by Casey White
Leon snorted. “Hey, look. I’ve just got to take the wins where I can get them.”
“Jesus Christ,” Daniel mumbled.
“So…” Leon began. “Those were, uh. Those were mages, were they?”
The little bit of a good mood Daniel had found vanished instantly. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m...I don’t know for sure. But-”
“The ground was shaking,” Leon said. “And that...the ground. The sand. We don’t get earthquakes here.”
Daniel hesitated, then nodded. “Right.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
“So, like…” Leon shook his head. “Magic? Like...actual magic? Not a dream?”
“You’re the one who pointed out the ground shaking,” Daniel muttered. “You tell me.”
“Oh,” Leon sank back into his seat. Where just a few moments before he’d been bursting from the seams, now, he seemed to deflate right before Daniel’s eyes. “I guess...that’s probably not good. Is it.”
On Leon’s lips, it wasn’t a question, and Daniel only made a face. “It’s definitely not perfect, no.”
“Shit.”
Daniel took a hand off the wheel, rubbing at his forehead. “It’s...It’ll work out,” he said. “I’ll make it work out.”
“But...they’re mages, aren’t they? And if they’re mages, aren’t they dangerous?”
“Look,” Daniel said. The road flashed by, unending. “It’s a problem. I know it, you know it. This is...This is going to be a big deal.”
“...Yeah.”
“So right now, I’m just worrying about what comes next.” He smiled grimly. “I just...I need to make sure everyone gets out safely. I need to know that you’re all safe. I can’t…” A lump had appeared in his throat, somewhere along the line. “I won’t be the reason you or the others got hurt. And...we’re in it now, anyway. We can’t go back.”
Leon didn’t say anything. Finally, when he couldn’t take the quiet anymore, Daniel glanced over—and found Leon staring at his hands, folded in his lap. “Yeah,” Leon mumbled. “Thanks. I didn’t...I didn’t want to cause trouble for you. Sorry.”
Daniel chuckled sourly. “It’s not your fault.”
“Only, if I’d been more careful, maybe-”
“Hey,” Daniel said, shooting a look his way. “I just said it’s not your fault. I’m the Librarian here.” It was his job—and he’d been the one who’d failed to keep Leon and the rest out of the Library. If he’d been a stronger influence, if he’d taken a firmer hand, he could have told Alexandria no. It was his responsibility.
He hadn’t done that. He’d let her run wild. And now they were all in trouble.
“I’m the one who should be sorry,” was all he could say.
Leon didn’t respond, but his shoulders relaxed. He leaned forward in the next moment, pointing towards the next cross street. “Oh- Take a right at-”
“Got it,” Daniel said.
More silence. And then...“Um,” Leon said.
Daniel sighed. “What?”
“Now that...Now that I’ve seen your face. Um. Are you...what’s going to happen to…” He trailed off, looking away.
A vein in Daniel’s temple was starting to throb. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “We’ll figure it out.”
“But, if any of those mages see you...if they figure out who you are-”
“It’s a work in progress, okay?” Daniel said, flashing a weary smile his way. “Hand me my phone.”
“O-Oh.” Leon fumbled in the console, finally thrusting the burner phone toward him. “Going to try again? Ah- Left at the light.”
Daniel grabbed the phone, dutifully turning them around the corner. “Yeah. I just want to check.”
The quiet part, he left unsaid. The part that screamed in his mind that it’d been too long. That he should have checked in the instant he got Leon out—and that they should have checked in, too.
It was reasonable, he told himself. There’d been a fair bit of distance between James and Maya. It wasn’t like they lived together, whatever his stubborn friend dreamed might come true. It would have taken time for Maya to get to James, just like it’d taken him time to get to Leon.
Even still.
He bit his lip, starting the call, and pressed the phone to his ear.
The phone rang. He stared through the windshield, ignoring Leon’s squirming beside him. On and on the ringtone buzzed.
Just when he’d resigned himself to giving up, the line connected. He brightened. “Maya. Great. Look-”
“Owl,” Maya said. “Oh, thank god. I was- I wasn’t sure if I should call you, or-”
“What is it?” Daniel said. His mood darkened instantly, drowned out by the panic filing Maya’s voice. He sat up a little straighter, easing off the gas. At the edge of his vision, he saw Leon mirror him.
“I...I just- Maybe I’m being crazy, but- Hell, I don’t know. I just-”
“Maya.”
“I made it to his place.” There was something wrong with her voice, Daniel realized. It wasn’t just that she was afraid. No, she was...she was hushed, like she was afraid to speak too loudly. “I got to James’ house. After we talked.”
“Right,” he said slowly. “Did you get him?”
Already, though, his pulse quickened. It wouldn’t be that easy, he knew. If it’d been as simple as an in-and-out fetch quest, then she wouldn’t be this agitated.
“Something’s wrong,” she said a moment later, and his heart sank. “There are...There are people here, Owl. Strange cars in his driveway.”
“Maybe he had friends over,” Daniel said. It was idiotic, and he knew it, but...some part of him needed to work through every mundane answer before he went straight into oh-shit mode. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t pick up.”
Maya laughed hollowly. “Right now? Today? This early in the morning. No. Hell no.” She went quiet, then. He waited, counting out the seconds. “What should I do?” she said at last. “S-Should I keep going? I don’t think I should knock, but-”
“No,” Daniel snapped, sitting bolt upright. “No, leave the place alone. Um.” He raked a hand through his hair, sweeping away the strands of black that’d escaped the hair tie. “Just...Just get somewhere safe, Maya. Find a McDonald’s in town or something and hole up.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I can do that. That’s...That’s probably smart. Look. I don’t...I don’t know all of what’s going on right now, but be careful, okay? Something’s wrong. Really wrong.”
That was putting it lightly. Daniel only chuckled, though, squeezing the burner. “Yeah. Just...get clear, Maya. Okay? We’ll meet up once we’ve got James.” It was bad enough he was having to dive into trouble. There was no reason to drag Maya through the danger as well. And…
Flipping the phone shut, he dropped it into the cupholder, glancing sidelong at Leon.
It wasn’t fair to put Leon in danger, either. “Hey,” he said.
Leon’s eyebrows pulled together. “No.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“You didn’t have to,” Leon snapped. “I can tell. You were about to say “get out of the car” or something, weren’t you?
Damn it. “N-No,” Daniel mumbled. “I just think maybe-”
“Would you just stop hiding, already?”
Daniel twitched, blinking as the words slammed into him. “I...I’m not-”
“Jesus Christ,” Leon mumbled, rubbing at his face again. “Let a man help you now and again, will you?” He lifted his head clear—and fixed a pointed stare in Daniel’s direction. “So what’s going on? Spit it out.”
Daniel chuckled, low and soft and entirely humorless. He could still refuse to drag Leon along with him. But, if Leon was so dead-set on joining...he did feel better having him here.
He took a deep, ragged breath, then let it slide back out. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“We have a problem.”
- Chapter Eleven -
>
Every minute, every mile, felt like an eternity. Time wasn’t endless, though—a fact that became all too apparent as they wound their way deeper and deeper into the neighborhood.
“How much farther?” Daniel said, his voice tight.
Leon shook his head. He clutched his phone in his hands, only glancing up from the GPS now and again. “Um. Not...Not much farther.”
How wonderfully specific. Daniel turned his eyes back to the road, stopping himself before he could say anything he’d regret.
Leon was shifting, though, his shoulders rising. “Um…”
Daniel sighed. “What’s up?”
“That was Maya, right?”
He caught himself before he could groan. “That’s...yeah.”
“Is she okay?” Leon said. “You didn’t sound happy. And...uh. What...What’s going on with-”
“Damn it,” Daniel mumbled. He’d hoped he could get away without having to go into too much detail. Leon didn’t need to get caught up in the middle of everything. But...he couldn’t very well not explain, either. “Look. Maya was supposed to go get James.”
“...Right…”
Daniel ground his teeth together. “Only, when she got there, she wasn’t the first one to arrive.”
“....Oh.” Leon’s lips squeezed back together, perilously tight. “That’s...not good.”
“Pretty much,” Daniel said, sighing. “She’s on her way to safety. And we’re going to-”
Leon jabbed his finger toward the next corner. “Um...it’s…”
Daniel perked up. “A turn?” He worked them around the corner, eyes glued to the road. “How far until the next-”
“Last house on the left,” Leon whispered.
Oh.
Daniel glanced to the structure Leon indicated—a nice enough house, if a bit more run-down than Leon’s. A scraggly copse of trees clung to life in the back corner of the house’s yard, but what little was left of the woods quickly gave way to more houses and the city. A forlorn, bleak minigolf place that looked a good decade out of business completed the dismal urban picture. He swallowed. All it meant to him was more eyes. And more chance of them getting spotted by someone.
He still couldn’t shake the feeling that that would be very, very bad—more so than just him getting spotted as the Librarian, or having to explain to a cop why exactly he was busting into people’s houses at the crack of dawn. But he didn’t see another way out of this situation, either.
Close enough. They were more than close enough. With James’ house in sight at the end of the block, he could see the cars clustered around his driveway. Easing off the gas, he tucked them up alongside a mailbox, half-hidden from view by the other cars and the few lonely trees dotting the neighborhood.
And then he turned the car off.
“Okay,” he said. Leon sat bolt upright, twisting to face him. To say something, no doubt. Daniel cut him off with a jerk of his head, his eyes heavily lidded. “If there are people here, if...if those people are here, then we’re going to have to move carefully.”
He cast a glance through the window. It was still dark—somehow—but with every moment they wasted, the sun crept higher over the horizon. Once daylight hit in full, what little advantage they had would evaporate like fog.
Time to go. He reached into his jacket again, slipping the pistol from its holster, and ran his finger over the ejector. Should he swap magazines? He’d only fired one round before, but there was no telling how badly things were about to go.
Does it matter? his thoughts hissed. Can you even pull yourself together enough to shoot at someone, or are you going to panic again?
His hands quivered, tensing about the grip.
“Jesus Christ,” he heard Leon whisper.
Daniel glanced up. Leon was watching him—watching the gun, rather. His face had gone bone white.
“Sorry,” Daniel mumbled, shoving it back into his coat. “I’m just- I’m being careful, that’s all.”
“I-I know,” Leon said, and forced a smile onto his face. “I...I get it. It’s just weird. This is so surreal.”
Daniel snorted, shaking his head. “Tell me about it.”
He was wasting more time, he knew. They were here. He couldn’t afford to sit around staring at James’ house, when God only knew what was happening inside. “Okay,” he said, when he could collect himself enough. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to-”
An electronic screeching split the quiet. Both of them jumped. Daniel’s heart hammered, pounding in his ears.
His phone. Someone was calling his burner phone. That was all. Daniel licked his lips, grabbing for it with fingers that were too electrified to listen. Underneath the shock of it all, his mood soared. Maya. Maybe she’d figured something out.
Grinning, he flipped the phone over, and-
Unidentified Caller.
The mishmash of numbers knocked the wind right out of him. For a long moment, he just gaped, staring down at the burner phone’s tiny screen as though the extra seconds would make the letters change into something new.
Unidentified. That was impossible. He’d only given the number to Leon, James, and Maya—and even if it’d taken a bit of quiet work behind the scenes, he’d made damn sure that he wouldn’t be getting phone calls from telemarketers.
All of which made it utterly impossible for someone to be calling him now. The phone warmed in his grasp, its screech hitting new heights.
He saw Leon’s head lift, his eyes darting from the phone to Daniel’s. “Um...hey. Are you going to-”
“Damn it,” Daniel whispered. He lifted a finger to his lips in the next moment, quieting Leon—and then he flipped the phone open, pressing it to his ear.
He didn’t say a word, didn’t introduce himself or offer a greeting. Whoever was calling him, they had to know things were beyond that.
For a long moment, the line was quiet. Then-
“You’re there, aren’t you?”
Daniel’s blood froze. The voice was low and soft, little more than a whisper, and filled with fear besides. Just as clearly, it was a woman’s voice. And not just any woman.
“I know you’re listening,” Olivia said. “Look. It’s fine. Don’t say anything.”
Well, if she insisted, then he’d be rude not to oblige. Daniel clamped his jaw shut, staring out through the windshield. The panic building in his mind surged higher again. If Olivia was here, if she was involved, then...that didn’t bode well for their situation.
Not to mention that she’d found his phone number. That had...implications. Bad ones. There were only so many places she could have gotten that.
“I know you came,” she whispered. Her words slipped out quickly, one after another. She was in a hurry, then. “I- We heard. About Leon. They know, Owl. And they’re going to be ready, this time.”
Still, he held his tongue. She didn’t need anything from him. Not a letter, not a conversation, not a single word. Whatever game she was playing, now, she could do it on her own.
“Let me help you,” she said.
“W-What?” he spluttered before he could stop himself. Just like that, he could feel his boasts of stubbornness crumbling. He clamped down again, trying to get a hold of himself.
“There you are,” Olivia muttered. He wrinkled his nose, his eyes narrowing, but she continued. “Please. I told you before, Owl. I don’t...I never wanted anyone to get hurt. And…”
Her voice trailed off, as though she’d turned away. Daniel’s blood froze. “What did you do?” he whispered. “What the hell did you people-”
“I’m sorry, okay?” she hissed. “I’m doing the best I can. But...I can’t just stand by, and you can’t sit on your thumb and spin anymore. You need to do something. Let me help you.”
“There’s no way I’m-”
Something rose in the background, right at the edge of hearing. A cry, filled with pain. Daniel stopped, his eyes widening. “Leave him alone,” he whispered. “Damn it, Olivia, d
on’t you dare-”
“I don’t have long,” Olivia spat. “And neither do you. They’ve- They’ve got him in the living room. I’ve managed to unlock the back entrance, by the patio. When you get there, text me. I’ll...I’ll do something.”
“Something?” Daniel said, a laugh burbling under the word. “Something like what? Olivia, you can’t seriously expect me to-”
“Let me do this much.” The line went quiet again, then he heard her sigh. “Or try and be the hero. Your choice. If you get it wrong, your friend’s the one who’ll pay the price.”
His nostrils flared. “That’s not-”
The line clicked. Daniel pulled the phone free, staring down at it, but the call had already ended.
“Bitch hung up on me,” he mumbled.
Leon was still watching him, he realized, his fingers playing nervously at the strap of his seat belt. “Um. Was that-”
“Olivia,” Daniel said with a groan, dropping the phone into his coat pocket.
He hadn’t thought it possible, but Leon’s face went paler yet. “Shit. She must’ve...my phone. They found it.”
“Maybe,” Daniel said heavily. “Or...they could’ve gotten it from somewhere else.” That sound still lingered in the back of his mind.
They were in James’ rental. He had to assume that James had been home, at least. He wasn’t the type to be up bright and early for classes.
They had James. He couldn’t string the pieces together into any other conclusion. And now they’d be trying to work him for...anything. A hint about Owl. Or maybe the whole thing was just an elaborate trap to get him to rush in unprepared.
“What did she want?” he heard Leon say. “Breathe, man. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Daniel took a deep breath, sitting back and running his hands through his hair. Leon was right. “She...offered to help,” he whispered.
“...Excuse me?” Leon said. It was incredulous rather than amused, but a laugh rumbled under his words. “Isn’t she on their side? Isn’t she the one who was all trying to play tricks? Didn’t she-”
“Yes,” Daniel said, squeezing his eyes shut.