It smelled like home.
“I hate you,” he mumbled, burying his face in her shoulder. “But I still miss you.”
She’d stiffened as he grabbed her, but slowly, her form relaxed. Her arms crept around him, squeezing right back. “You’ve done so well,” she whispered. “I’m proud.”
He laughed, biting back a sob. “I made a mess of everything.”
“Alexandria endures.” He felt her hands tighten against his back. “She will mend. You will fix her. Daniel…”
“Do you have to leave?” he whispered. “I...I’ve got a lot more to say. You gave me a long time to think.”
She laughed—but when she drew back, he let her. Her hand stayed on his arm, holding the two of them together. “I’ll always be here in Alexandria,” she said, smiling faintly. “My death here closed the way out. Remember that—you must leave, before the end comes. And-”
“Always?” he said. His voice shook. “Then you’re...trapped? I...I never wanted you to be-”
“Don’t be sad,” Jean said. “Killing you was my wrongdoing. Staying behind to train you was all I could do to make amends, and I have no regrets.” She reached up, cupping his face between her hands. “And now you’ve gone and grown up.”
“Jean-”
“I’ll always be here,” she whispered. “You’ll never truly be alone. Remember that.” She was still watching him, still smiling, but her skin was paling. Going translucent. In an instant, she was little more than smoke, a mirage. He couldn’t feel the warmth of her hands anymore. “But it’s time, now. You have to go.”
He grabbed it, trying to hold on. “Wait. I’m not-”
She was already gone—but he felt her lips brush his cheek. “Work hard, Librarian,” she murmured.
And then there was only him.
Almost. He lifted his eyes, clutching the necklace more tightly.
Alexandria stared back at him.
“You’ve decided?” she said. She wasn’t blinking, wasn’t moving, but her hair swayed with the slightest currents of the breeze.
Daniel glanced down. The familiar golden book shone up at him, clasped in his palm. And then he nodded.
The chain clinked as he lifted the necklace, settling it back around his neck.
“Yeah,” he said at last, looking back to her. “I have. You’re annoying as hell. But I can’t just leave you, can I?”
She smiled, but her eyes remained deadly serious. “I am not satisfied,” she said.
Daniel blinked. “W-What? Um...Okay, I guess I can give a speech or something, if you’d prefer.”
She didn’t sigh, as such—she just turned her head, looking away, and he got the distinct impression her nostrils flared. “Madis,” she said, enunciating each syllable carefully. “I am not satisfied. He can’t be allowed to run free. Not when I was so close, after so long.” She lifted her hand, letting her gaze fall to it. Blood-red droplets of ink coated her skin, starting to soak in little by little. “I won’t allow it.”
Daniel rocked back on his heels, his eyes going wide. “Uh.”
First Indira, then Jean, and now this. His head spun. “Look, I...I’m not anything special, out there, and he left, right? I don’t know what I can really do.”
Alexandria looked back to him. “You are the Librarian.”
He pressed a hand to the pendant hanging around his neck. The weight of the stylized book pressing into his chest had never been so comforting. “Yeah,” he said, more softly. “But outside of the Library, I’m just-”
“There is no ‘outside’,” Alexandria said. She drew herself up taller, her gaze indignant. “You are the Librarian. You carry me wherever you go, and with me, the gifts I’ve given you.”
This was news to Daniel—but a glimmer of light drew his eyes down to the well, and the water that pooled in its depths.
Water that he could still see churning through the outside-world air.
“You understand.” The voice was smug, satisfied, and Daniel looked back. She was smiling—and as he watched, she extended a hand toward him. “This is what you are. This is what we are. You decided as much, yes?”
He wet his lips, then nodded. “Y-Yes. Only, out there, I’m...trapped, a bit. I don’t see how I can-”
Alexandria made a tiny, irritated noise, jabbing her hand toward him again.
He hesitated a moment. This was stupid. Whatever she was asking for, it was beyond him. He’d still be stuck on some chair, surrounded by people who’d as soon shoot him as let him leave.
“Trust me,” she whispered. He looked up. She was smiling, then, small and faint.
Daniel groaned, rubbing at his face. “Fuck it.”
His palm slapped into hers—and the well erupted.
Daniel had a moment to yell, his words lost to shock, before the waters enveloped him completely.
Her hand stayed around his, though, even as the ground fell away from beneath his feet. Reality was shifting, changing around him. He could hear voices calling, ones that were all too familiar, and not in a good way. Alexandria was kicking him back out into the hornet’s nest.
Before the thought was fully formed, though, her fingers laced with his, squeezing tightly.
He could hear her laughing, low and soft under the roar of the water and their enemies.
“The Librarian never truly leaves his Library.”
Daniel opened his eyes—and the Booklender’s house stretched out before him.
Distantly, his mind whirled, trying to make sense of this. He couldn’t remember waking up—and he’d been drugged, besides—but he was awake, now. He definitely couldn’t remember standing, but he was on his feet. His hands were still bound back, but something surged within him. Something powerful.
Break it, he heard Alexandria whisper. It can’t stand in your way.
All around him, figures were starting to stir as the intruders came awake. Rickard stumbled to his feet, rubbing at his face. Madis was on his knees, his hands flat against the ground, but showed no signs of going farther.
Alexandria’s hand slipped free of his, but he felt her take his shoulders a moment later. Don’t hesitate. Your chance is now, Librarian.
Daniel gritted his teeth, flexing. Blue light
