Page 112 of Liminal

The poor players get hot shrapnel to the face for their efforts, and the deafening siren that announces the match is over adds insult to injury.

“They won?” Eddy jumps up, clapping, and streamers in black and gold fall from the ceiling like glittery rain.

The Arcanaeum is celebrating.

The commotion finally wakes Jasper, who yawns and surveys the room with sleepy eyes before smiling at Eddy’s enthusiasm.

“Go team,” he mumbles, pushing himself upright.

The cheering is so deafening that Dakari heads over to the projector and mumbles an incantation to mute it. I offer him a thankful nod. There’s no point listening to them lauding Lambert, who’s currently disappeared under a pile of his teammates.

“Did he score yet?” Leo strides back into the room, resting his hands on the back of the sofa as he stares intently at the screen and then nods in satisfaction when he spots Lambert being hefted into the arms of his teammate, another dumb little finger heart aimed up in our direction, followed by pleading eyes with his palms flat together.

Magic only knows what that’s about.

“Good. I gave him enough motivation.”

I, however, am less than pleased.

“Why would you do that? Who knows how many people saw?—”

“Give me some credit,” Leo interrupts. “I waited until the alpha was invisible and Lambert was checking the board. It was up for two seconds, max.”

“Still, I have a reputation to protect. I’m the Librarian, not some lovesick girl wishing him luck from the stands.”

Leo raises a single, disbelieving brow and runs a hand through his curls. “Does the Librarian typically wear players’ jerseys and sulk over their mostly platonic interactions with other women?”

He didnot…

Eddy sinks back onto the sofa and stuffs another mouthful of popcorn into her mouth with a shit-eating grin on her face before offering the bucket to Jasper, who declines.

I summon Leo’s card—which is so long that it’s been concertinaed into a thick wedge to prevent it trailing to the floor—into my hand, and Leo shakes his head. “Don’t be rash.”

Rash?Me?!

There’s a fraught second where everyone holds their breath, and I run through all the reasons why banishing him is a bad idea twice-over.

“You’re lucky the Arcanaeum likes you, or I’d banish you for the insult.” I dismiss the glowing card and settle back into the sofa cushions. “Don’t do that again.”

“He needed to score high in this game or the team might not make it to the finals.”

I refuse to dignify that—or his assumption that my approval mattered enough to motivate Lambert—with an answer.

My eyes flick back to North just in time to watch him turn to face Pierce, then the footage cuts off.

He must’ve taken off the necklace. Suspicion narrows my eyes, but Eddy disrupts my chain of thought as she bounces up onto her feet, abandoning her popcorn with a smile.

“That’s my sign to head to bed. Night guys.”

Then, like a whirlwind, she’s gone. Leaving me surrounded by Jasper, Dakari, and Leo. I should make some excuse or demand they follow Eddy, but I don’t.

“I should head home,” Leo eventually says, collecting his coat and book from the chair.

My expression falls carefully blank as my eyes flick to the clock. Almost time. Part of me wishes that I’d accepted Lambert’s offer, even though I know I did the right thing in turning him down. He’d probably try to hug me to comfort me or something else that would only end badly.

Impulse control is not his strong suit.

I barely notice Jasper collecting the heart-and-rainbow-covered blanket and saying his goodnights or Leo leavingthrough the same door he used earlier. When I finally escape my doomed thoughts, only Dakari remains.