“Come along,” Crow said, towering over him. “Alexandria’s boon has been given. Now, it’s time to go.”
His head whipped up, his eyes narrowed and teeth bared. “I said, give me a little more-”
Crow snapped her fingers, taking a step back. A cacophony of leather cracking shut exploded across their corner of the study.
Owl shuddered away, clapping his hands over his ears, and watched all of the books on Bill’s desk snap themselves closed one after another.
Each of his books shot toward the shelves, settling neatly into empty slots and open racks. The man lunged for the nearest one, his face beet red, but it flew from the tabletop with all its fellows.
“As I have said, Mr. Parker,” Crow said, reaching down and grasping the single book remaining - his narrow-bound journal. She lifted it, presenting it to him with both hands. “Your time has expired. It has been my pleasure to be your host through the years. If you’ll accompany me to the exit, we’ll-”
“Uppity bitch,” he muttered under his breath, snatching the journal from her hands.
She stood like that, carefully motionless, as he stalked past her toward the exit. Her chin dropped faintly, her mask turning toward Owl. In the sudden, deathly quiet that had settled over the study, he could almost hear her grinding her teeth together.
Without a word to him, she turned, sweeping off after their guest.
Despite Bill’s rage of a few moments before, it wasn’t long before Crow caught up to him - and then outpaced him, going from lagging behind to leading the way. He dragged his feet, glancing down each doorway they passed and back up to her, as though hoping he could make a break for it and hide within their shelves.
Each time, Crow only slowed, turning her head the faintest amount to glare at him. And each time, he scowled and hurried onward again.
His pulse racing, Daniel couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief as the beautifully-worked doors to Alexandria’s entryway appeared ahead of them. His steps quickened, pulling him closer to Crow and their charge.
She paused at the doorway, holding it open for him, and her fingers brushed against his shoulder reassuringly as he scurried through.
“This is ridiculous,” Bill was already saying, spinning to face the Librarians. “You lot have been sandbagging this entire time. Sabotaging me. I’ll have you know, I-”
“I hope that your stay has been productive, sir,” Crow said, stepping past him to the rack on the wall.
The door she’d been holding open shut with an audible, final-sounding click. Owl jumped - and from the corner of his eye, he saw Bill twist to eye the latch. Something hid underneath the anger in the man’s expression. Something that looked an awful lot like fear.
He cleared his throat, sucking in a lungful of air. “You’ve rigged that clock, haven’t you? Who put you up to this? Was it Williams? Whatever he paid you, I’ll-”
“Here we are,” Crow said, pulling a card free. Four red stamps gleamed on its surface, filling all of the neatly-printed boxes. She held it out, letting it catch the light from the lanterns overhead. “I think you’ll find everything is in order, sir.”
“I’m so close,” Bill said, and now it was more plain than ever. The anger faded, draining away with every word the scholar spoke. He’d gone from brilliant red to ashen grey in a scant few moments. “Please. I can’t- There’s no way for me to finish research like this out there. If I fail here, I’ll-”
“I’m very sorry,” Crow said, more quietly. Her fingers tensed against the card stock, her chin dropping to her chest.
Flickers of red sprang up to join the lantern-light. Sparks flew from her fingers, catching across the paper’s surface.
Bill sprang forward, a cry on his lips - just in time to see Crow lift her hands, letting embers and char fall to the stonework floor.
One scrap drifted down slowly, still showing a red stamp on its pale surface. Another moment, and it vanished into cinders.
“Thank you for your patronage,” Crow said, and she bowed.
Owl jumped when she kicked his boot, remembering himself. He dropped low alongside her, bending forward at the waist. He couldn’t quite trust himself to speak, but decided that was for the best. The man probably didn’t want to hear from him right then.
When he lifted his head, peering up, he found Bill seething, his face twisted into a mask of emotion.
Behind him, the front door swung open. Light poured in through the gap.
“Safe travels, sir,” Crow said, stepping forward when it became obvious the man wasn’t going to move. She took his arm, turning him around, and led him on. “I wish you new fortunes.”
Bill Parker’s spluttered curses vanished as the door swung shut again, closing him out of Alexandria.
And then they were alone, the two of them sealed into that empty chamber. Owl’s head rolled back, settling against his shoulders. Gone. He was gone - finally. And it hadn’t come to blows, no matter how much he’d feared the man would take a swing at Crow.
She turned on her heel, striding back toward him. “There,” she said, pausing in front of him. “Just like that. Simple enough, yes?”
“Y-Yeah,” he said, brightening. “And he’s really gone?”
“Can’t come back,” she said, a wistful note entering her voice. “A year’s all they get, Daniel. He’ll never walk these halls again.”
“Oh.”
She stretched her arms over her head, flexing every muscle. “That’s....That’s it. And with that-”
Owl cringed. Her words had taken on a crisp, businesslike edge.
“-It’s time you got back to the others, hmm?” she said.
“...Right,” Owl said, taking a step back. “I’ll...I’ll get back to it.”
“Thank you, Daniel.” Her murmured words drifted in his wake as he grabbed for the door, letting himself out and hurrying on his way.
* * * * *
Owl crept closer to the rack of books, peering this way and that. Tired, aging parchment crackled under his fingers. He
