The shelf-door squeaked shut behind him with a long, low groan. He refused to look, keeping his eyes on the hall ahead. It was low and dark, like a spy’s secret passageway. Warm wooden panels pressed in on either side, occasionally punctuated by a shelf of books or trinkets. And it wasn’t a straight shot—every dozen paces or so Owl would find a sharp turn in the corridor, like it was winding through the space between rooms.
Just when he thought he’d seen everything Alexandria had to offer, she surprised him with something new. A smile lit up across his face, however guilty the gesture was. Keep your mind in the game, he hissed mentally, forcing his attention back to the front.
After another three twists and a low half-staircase, though, he was greeted with a single door, carved from plain wood. He surged forward before he could second-guess himself, latching onto the handle.
It gave way, dumping him unceremoniously into the sitting room. He froze. “W-What? Here?”
This was the heart of Alexandria, one of the most stable locations within her walls. Why would she bring him here? “Are you letting me go?” he said, brightening. “I….that’s great. But, uh, I was going to come back here on my own. Tonight. Without you needing to-”
He froze, his eyes going wide. No, he hadn’t misheard, and he hadn’t imagined the noise. The words he’d been about to say vanished, fading to nothing.
And in the silence left behind, he could hear the distant sound of someone pounding on the door.
- Chapter Six -
Someone was here. At Alexandria. Owl stared, his mind going totally and completely blank.
But...how? He’d closed the Library to guests. He’d allowed Indira in, yes, but...was that it, then? He wouldn’t answer her mail, and so she decided to take things to the next level?
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Owl muttered, still fixated in the direction of the noise.
If he ignored the pounding, whoever it was would probably go away. He just had to wait, to hold out for long enough that they got the message.
Surely.
He sank into one of the chairs, wrapping his hands about themselves, and waited.
The pounding continued unabated.
“Come on,” he whispered. His eyes bored into the fireplace, drawn by the dancing embers. Each slam of their limbs against the door rattled through his bones, yanking him back out of his reverie. And...they weren’t stopping.
Alexandria had pointed him in this direction, hadn’t she? She’d steered him straight to the entrance, as though she wanted him to see whoever was knocking on their door. As though she was trying to tell him this was important.
She was a damn building, Owl reminded himself. And he was the Librarian, a living, breathing human being. It wasn’t right that she liked to pull his strings back and forth so much. But...he sighed. As usual, his own feelings on the matter didn’t seem to be taken into account.
He stood, stifling a groan, and turned toward the entryway.
Every step he took was slow and long. The thought of going out there, of talking to...to whoever it was, somehow repulsed him to his core. His feelings on the matter hadn’t changed—it was like giving in. Giving up, letting Alexandria have her way for the thousandth time. He’d have to endure the conversation about guests yet again, and he just didn’t have the answers.
Just once, it’d be nice if someone else would give him some damn answers.
His hand lingered on the handle of the door. He hesitated, leaning his forehead against the wood. Was this really what he wanted to do?
The pounding began anew, and he flinched. He’d expected for the sound to be...close. Right on the other side of the door. But there was still an odd distance to the noise that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Instinct took over in an instant—and he leaned into the door, pushing it open before him.
Empty. The entryway was…empty. But-
The door ahead of him shuddered, and he jumped. Someone was banging on the exterior door, the one directly at the front of the now-darkened room. Owl’s eyes tightened, and he crept forward. The door glowed from behind with the same light as always, but now...he could see a dark patch under the door. Feet. Someone was standing there, between Alexandria and the Edge.
Well, shit. He was walking before he even realized it, hurrying across the room toward the door. He had his beef with Indira and the Booklenders, but that didn’t mean he wanted anyone to get hurt—and there was no telling what’d happen to someone caught outside of the Library. He’d wondered about the Edge, now and again. He’d even flicked bits of paper and wood into it. They’d simply...disappeared. Winked out of existence.
He didn’t want that to happen to a person, even if he was upset.
“Hold on,” he muttered under his breath, surging forward. His hand lifted, closing around the handle and-
“Oh, come on!” a woman cried, from the other side of the door. “Let me in! It’s important!”
Owl froze. He knew that woman.
He just hadn’t expected Olivia to show up on his doorstep.
She continued hammering away at his door without pause. She had to have one hell of an arm, the whispers in the back of his mind noted. And her hand had to be on fire.
“Owl!” Olivia cried, between the knocks. “Owl, open the door! Please! I’m- I’m sorry. Just-”
She was sorry? A low laugh slipped from his throat, in the same moment that his hand slipped from the handle.
The door rattled as he released it. He stared, eyes narrowed. Alex. What the hell. Are you trying to-
“Owl?” Olivia said. The pounding stopped. “You’re there, aren’t you?”
He swallowed a sigh. So she’d noticed, then. She always had been observant. That was half the damn problem—her observing things she shouldn’t have been.
“Please,” she said, and a weight hit the
