by Casey White
Daniel didn’t want to know what that was about. It looked like he’d been shielding them from something—and he’d seen the tiny glimmers of something floating in midair. Bullets, no doubt.
Sucking in a breath of air, he tapped his hand against Olivia’s. “Time to go.”
“R-Right.” As one, they hurried forward toward where James and Leon had disappeared. Just a little more. It was a straight shot from here, and then-
A door slammed open ahead. Someone from inside the garage burst out, their hair gleaming honey-blond in the street lights.
Rickard. Daniel’s blood froze.
“Go back,” he hissed, twisting back toward Olivia and pushing her out front. “Go. Go, before-”
“Hey!” he heard Rickard cry, and cursed. There was too much recognition by far in that voice.
They ran. Olivia flew ahead of him, her hair streaming out behind her. His leg had long since gone numb, little more than a stiff mass beneath him. He kept up gamely, though, refusing to acknowledge the footsteps around them or the cries drawing closer.
Run, he whispered. Come on, Alex. If you’ve got anything to give me, I need it now.
A warmth spread through his chest, slower than before but very much alive. He grinned, whipping back around the corner. The body of the tracker lay in the lot still, growing cold. They’d need to get to the other alley, and back to the car he’d prepped. Just a little farther. That strange energy thrummed within him, pushing the pain away until it was just a distant memory. It wasn’t a magic wall, but he’d take it.
Heels pounding against the dirt, Olivia and him ran.
A figure burst from the garage’s back door. The dark-haired man, the one Rickard had called Janik.
Daniel cursed under his breath, pouring on the speed, but he’d seen the man’s eyes widen—and he’d seen Janik reach for his pocket. Olivia gasped.
In a flash, she fell back, her eyes set. She didn’t say a word. Her hands were on his shoulders before he could react, pushing him to one side, and-
He heard her indrawn breath, filled with pain.
“No,” Daniel gasped, latching onto her wrist before she stumbled too far away. His arm popped, stretching as he pulled her on. “Run, damn it.”
“Keep going,” she whispered. “Y-You have to-”
“Run.” He glanced back, his gaze furious.
Olivia’s eyes were unfocusing, fogging over. Behind her, though, he saw the dark-haired man make a face—behind the rifle he cradled, pointed toward them.
No. Daniel dragged Olivia onward, yanking her around the corner. Every step she took seemed slower than the one before. “Olivia!” he cried, hauling her savagely forward. “Damn it, move!”
“S-Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m…I’m so sorry.”
“Just run!” His chest ached, burning with exhaustion. That same energy thrummed through his veins, burning higher.
And he could see their car waiting at the end of the alley. Waiting for them. He grinned, pulling Olivia another step forward. “We’re almost there, so-”
Something lanced into his shoulder before he could finish the sentence. The rest of the words dissolved into a pained gasp.
No, not pained. The pain was gone. Daniel floated, his senses tingling. His skin prickled, then went cold, fading away to nothing.
Something hit him hard. The ground. He groaned, blinking desperately, but the fog in his eyes wouldn’t clear.
Olivia’s wrist was still warm, pressed against his skin. He tugged again, trying to pull her closer, but might as well have been pulling at a mountain.
They were so close. The car...it was right there. His eyes were glued to it, even as the fog and smoke swallowed him. With a final twitch, he sagged to the asphalt, letting the dark swoop in.
They’d been so close.
- Chapter Twenty-Nine -
Hands, across his shoulders. His legs. Lifting him.
He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn’t listen. His eyes were empty, sightless.
Voices whispered somewhere nearby, too soft to hear.
And then he was falling, falling, caught by something hard and unmoving. His face pressed against something cold, layered in uneven ridges. A grate. Bars. The ground shook beneath him.
A twinge of pain in his arm, and-
Daniel jerked, his eyes snapping wide open.
Stained glass windows stared back down at him, looming high overhead to dark, oaken timbers.
He lay there, unmoving, as his pulse started to slow. His chest heaved, fighting for breath.
“Alex,” he whispered at last.
Wind whistled through the eaves, oddly mournful.
He chuckled weakly. “W-Well. I…” His eyes burned. “I made it back.”
Alexandria didn’t respond. He didn’t expect her to. He just closed his eyes again, listening to the distant howl.
If he’d come back to Alexandria, then he was asleep in the outside world.
And if he was asleep out there, then things had gone very, very wrong.
“Sorry,” Daniel whispered, under the shrieking winds. His head swam. “I...I think I messed up.”
The wind didn’t stop—but it quieted, just a little.
Slowly, wincing, he rolled over until he could get his legs under him. A fresh dagger of pain shooting through his calf was all the reminder he needed that his injuries hadn’t vanished in the transition. He gripped the bandaged wound, grimacing., and laughed hollowly. “Couldn’t make that go away for me, Alex?”
Alexandria didn’t respond.
What little humor he’d scraped together, it drained away within moments. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I know.”
Shelves towered around him in looming, ominous walls of black wood and brown leather. He grabbed hold of a shelf, groaning quietly as he pushed himself aloft.
Once vertical, he wasn’t quite sure why he’d wanted it so badly. His leg burned beneath him. Alex had put him back into his Librarian uniform, but it did nothing at all for the pain. His stomach churned unhappily. Worst of all, though, were the thoughts. The doubts.
What was he going to do now?
Taking a step forward, Daniel reached out, grabbing hold of the next shelf. “What next?” he mumbled. “What are we going to do next?”
Alexandria was quiet—but the next shelf he braced himself against creaked under his weight, long and drawn-out.
He smiled sourly. “No genius plans?” Another awkward step. Another shelf to take hold of. He licked his lips. “If I’m here, then I’m probably in trouble outside.”
That was putting it lightly. He didn’t remember getting shot, but that didn’t mean he was safe. They’d done something to him—and to Olivia. Something to put both of them under. Rickard and Indira wanted Alexandria. Once they got it, they wouldn’t need him anymore.
But there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it while he was trapped inside her walls.
“I need to go back out,” Daniel said. He sucked in a breath of air, steeling himself, and flexed his hurt leg. It spasmed, rippling with pain, but held. “I need to get away from them. Can…”
He glanced up to the eaves. The Library was dark, near as dark as he’d ever seen her. Only a few candles glowed from lanterns on the walls, barely illuminating his path.
“Can you send me back out?” he said. “I can’t stay here. I need to...to…”
To what?
A break in the shelves. An aisle. Daniel lumbered forward, floating as the supporting bookshelves fell away from either side.
What the hell was he going to do outside? Even if he woke up, he’d probably been drugged and jammed into their trunk. And Olivia...his breath caught in his throat. They had even less reason to keep Olivia around than him. He’d...Almost certainly, he’d be alone, surrounded by enemies both mage and ‘mundane’.
What could he do in the face of that?
“Please,” he whispered anyway. “I need to try. Even if it’s hopeless.”
The last
of the wind fell away. Alexandria towered over him, totally and completely silent. The perfect stillness of it rang in his ears, pressing in like a woolen blanket to smother him.
And nothing happened. He didn’t crumple to the floor under a fit of exhaustion, didn’t watch the world fade out around him.
He didn’t wake up.
“Nothing?” he said in a tiny voice. “Y-You can’t do anything?”
His fists balled up. It wasn’t her fault, he told himself. He’d been drugged. Alexandria was many things, but even she had limits that seemed to hold her back from the real world. Most of the time.
All of which meant he was on his own. Again.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I...I guess. If you really can’t help.”
There, in the eerie quiet, he heard a woman sigh.
Daniel spun, wobbling madly. His heart leapt into his throat.
For a moment, he swore he could see a person standing among the shelves—but when he pulled himself upright, finally focusing his bleary eyes on the point, there was no one there.
The air coursed around him in gentle, oddly-warm currents, as though Alexandria was trying to comfort him. He bowed his head forward, trying to slow the wild hammering of his pulse.
Of course Alexandria couldn’t help. He’d gotten himself into this mess.
There was no reason he should be disappointed.
Lifting one leaden foot, he started forward again.
* * * * *
Daniel walked.
He couldn’t say why he’d started. Maybe it’d been that standing there in the quiet, alone, was more than he could bear. It wasn’t like walking was going to get him anywhere. But...it was better than doing nothing at all.
He walked. The study drifted by him, just as he’d left it. Papers littered the tables. Books, stacked on one end. A laptop, carelessly discarded on an end table near a fireplace. It was like the place was waiting for him to come back. Which, of course, it had been.
The lonely bars of his office windows waited in the gloomy darkness. A lantern burned inside, as though inviting him in with its warmth and light. He spared a moment to eye it, but only shook his head, continuing on his way. What would he find there, waiting for him? His notes? The AI project he’d been so devoted to just a few days before? The prediction models he’d slaved over for so many years?
Useless. Neither of those would help him now. If he didn’t find a way out of this snare, they’d never help him again.
He walked, leaving them behind as he wandered deeper into the wings.
Through it all, the only sound was the steady, shuffling thud of his boots against the stone. It carried him onward, ringing like a metronome against the quiet. He’d forgotten how damned quiet the place was, without guests. Without friends to fill it with noise.
He’d been outside before. He’d had a decade and change’s worth of days spent under the sun. But the last two days had changed...everything. Everything was different, and it was too damn quiet.
As the hallways churned around him, leading him deeper and deeper, he thought. Plans for escape. Tricks he could pull. Could he convince Rickard and Indira to turn on each other? Could he manipulate their underlings? Or could he call out that strange magic again?
The magic that’d abandoned him when he really needed it. It still itched at him. What had it been—and where had it gone, when he was in trouble? His mind went back to it over and over, devising schemes, but he cast aside each of the plans just as quickly as they appeared. They were just wishful thinking, little more. He needed something concrete, not fragile dreams.
He walked, and walked, and walked. He hardly noticed the Library growing darker still around him, until finally he opened a door only to find the sitting room beyond.
He slept. He awoke again. And he walked.
Day after day. The hours slipped by, grating against his senses until he was left numb. He drifted. Now and then, a stack of books appeared on a shelf, as though waiting for him. As though Alexandria was reaching out, pulling him onward. Pitying him.
He took them. He shelved them. And he kept going.
At first, the desperation within him burned bright as a sun. As the days fell away, though, even that faded.
His captors were mages. He was purely, simply human, no matter what tricks Alexandria had up her sleeve.
There was nothing he could do, not really. He was just the Librarian.
He had his Library, and he had his books. That would have to be enough, for as long as he could stay. Sooner or later, they would come, or they’d get rid of him. He was helpless so long as he was inside, so why worry?
Books in arm, he walked, deeper and deeper, day after day.
Until something scratched against the edge of his senses. A noise. Footsteps.
Ice flooded through his veins. It was time, then—they were here. He’d known they’d come eventually. He turned, his still-aching leg heavy underneath him, and faced the hallway behind.
Protect the Library. Protect Alexandria. His eyes narrowed, one arm coming up as his other tightened around his precious literary cargo. His fingers splayed, and in the hallway beyond, the air shimmered ominously. It seethed, burning with the nervous energy trapped inside him after the endless days inside Alex’s walls.
“Come on,” he whispered through gritted teeth. His nerves sang, poised right on the edge of exploding. “I won’t give this place up so easily. If you want her, come and get her.”
His hand shook. The footsteps echoed down the hallway, bouncing along the stony walls and up into the high, vaulted ceilings. Closer. Closer.
His teeth ground together. “Come on. Would you just-”
The door beyond burst open, slamming into the wall. A figure darted from within. Daniel’s fingers tensed, ready to snap-
Until he saw the familiar, brassy-haired man stiffen, relief washing across his face, and bolt toward him.
Leon.
Frozen in place, he hardly felt Leon’s weight slam into him, driving him back onto his heels. Arms wrapped around him tight enough to drive the air from his lungs.
And Leon’s voice rang in his ears, terribly thin and tight. “You’re here,” Daniel heard him whisper. “Damn it. Damn it, you’re here.”
Daniel let the breath he’d been holding slide back out—and slowly, leaned into Leon’s embrace.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
With Leon’s arms around his shoulders, it was easier than ever to droop, wilt like an overwatered flower. The exhaustion he’d battled since this began flooded back in. More than just the accumulated physical hurts. He was tired.
For a long time, the two clung together, all alone in the grand hallway. There was no hurry. They had all the time in the world.
Eventually, though, Daniel felt Leon shift, and drew back. “I was expecting someone to show up,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion and disuse. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Leon chuckled, but the laughter didn’t reach his eyes. “That would explain the...y’know.” He raised a hand, wiggling his fingers.
“Sorry,” Daniel whispered. “I wouldn’t- I wasn’t going to-”
“I get it,” Leon said. “You didn’t actually attack me. We’re good.”
Daniel smiled weakly. “Y-Yeah.”
Leon just took a step back, raising his hands to rake at his hair. “But...you’re here.” His eyes tightened, falling into shadow. “That means-”
“Yeah,” Daniel said. “I...I don’t know exactly what happened. But Olivia and I were running, trying to get back to the car, and then-”
His throat closed around the words. “Well,” he whispered. “Yeah.”
“We knew something was wrong when you didn’t call,” Leon said. “We waited. And then we tried calling you.” The corners of his lips twitched up. “You didn’t answer.”
“And so you came in after me.”
Leon leaned against a bookshelf, his eyes dropping. “We didn’t know what else to do. If something we
nt wrong...we knew we could at least meet back up here in Alexandria.” His eyebrow arched. “Hopefully you haven’t been waiting too long.”
It was Daniel’s turn to make a face, shrugging half-heartedly. “I...I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Couple days. Maybe a week. Maybe two.”
“Christ,” Leon mumbled. “I’m sorry. I should’ve come faster. If I’d-”
“No,” Daniel said. “No, it wasn’t your fault. It’s…” He let out a sigh, drooping. “It’s mine. I really thought we could get out. And then...They caught us off guard. They had someone. Another of their mages. And-”
“Hey,” Leon said. He closed the distance between him and Daniel, grabbing hold of his shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out, right?” He grinned. “We’ll figure out where you’re at, and where you’re going. And then, after that, we just need a new plan.”
“What?” Daniel whispered. His gut churned.
Leon rambled on, muttering to himself, but Daniel couldn’t hear him. His head spun. His ears rang, wiping Leon’s words to nothing.
Because he could see it, then. Leon would try to continue the fight. He’d charge headlong into the next battle, because that’s what you did. Only, they were on the back foot, now. They were two people down. Daniel didn’t think Rickard would be hanging around out in the open for long. Prize in hand, he’d already be well on his way back to a secure location.
And if Leon kept diving headlong into this fight, sooner or later they’d pay a price that none of them could afford.
Leon was still musing on their chances of finding new guns when Daniel shook his head. “No.”
Leon blinked. “N-No?”
“No,” Daniel whispered. “No, you can’t. Leon, you’re going to get yourself killed fighting this.”
“Well, I mean, if we play things smart, I don’t see why-”
“This isn’t a game,” Daniel snapped. “They’re strong, Leon. You can’t keep doing this. James and Maya...they deserve better. You deserve better.”
“Okay,” Leon said. His brow furrowed. “So...what’s the plan? We could-”
“There is no plan.” The words ached as they slipped from his lips, burning in his chest. “There’s nothing left. We lost.”