places, or events are used fictitiously. Other places, names, characters, and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to actual places, events, or people (living or dead) is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any format, without the express written consent of the author. An exception is made for short excerpts used for educational or review purposes.
Cover image © 2018 by H. Duke
ISBN-13: 978-1-947094-19-2
ASIN: B07DGKYRCK
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