Page 17 of Dragon Unleashed
His brow lifts, and I find myself explaining despite the fact that this kind of info isn’t exactly something I share with just anyone. “I don’t know what I am, really. Twenty-five years ago, there was an incident here. They call it the Extrication. Long story. The point is, my book was destroyed but not before I was, well, extricated.”
“You came from a story too?”
I nod.
“And your people?” he presses.
“Unfortunately, no one else from my world made it out, and so far, any supernatural abilities I may or may not possess have yet to make an appearance. Basically, we’re not sure what I am.”
“And you live here—in the library?”
“Above it, actually, but yes.” I spread my arms wide to encompass my apartment. “Home sweet home.”
“Alone?”
Something about the way he says it sends a tingle up my spine. Or, more accurately, up my thighs.Damn sexy-ass storybook hero.
“Yes,” I say, forcing my voice even.
“You do not worry about danger or intruders?”
Honey, you can intrude me anytime.
“The magic protecting this place is pretty tight.”
Tight, Paige, really?
“And if anything comes through” —comes??Ugh, Paige, stop it!— “the keepers take care of it.” I decide not to mention the gnomes. Or Bingo. My vow of secrecy has some boundaries. “Trust me, the Athenaeum can handle itself.”
“You speak of this place as if it is a living, breathing thing.”
“I guess it kind of is.” I hesitate because this kind of info can get a girl fired and memory-wiped for sure, but Aries deserves to know where he’s landed. “The Athenaeum is a library thought to be lost to the ages of time and destruction of war.”
“I’ve never even heard of it.”
“Secrecy is part of its protection. Some legends have called it the city of Atlantis. Other stories refer to it as the library of Alexandria. A few humans think they’ve cracked the code and now refer to it as the Akashic Records. Anyway, basically, every story containing every world and creature and event ever to occur in the multi-verse has a place here. The sections are endless.”
“Sounds massive.”
I can’t help it, I glance at his junk barely covered by a buffalo plaid I’m not sure I’ll ever wash again.Okay. Now I’m grossing myself out.
When I look back at his face, his brow is lifted high.
So busted.
I clear my throat and continue. “The area I work in is sort of what you’d call a prison, I guess. The books there hold a horror that, if unleashed, would threaten your world or mine, or both.”
“And your job is to prevent that from happening.”
I sigh, deciding to just go for it and explain the full history. I mean, why not? We’ve come this far.
“When the library was first created, a millennia ago, maybe more, the magic bestowed upon it was ancient and powerful. That magic is a life force of its own and keeps the library from becoming known, breached, or otherwise from falling. No witch can scry for it, no sorcerer can conjure it, and no portal will open to it except for those who wield the mark of the library itself.”
“The library is its own well of power.”
“Exactly.”
He regards me carefully. “You truly did not conjure me then.”
