Page 15 of Dragon Compelled
“Hardly. The library has never been more at risk. Just now, we managed to slip through a portal and walk clear across the ground floor without so much as spotting a single keeper. Which begs the question: Why are you in here when you should be patrolling?”
“Girl’s gotta eat,” Blossom retorts.
“Then where is your comrade? Your second?”
Blossom snorts. “Can’t wait to tell Mag he was referred to as my second.”
“Where is he?” Tawny asks again, her tone agitated.
“Patrolling,” Blossom replies sweetly. “You must just not have seemed important enough for him to pay you any attention.”
Tawny shakes her head. “Complete disarray,” she says though I have no idea if she’s talking to Oliver or herself. “We’re lucky this place isn’t falling down brick by brick.”
Oliver doesn’t answer her, too busy munching a mouthful of pizza.
Anger flushes my skin. “Excuse me? We’re doing the best we can, given the circumstances.”
“And what circumstances are those?” Tawny asks. Her tone has gone from agitation to sweet mockery, venom dripping from every word.
“The circumstances that left me in charge without so much as finishing my training. Hoc didn’t have the chance to teach me anything before—”
“Before what?” she asks when I pause. “Tell me exactly what happened to your predecessor?”
“You don’t know?” I ask, mentally scrambling as I try to figure out how much to tell these strangers.
“I only know he stopped responding to my messages days ago. We came to investigate and find you with the mark of the librarian—and him nowhere to be found.” She glowers. “What became of him?”
I look to Blossom, who shrugs.
I give her the bare-bones truth. “He was kidnapped and pulled through a portal by a man who infiltrated this library.”
“Infiltration.” She shakes her head, not at all looking surprised. Did she already know? Did the library tell her? Can the library make reports to humans? “As I said, complete and utter disarray.”
“Council or not, you better watch your mouth,” Blossom snaps.
“Or what? Any threat you make against me is a threat to this library. I could have your sentence extended like that—” She snaps her fingers.
Blossom lets loose a low growl but thankfully doesn’t continue.
“Let’s talk in my office,” I say, holding out an arm toward the door. I need to get them both out of here before Blossom does something stupid and skewers the woman with her horn.
“Very well.” Tawny turns on her short heels and walks out the door like she owns the place. Oliver is slow to follow, but he winks at the both of us, a half-eaten slice in his hand, and heads out after her.
“Don’t like either of them,” Blossom says. “She’s a bitch, and there’s something off about him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has someone chained in his basement.”
With a nervous laugh, I touch her arm. “It’ll be fine. But warn Aries, please? Don’t let him be seen when he gets back.”
“Paige. He’s officially allowed to be here. It’s fine.”
“Maybe, but they don’t know how he got here in the first place.”
“Fine. But you can’t hide him forever,” she warns.
“I know. But just long enough to come up with a plan.”
She nods. “I’ll let him and Mag know when they get back. Just keep tweedle-bitch and tweedle-creepo away from me.”
With a half-laugh and a deep-breath, I make my way back to my office.You are head librarian, Paige. You are the boss.My mantra deflates as soon as I walk in and see Tawny behind my computer.
