Page 24 of Dragon Compelled
Love is such a fascinating emotion.
Oliver shakes his head. “It’s incredible. Now that you’re head librarian, you hold the keys to each and every one of these worlds, and you’re the only one who can protect them—and protect what’s out here.” As he talks, I find my thoughts drifting off, thinking about the last time I strolled through the stacks intent on protecting them.
The night I’d freed Aries—
“Look out!” Oliver roars and pushes me out of the way just before an entire shelf topples over. I scream, adrenaline and something far more powerful surging through my system.
A book falls open, pages flipping wildly as if driven by a non-existent wind. Or a purposeful, invisible hand.?Beside me, Oliver stares, white-faced and wide-eyed as a massive werewolf sparks into existence, coming right from the pages of the book.
“Get back! Blossom!” I scream as I wrap my arms around Oliver and pull him back.
The creature growls, showing yellowing teeth that are dripping with saliva. Its black hair sticks straight up all over its body, and when it walks, it moves on its two hind legs, hunching over and slashing out with clawed hands.
“Blossom!” I screech again.
“Here,” she calls out moments before bringing her blade up and slicing out, removing the thing’s head before it so much as growls again.
Blood splatters the front of my clothes, but thankfully, since Oliver is behind me, his remain clean.
Blossom breathes heavily, her face red. “That was a sprint. You okay?”
I nod. “Thanks.”
Oliver doesn’t say a word, but Blossom ignores him.
“What happened!” A screeching feminine voice has us all turning our heads. Tawny stares down at the werewolf, her eyes wide.
“It got out,” Blossom says simply. “I got rid of it. Happens sometimes.” She turns and walks away without another word.
“Get back here!” Tawny orders.
Blossom turns. “Cleanup is not in my job description. Have fun tracking the gnomes down for that one.” She continues walking, leaving Tawny staring furiously after her.
“Do you have no control over your people?” she demands, whirling on me.
“She’s not wrong,” I reply. “The gnomes guard, but they also work clean up.”
“And how do you expect tiny creatures such as them to lift something of this size?”
“They don’t lift it,” I tell her, pettiness creeping in around the shock of what just happened. “They eat it.”
The way her face pales makes the lie way worth my time. Truthfully, they do move the body; they’re just far stronger than they look. And if anyone’s going to eat it, that would be Bingo—but I don’t tell her that. “How did the thing get out?” she asks, running her hands over the front of her suit jacket.
“I don’t know.” But my hands shake because I do know. Whatever twisted magic it is I have slipped out when I’d gotten scared of the shelf falling on me. Even now, I can feel it tingling along my palms. No matter how much I try to ignore its existence, it’s determined to make itself known. “Maybe whoever pushed the shelf down freed it.”
“And who might that have been?” she demands.
Adrenaline surges through me again, and I look around us, scanning the area for any clues. How is it possible? Could it be? Or is there someone else? Did the creature escape andthenpush the shelf down? But no. I watched it appear—after the shelf fell. Shit.
“Paige,” Oliver says softly.
“What?”
“I asked you who pushed the shelf down,” Tawny says.
I meet her gaze, fear icing my veins as I try to process the potential possibility, as well as how he managed to slip out when Aries and Mag haven’t managed to find Hoc. “It had to be him,” I whisper.
“Who?” she snaps.
