Page 10 of Bright Soul

“Not that I know many shifters, babe,” said Ben. “But I think they’d object to being called cute.”

Her expression barely dimmed. “I thought shifters were only able to turn into bigger animals?” she asked.

Roe was the one to pitch in while everyone else waited in various states of nervous idleness. “There are shifters of pretty much every animal you can imagine. They just keep to their own clans for the most part.”

There was a loud snap. Several of us glanced over at Wren, who was chewing gum with a few aggressive pops in her mouth. “Two bucks says the kid ditched us,” she said.

“Let’s give him a little benefit of the doubt. The librarians will trust him more than us,” Cress said.

Wren released a little “hmph.”

A few minutes later, the cat shifter returned, leading a woman toward us who didn’t look much older than Cress and her friends. “Oh, wow. A real gargoyle,” she said, stopping short when she spotted me. “No wonder Steven was in such a fuss!”

The cat’s ears pinned back, and he growled before going back around the stack to shift back. I heard the rustling of clothes before he emerged wearing what he’d shifted out of. “There’s a gargoyle and a librarian, and they wanted to talk to you,” he said.

“Hi, I’m Aurora,” she said, waving to me shyly.

“Greetings. I am Geo.”

“Nice to meet you, Geo. Is that short for anything?”

“No.”

Ben muffled a snicker behind his hand. The librarian shifted on her feet, still looking uncertain as she took in our group. “Well, okay then. If you’re trying to find shelter, I’m afraid we’ve closed the library. There are dangerous, unstable creatures down below that are trying to escape their containment rooms. It’s not safe.”

“We are here to offer assistance and partnership,” I said.

“And Ashbough Protective Services is only a couple miles away to shelter and protect any civilians you might have,” Roe added, gesturing toward the shifter boy.

She glanced at him. “Oh, Steven? He’s practically our mascot. We, err…” She leaned in, lowering her voice. “Most of the staff abandoned Cerris City right before the lockdown. If you’re really here to help, jump in and do it. Those of us who stayed can barely keep up with what’s going on down below.”

“We definitely want to help,” Cress said.

“We’ll do so as a group, though. As a fair warning, you should know that many of us are new to our magic,” Roe added.

The other librarian nodded, waving the concern away hastily. “Let’s be on our way. The powercore is going to need contact with you first”—she nodded to Cress—“and then it will communicate where you’re most needed.”

Cress nodded, determination creasing her face. “Let’s go.”

6

CRESS

The powercore was on level sixteen of thirty. I eyed the buttons on the elevator’s wall as I descended in relative silence alongside Aurora and Geo, my handbook now perched on my shoulder. Since Geo refused to leave his gargoyle form, we would exceed the weight limit with all of us in here, so the others would follow along shortly.

Moongrove Library had had fifty floors, with many levels specialized for the containment of specific kinds of creatures, unnaturals, and artifacts. I’d met dozens of librarians who’d worked there, often seeing more than one person working every day on the more labor-intensive floors. To think Cerris City Library only had three librarians left. Even with its smaller size, it would become unmanageable quickly.

Geo’s suggestion that we come here immediately was rock solid…pun not intended. He was my protective shadow as we followed Aurora through a foyer that looked like it could be any modern office’s reception area and passed a waiting area with a cluster of plush chairs.

“What’s your home library?” Aurora asked.

“Moongrove,” I answered.

“Ah, I went to college at NSU too. The powercore here is different, and so is the process of drawing from it,” she said.

I quirked a curious brow. “How so?”

“Moongrove’s powercore felt a lot like talking to a person, especially when I touched it. It felt ancient and mysterious. There’s no mystery here. The powercore in this library is a computer,” she told us, gesturing us into the next room.

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