Page 16 of Dragon Compelled
“Excuse me? That’s my desk.”
“You are farther behind than I thought.” She removes her reading glasses and stands. “Let me see if I have this right. Your head librarian vanished under mysterious circumstances, and the library chooses you—a girl who could not even perform her tasks as a keeper to replace him?”
“I performed my tasks just fine, thank you,” I snap.
Tawny is unimpressed. “We are notified of every mistake made in this library. And ever since Hoc allowed you on the floor, incidents have increased tenfold.”
“That’s not true.” I clench my hands into fists and cross over, taking my seat behind the desk so she has to stand in front if she wants to talk to me.
“Might as well be,” Tawny replies.
“Can we go a little easier on her, Tawn? She did just lose a friend.” Oliver slides down into a chair.
I lost a father.I want to scream at them that Hoc was much more than afriend,but I bite my tongue. Given I arrived during the last big chaotic battle this library faced, I keep that part to myself. Explaining to them that he kept, shielded, and raised me as his own would likely not be the best course of action right now.
“She is head librarian, Oliver, and there is no going easy on her when her job is literally to prevent the destruction of the world as we know it.”
“Destruction of the world?” I nearly choke.
Tawny’s dark gaze narrows. “What exactly did you think the purpose of this library is, girl?”
“To contain the magic and ensure the creatures remain safely inside their books.”
“Yes. Because if they get out, the world will never recover. There is no magic strong enough to close that box should it be opened.”
“I know all of that. I just—”
“Didn’t think your job was that important? Didn’t realize just what you were accepting when you took this position?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” I snap.
“There is always a choice. But don’t worry. We will be making it for you once we get a better grasp of this situation.”
“What does that mean?” I demand.
“It means the council has the power to veto the library’s selection of leadership,” Tawny says. “If you can’t prove to us that you can handle this place, we’ll find someone else who can.”
“I don’t plan to remain in charge.”
Tawny’s glare narrows on me. Even Oliver looks surprised. “Excuse me?” she asks.
“Look, I am doing everything I can to find Hoc and bring him back,” I tell her. “So he can take over again. This is his library. His office.”
Something in her gaze softens, but it’s gone so fast that I feel like I might have imagined it. “Hoc is gone. Your focus needs to be on running the library and not destroying it.”
Grief tightens in my chest. “You can’t just give up on him.”
“It seems the library already has,” she says.
“What—”
“The library moved on when it chose you,” Tawny says. “And since it deemed you a viable option, I’m giving you one chance. But if you screw this up, we’ll have to take action.”
“Action?” I choke out. “What kind of action?”
“The kind that a keeper faces when they are no longer useful. We will remove you.”
“Wait.” I throw up a hand. “You’re not going to just demote me?”
