Page 11 of Chaos
None of these bitches I’d done jobs for would give me the time of day helping me either. I was going to have to change my flight and take a huge chance. There was one place with massive amounts of knowledge that was open to everyone if you could pass their test.
None of my family even bothered applying for a library card at the Library of the Profane, but I needed to. The process of getting a card was pretty famous. It involved blood, and there was no way to cheat.
It was worth a try. I had nothing to lose if I got denied. The Five of Swords was no joke when you drew The Lovers and that many Major Arcana.
I was going to apply for a library card. I needed access to some of the books on Tarot cards in the library. Hopefully, the fucking library itself wouldn’t hold one relative five hundred years ago against me.
Chapter 10
Chaos
I
certainly, enjoyed this century. People had come a very long way, and in some ways they had seriously regressed. I wasn’t just reading books and trying to come up with my new name. I was watching patrons in my witch’s library.
Computers and cell phones were marvelous inventions. There were no computers in the library itself, but Ripley had one. The cell phones were supposed to be put on silent in the library. Ripley was absolutely adorable in her fury if one went off despite the rules. I offered to turn them into rodents because it made her so angry, but she seemed satisfied with just kicking them out.
Still, I’d seen them on their phones. Ripley wanted things as quiet as possible in her library, so you had to whisper, or she’d give you this look. I understood the no talking thing, but some people just sat there staring at the device in their hands like they’d been put in a trance, even with all the beautiful books here and the amazing architecture.
I could read books way faster than anyone on this planet. The writers of these books must have been confused about how wolves had sex because there were so many variations about what a werewolf cock could do. I was getting confused. I still hoped Ripley would invite one to our bed when we were married so I could experience it myself.
I was a god, but I was good at sharing. If Ripley wanted to sample the wolf, too, it would please me to watch.
I was spread out on one of the reading couches surrounded by books. Ripley hadn’t taken me out of this library yet, but honestly, I didn’t mind. Her familiar hopped on the table and glared at me with his bright green eyes. I loved all animalsexceptcats.
I was there when animals were created. They were all given a purpose except the cats. Cats killed for fun and were so aloof. I never understood why people revered them next to gods. And in this century, you couldn’t go anywhere on the computer without seeing a photo of someone’s cat. I thought they were cute at first, and I liked their independent spirit, but they always seemed to hate me, and if I tried to domesticate one, they took joy in destroying my things.
I looked up from the book in my lap and glared at this black cat. If he was a familiar and allowed in this library, he was surely a tame cat. I wouldn’t say I liked the way he was looking at me.
Another thing I enjoyed about this century was iced coffee and Oreo cookies. It wasn’t just the regular Oreos that were good either. They made different flavors, or they made them double stuffed. It was quite brilliant. Food wasn’t allowed in the library, but Ripley allowed me my coffee and Oreos.
I considered that a huge win because she was a stickler about every other rule in the library. I got it. She took pride in this place, and she had every right to. I admired that about her. She also knew I could just wave my hand and disappear any mess if I made one. I never did, but I cleaned up all the same.
This fucking cat. He looked me dead in the eye as his paw came out and toppled all my cookies onto the floor. He assaulted my Oreos for no reason, and it wasn’t like I could hurt her familiar without losing Ripley. I’d never hurt an animal, anyway.
Still, a lesson needed to be taught. One that wouldn’t cause an ounce of pain but would remind him every day not to fuck with me. I flicked my wrist and hit him with a bit of magic. He let out this screeching yowl and bolted for Ripley.
That cat was going to rat me out, but it had to be done. It was funny. Even Ripley could admit that when she saw how I upgraded her familiar.
Chapter 11
Ripley
I
could hear Felix’s cry of distress from across the library. I asked him to check on Chaos for me because I had two wolves in here asking for books on their pack history. The whole ancestry craze with the humans was also a thing with the supernatural community, and this was a common request now, but digging up if we had specific books on packs, clans, or covens always took a lot of research.
I dropped what I was doing and took off running for the fiction section. I swear, if that god hurt my cat, I would figure out how to get him back into the aether if it killed me. Felix met me in the middle and jumped straight into my arms. He was shaking in terror, but he didn’t seem to have a mark on him.
I stomped over to Chaos’s favorite couch and glared at him. He was just sprawled on the sofa with a book in his lap like he hadn’t just terrorized my familiar.
“What did you do to Felix?” I demanded.
“He assaulted my cookies, so I taught him a lesson. I didn’t hurt him. I upgraded him. If you actually look at him, you’ll see his unharmed.”
“He had the cookies stacked so precisely on the plate like it was a work of art. I’m still a cat. I couldn’t help it. I knocked them over.”
I sighed and held him to my chest.
