Oh, now she was all apologetic, was she? Owl glared at the door, taking half a step back. That was all fine and dandy. She could have all the regrets she wanted. It wouldn’t make him change how he felt on things. He’d made his decision and-
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,” Olivia said, her voice thin and tight-drawn. “You have to believe that. I...I know you want your space. I get it. I wouldn’t push. So…” Something squeaked against the wood, like fingers hard-pressed to it. “Please. Understand that if I’m here, it’s...it’s important.”
Owl might as well have been a statue. He stood there, fixed in place. Should he turn and go? Should he stay and listen to what she had to say? Would Alex even let him leave if he decided to?
“Please,” Olivia whispered. “Please, Owl, let me in. Just for a minute. Let me...Let me tell you what I need to, and I’ll go. I promise. No tricks.”
She wanted in? Owl snorted derisively, unable to hold the noise back. No. No, she was just trying to pull a hail-Mary attempt to get through the door again. Undoubtedly it was more of Indira’s meddling. She’d sent Olivia to mend bridges, to try and repair the damage that had been done to their relationship.
No. He didn’t need that. He didn’t need her. He turned on his heel, drawing himself up a little taller. “Goodbye, Olivia,” he said.
“It’s about James,” Olivia said.
She couldn’t have startled him more completely if she’d jabbed him with a cattle prod. Owl froze in place, his limbs going rigid.
It’s about James. She’d said it—he hadn’t misheard. He was quite sure that she’d said the name ‘James’.
A name that he’d never, ever thought to hear on her lips.
“And Leon,” she said in a rush. “A-And...uh. Maya.”
All of them? The world dipped and spun beneath him. How? How did she know? He’d been careful. He’d never let anything slip.
How had this happened?
It had to be a bluff. The thought lanced through his mind, burning like a brand. It was a bluff, that was all. A ploy, to get him to confirm their identities. It was-
He clamped down on the insidious notion. That was nonsense. They already knew the names, so something had clearly happened. This was no bluff.
Now, he had to decide what to do next.
And how to keep his friends from getting pulled straight into the middle of this feud.
“Please,” Olivia whispered from the other side of the door. “Please, Owl. Just-”
He pulled the door open. Not all the way—he still couldn’t shake the suspicion that she was still trying to pull something over on him. But far enough to peer out, blocking the space with his body. If she wanted to get in, she’d have to get through him.
She smiled, though, the fog of the Edge roiling behind her. For a moment, Owl was taken aback at how…bad she looked. Her brown hair hung limp and lifeless around her face, tangled with snarls and knots. Her skin was paler than usual, with a dull grey cast to it. “Thank you,” she said. “Really, Owl. I...I know I-”
“Talk,” he snapped. His hand tightened around the wood of the door. If she was going to try and string this along, he’d end it here. “Now.”
“There’s not much time,” Olivia said, stepping closer. Every fiber of his being screamed to take a step back, to put more distance between the two of them, but Owl stood his ground. Only the Library was behind him, and damn it, he wouldn’t let her get any closer to Alexandria than she already was.
Which...how had she even gotten here? And why was she outside the door? Owl lifted his chin, eyeing her sharply. “Why?” he said. “Why the hurry? What’s-”
“Indira’s coming.”
For the second time in as many minutes, Owl rocked back on his heels like he’d been slapped. “Excuse me?” he managed.
Olivia’s lips tightened. “Those names I said before. They mean something to you. Don’t they?”
Damn it. He could deny it, but...what he said now didn’t really matter. They’d already made the connection. It was too late. “Olivia,” he snapped instead. “If your business is so important, hurry up and-”
“They know.” Olivia turned away, lifting her hands to rake through the mess of her hair. “God, Owl. They know. I...we…” She shook her head. “Indira knows there have been other people in the Library. People not part of the guild.”
“What did you do?” he whispered. “Olivia, what the hell did you-”
“It wasn’t me,” she said, whirling back to face him. “Or- I wasn’t- She had her suspicions,” she finished lamely. “She knew something was going on. There was too much. Strange stories from guests, about voices deep in the wings. Footsteps. Figures that’d appear and disappear, that didn’t seem there at all. She-”
Olivia shook her head, licking her lips. She kept tearing at her hair, pressing her hands to her temples. “She wanted me to win you over,” she whispered. “Yeah. It was wrong, and I’m sorry, but...on top of that...Will.”
“Will?” Owl said, his brow furrowing. “What do you mean-”
Will. Will, who’d spent his days alone in the study. Who’d always been left behind while Olivia and Owl wandered off for her carefully-orchestrated encounters. Damn it, he’d known Will had been up to something.
He should have wiped both of them blank before he ever let them leave, his morality be damned. There, with a flickering twinge of unease, he understood for the first time his predecessor’s rationale for erasing his child self.
“What did Will do.” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded flat. Cold. “Damn it, Olivia, what did you-”
“He caught a glimpse,” Olivia said, her eyes darkening further. “A look. He saw them.”
