Page 16 of Broken Destiny

Gilly gives me instructions for how to use the interacademy mail system, some magical device that sends messages to the recipient in seconds. While we wait for a reply, I take the package from Avery. His fingers brush against mine and the tingles refresh. His skin is pleasantly warm, unlike the stories I’ve heard of turned vampires. The package is nothing more than one overdue book cleverly disguising a list of the books Dighit would like…immediately. I roll my eyes and set it to the side. He can wait until we reopen like everyone else.

Duggar appears out of nowhere and offers to show Avery where he’ll reside before we get an answer back from Dighit. The goblins’ certainty that he’s become one of my guardians without an answer makes me feel more vindicated in selecting him. I would have hated to get his hopes up if he weren’t actually able to leave the douche’s service.

As the male goblin leads Avery out into the foyer, I glance at Gilly. “I have questions. First, I thought the library was closed? How did he get in? Second, there’s only one room in the guardhouse. How many guardians am I to have?”

“The door will only open for your guards or Ansel until we reopen officially.” Ah, so that’s how she knew he was to be enlisted. “And four,” she responds as if the number isn’t negotiable. “You saw the doors in the foyer when you entered, correct?” I nod, remembering the plain doors I’d seen on each end of the rectangular foyer. “Each door leads to two apartments similar to yours where your guardians can reside when they’re not on duty. One may choose to stay outside if they prefer. I doubt they will. The gargoyles do a sufficient job of defending the exterior of the library.”

Surprise flickers across my face. I’d thought the gargoyles were alive but had attributed the suspicion to my overactive imagination. “It seems as if the library is actually pretty good at protecting itself,” I start slowly. “I mean, it was just fine while there was no librarian.”

Gilly pauses what she’s doing and looks at me, her strange eyes serious. “You choose to believe that the guards are for the library. They’re actually for you. The library is weaker without you, so the most efficient way of attacking the library is to attack you. Whoever imprisoned you as a child knew that.”

Ansel had hinted at something similar, but hearing it from the goblin makes it seem more real. “Everything that happened to me as a child? It’s because I had the potential to become the librarian?”

She nods. “That’s the most reasonable explanation. They wanted to control the library through you. That person won’t be the last to try. Your guardians will provide you with protection.”

I consider her words as more snippets of memory attempt to push into my conscious mind. No. I’m not ready yet. I mercilessly push them back into the fog. I’m not safe. I don’t know if I’ve ever been safe, but as the librarian, I’ve become a target. My eyes rise toward the stacks and stacks of books and the glowing dome at the center of the roof.

So be it. I will die protecting this place. At least then I can say my life was worth it; my pain was worth it.

Chapter Eight

Zosia

I’m still waiting for Dighit’s response across the magical device when Avery returns. He has a small smile on his face, and he walks as if he’s aware of everything that isn’t animate as well. He can see more than auras; if I were a gambling woman, I’d bet money on it. How anyone has ever considered his impairment a handicap, I’m uncertain. Duggar returns with Avery to the front desk just as I’m standing for a stretch. My crooked right femur makes it challenging to sit for long periods which is why I’m not in the chair all the time. It’s certainly easier than the crutches.

“The primary purpose of your position is guarding the librarian,” Duggar says in a grave tone, and I fidget with the pens on the desk. I still feel as if I’ve overstepped myself and really hope that I don’t have to go back on my word. Avery’s eyes flick toward me, their silver brightness far more aware than sightless eyes are.

“I should probably know more about Mistress Zo so I can be prepared.” The statement makes sense, but it also sounds like a veiled attempt to learn everything about me. That’s not something I’m comfortable with yet.

“Just Zo, please, or Zosia, if you can pronounce it correctly.” His attractiveness hasn’t made me tongue-tied, which is actually a shame. Sometimes I hate what comes out of my mouth.

“Zosia,” he says softly, and I shiver as tingles spread down my spine. Everyone calls me Zo, mostly because no one can say my full name properly and I tire of correcting people. Even still, most people call me Zoee, which I hate almost as much as Sasha. He says my name perfectly, though, practically flawlessly. The Zo is a long, drawn-out ‘o’ and the ‘sha’ is perfectly crisp. “It means wisdom in Hebrew, does it not?”

My eyebrows rise. “Actually, yes. My name givers could either see into the future, or they were hopeful. My entire name means the guardian of wisdom.”

“So, you are an Abram?” His voice is almost awed. I discreetly stretch my legs as I answer, glad he can’t see the details.

“I am, although I admit I don’t know what that means. I can’t remember my birth parents, and I wasn’t raised in the magical world.” That’s half-lie, but what I can remember was not in the magical world. Being magically tortured doesn’t count because I wasn’t receiving lessons on the critical points of the supernatural world.

Avery’s brows rise, but he doesn’t ask the probing questions the information usually provokes. “The Abrams family is a legend. They guarded the library of Alexandria before it burned down. Then, when the only remainders were brought into this library, they took over the protection of this one.”

More shivers ripple down my spine, and I make plans to research the origins of the library the first chance I get. I need to know more about my history and the legacy I’m protecting. I’m saved from an answer by the crash of the front door. It makes me jump and stumble backward. Thankfully, the chair is there. I collapse into it. Magic must keep it still so that it doesn’t fly away from the desk with the addition of my weight.

Avery and Duggar turn as one, although the goblin disappears in the next blink. Avery appears as if he’s ready to battle on my behalf. His eyes flash red and his hands clench into fists. He moves so that he’s between me and the door, although the massive wooden desk might be more efficient. Then again, maybe not. In the tense lines of Avery’s shoulders and lean back, I glimpse a hunter and a fighter. He might be a born vampire, but every vampire needs to be a fierce predator to survive.

Ansel’s voice drifts through the foyer doors. “I have my own duties to attend, Dighit. I can’t be roused from them the moment you have an issue with our new librarian.”

I sigh and prepare to do battle. Of course, Dighit couldn’t have contented himself by replying with a magic telegram. I stand again, grabbing my crutches to support my aching legs. I won’t be able to do much more today, and I hope Gilly will forgive my weakness. A glance upward reveals that it’s grown into late afternoon. I barely remember the food that appeared halfway through my lesson of the library’s blueprint.

Dighit doesn’t answer Ansel as he bursts into the library with the other man hot on his heels. “What is this nonsense I hear? Avery, why haven’t you returned?”

I consider meeting Dighit, but I feel much stronger behind the desk. “I believe I sent you the reason for that,” I tell the pompous ass. The library has bestowed me with the conviction to back myself up, even if it hasn’t given me the physical strength. I needn’t have worried, though. Avery remains between his master and me. And although Dighit also presents an imposing figure, Avery is taller. I’m not surprised to see a flash of fear in the douche’s eyes as he stares at the born vampire. Of course a man like him would subjugate someone he feared.

“You can’t just steal my servant!” Dighit exclaims. His words bounce off the interior walls, irritating the library. She doesn’t like people yelling within her space. In that matter, she isn’t so different from a standard library.

“Actually, she can,” Ansel answers for me. I’m grateful for the backup because I wasn’t sure that I could. Relief finally relaxes my shoulders. Ansel eyes Avery and flashes me an approving look out of the corner of his eye. “The librarian has the supreme right to choose her guardians from any supernatural on the campus.”

Ah, so there are limitations. I take note of them, almost glad that I’d dragged Kodi along now. My next step will be getting him on board and hoping the library approves of him.

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