“Daniel!” he heard Leon cry. But his friend froze a moment later, his eyes widening.
Leon’s skin was lighting up. Already, he glowed like a torch, building by the second. As though he was a dreamer.
“N-No,” Daniel mumbled, furrowing his brow. “Not...Not a dreamer.”
Alexandria was sending him home. But- She’d only do that if-
Daniel crumpled, hitting the ground hard. With a flash of light, Leon disappeared.
His cheek hit the floor, and-
His eyes opened. His blood roared in his ears, his heartbeat thundering.
“There,” someone said. A hand was on his face—and a man was leaning over him, with a stern face and dark hair. Daniel blinked, trying to focus on him, but his eyes wouldn’t cooperate.
He’d seen that man before. He’d been there, at the garage. Then- He had to be-
The man looked away, taking a step back. “He’s up,” he said. “All yours.”
As quickly as he moved away, someone else took his place. “Yes, I can see. Thank you, Janik.”
Rickard loomed over Daniel, smiling faintly.
“Good morning, Librarian.”
- Chapter Thirty-Two -
Out of all the sights Daniel would have wanted to wake up to, this was none of them.
He jerked back, his limbs tensing, but something dug into his wrists. They’d bound him, he realized. He was sitting in what felt like an office chair, his hands pinned behind the seat back.
Blinking, he swallowed, stealing a glance at his surroundings. It looked like...a house, but one that’d been converted into some sort of home office. Figures milled about, watching with half-hearted interest, and-
His eyes snapped to a familiar pair of figures in the corner, against a wall. Olivia. She sat propped up, a purplish-green bruise spreading across her cheek and a dribble of blood oozing from her nose. She stared right back at Daniel, wordless.
Will crouched alongside her, one hand gripping her shoulder. He wouldn’t meet Daniel’s eyes at all—but he edged toward Olivia, a physical wall between them.
“There will be time for reunions later,” Rickard said. Daniel turned back to him. He circled a few steps away, peering around a corner. “We really should begin, if we’ve gone to the trouble of waking him. Tonya?” He raised his voice at the last, leaning through a doorway, but made a face. “Where was-”
“I-I’m here,” a woman said, hurrying into the room. “I’m here. Was there, um. Were you-”
She stopped dead when she caught sight of Daniel. He saw her hands tremble, and then she balled them up into fists.
“Ah,” Rickard said, breaking into a smile. “There you are. It’s about that time, wouldn’t you say?” He gestured toward Daniel, almost deferential. “If you’re ready.”
“Right,” Tonya whispered. “Yes, of course.”
She didn’t move, though, only stared at him as Rickard bustled off behind her. “Miss Booklender!” Daniel heard him cry. “We require your presence!”
What the hell was all this? Daniel glanced to Olivia, but her eyes drooped. He’d never seen her look this defeated before. It didn’t suit her.
But she wasn’t dead. He took solace in that much. In this shitshow, she’d managed to stay alive. That’d have to be good enough.
A flurry of motion brought his eyes back front and center, in time to see Indira slip from one of the hallways. Her lips parted as she saw him, then pressed tightly together. “Librarian,” she murmured, clasping her hands. “I am...so sorry. That it’s come to this. That-”
“Now, now,” Rickard said, patting her shoulder as he strode back into the room. “He was given the chance to choose differently, and warned of the consequences should he not. We must focus on moving forward from this, now.”
Indira nodded, her eyes darkening. “I suppose.”
“Still playing by someone else’s tune, eh?” Daniel mumbled, shooting a look at the guildmaster. “You could do whatever you wanted. You can tell yourself this is justified, but-”
“I believe that is enough chatter,” Rickard said. He turned to Daniel for a moment, raising an eyebrow, but glanced to Tonya. “Mistress Telepath, if you will?”
Tonya nodded again, licking her lips. “Yes. Straight away, Rickard.”
Rickard slowed in his pacing long enough to reach out, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. “It will be fine,” Daniel heard him murmur. “Remain centered. We are here by your side. You will not lose yourself.”
She smiled weakly. “I know,” she whispered.
When she turned her gaze to Daniel, it hardened, and he flinched back. Well, he tried to. The chair only rocked, not giving him more than a few inches of movement.
Before he could say a word, she vanished from sight behind him—and a hand settled onto the back of his head. He jerked away at the unwelcome touch, and her fingers dug into his scalp.
Something pushed against the edges of his thoughts.
Daniel gasped, shuddering. It was...utterly impossible to describe, just a jumble of flashes, feelings and emotions and fragments of sentences. His mind wouldn’t focus. It was like someone had taken their hand and shoved it straight into him, into the core of his being.
It’s wrong. That much, he knew. His sense of self rebelled against the touch, pushing back with all the strength he could muster.
“H-He’s fighting,” he heard Tonya mumble. “Putting up shields. I can’t-”
“Keep going,” Rickard said, his voice soothing. “Keep trying.”
So it was working, was it? Daniel grinned, squeezing his eyes shut. Big, strong walls—that was what he needed. Tall oaken trunks. Thick, heavy stone bricks. He forced his thoughts to zero in on that as best they could, fixing the image in his mind. Stay out, he willed, even as the red-hot brand tearing a streak through his thoughts burned deeper. Go away. I won’t-
“S-Stop,” Olivia whispered. “Please. Don’t-”
“Quiet,” Indira said. “You’ve caused enough trouble.”
He was holding his own, but losing ground. The burning hand ripped at his barriers, etching away the wood and stone like useless styrofoam. He gritted his teeth, hands clenched.
Another moment, and something in his mind seemed to crack. His back arched, a wordless cry on his lips as that other presence surged in through the gap. He grabbed for his defenses throwing them into the telepath’s
