He was scared. Floating in the iron sights of his pistol, the sight stuck in Daniel’s mind. This man was scared—of him. Of dying. Of being killed by him.
You are the Librarian. Allow none to come to harm within-
Daniel jerked his chin to the side with a hiss, still trying to wrench himself free from his sandy shackles. He wasn’t in Alexandria, and he wasn’t the damn Librarian. The Librarian wouldn’t be this helpless. Right now, he was just Daniel, and that made him fuck-all useful at a time like this.
Stiffening, he lowered his chin. His finger squeezed on the trigger, tighter and tighter, until-
The gun roared to life with a crack that echoed in his ears. His arm bucked along with it, jumping with the force of the recoil.
But it was dirt that sprayed from the impact point, not blood. Daniel stared, eyes glued to the plume of grass and grit rising from alongside the man he could only assume was a mage.
The man shied back, throwing his arms up—and just like that, the ground fell quiet beneath his feet. Cries sprang up around him as his fellows started to backpedal with more purpose.
That’s better, Daniel thought, a tiny smile toying at his lips. Even if he’d missed. He’d show them they couldn’t-
“M-Move!” Leon yelped. Daniel flinched—then lurched, suddenly heaved upright.
Leon had his shoulder, he realized. Maybe he’d never let go. But he’d hauled Daniel out of the muddy ground without so much as flinching. A heartbeat later, it was his turn to dart away, dragging Daniel behind.
Daniel still clung to his pistol, his heart hammering in his ears. He’d- He’d shot at someone. “L-Leon,” he said, fighting to get a grip. “W-We...We should-”
“Just run!” Leon cried, pulling him on. “Shut up and run!”
The houses were dark around them, Daniel realized. No lights had come on. No doors had been thrust open to expose angry, worried residents here to see what had happened. Why? They were all out here screaming bloody murder. He’d fired a gun. Someone should give a shit about that.
There was no one, though. Daniel shook his head, stumbling, and forced his feet back under him. Time enough to worry about that later, when they’d gotten out.
He grabbed for Leon’s elbow, tugging the man as they ran. “Here,” he gasped. “T-This way.” His car lay ahead, coming into sight as they charged into the line of ragged trees. “W-We can-”
Another thudding step, and the ground quivered beneath them again. Daniel glanced down, his heart in his throat.
It didn’t fall apart under them, though, and the yells from behind were...distant. Distant enough that the worry in his chest eased a little. Not far, and then they’d-
Another crack—accompanied by a shower of bark and sawdust as something slammed into the tree alongside him. Daniel screamed, leaping away from the tree. Behind him, the bellows rose to new intensity. They were angry at something.
He couldn’t piece through what. His mind was too busy shrieking that someone had just shot at him. And he didn’t think they’d been trying to miss.
In another two steps, he surged out in front of Leon, hauling him along in his wake. It all fell away, then—the noise. The figures behind them, still trying to give chase. The fear, and the exhaustion, and the feeling of being totally helpless. For a brief, perfectly-sweet moment, all of that was gone.
There was just him, and Leon, and the car ahead. Daniel ran, faster than he ever had before. Faster than when Lenny had set the lab on fire. Faster than when he’d been with Olivia, and the whole Library had been ready to come down over their heads.
There was something pure about it. Mindless. His shoes pounded down, echoed by the slap of Leon’s bare feet against the asphalt. His lungs burned with every breath. With every quiver of the ground beneath them, he pushed faster, straining for a little more. Just another drop of speed, of power.
And then the car was there, a wall of plastic and steel for him to slam into. His hand thrust down into his coat pocket before he’d come to a stop, digging for his keys.
Leon darted away from him, to the opposite side. “Open it. Open it. Would you just-”
“I’m working on it!” Daniel snapped, finally pulling the fob free. The doors opened with a click loud enough to echo through his bones. Both of them hurled themselves inside, slamming the doors.
There was no wrangling with seat belts, no looking both ways in case someone was crossing the street. Daniel jammed the key into the ignition, twisting hard—and dropped it into gear, slamming his foot down on the accelerator in the same instant.
The engine screamed, shrieking its complaint.
Outside the window, Daniel saw the figures approaching, guns in hand. More than just the one man, now. Two of them. Three. They were leveling their weapons in his direction, with another pair approaching with hands wide.
The first of their shots peppered his bumper as he tore out of his one-time parking spot. Leon screamed, covering his head.
Daniel just kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, trying to force the sound from his mind and pretend he couldn’t feel the bullets slamming into his vehicle.
He had Leon. They’d gotten through the first challenge intact. They’d make it through the others, to. One way or another.
Even if he didn’t know how. Even if the end of all this was still a hazy blur, well out of sight.
With Leon’s house vanishing into the distance in his rearview mirror, Daniel sank lower in his seat.
And he drove.
- Chapter Ten -
The hum of the road filled the cab. Daniel’s eyes were glued to the road ahead.
“Are we being followed?”
He resisted the urge to turn, to glance back, allowing himself instead the briefest flick of his gaze into the rearview mirror. “No.”
Leon squirmed alongside him—and even if Daniel had the willpower not to look back the way they’d come, Leon didn’t seem to.
