Page 20 of Liminal

God, if she were alive…

“Mr Winthrop?—”

“Don’t mind me, boss.” I grab one of her piles of books with a wink. “I’m just here to help tidy up. Point me to where you want them.”

I’ll help her put them away. It can’t be easy being the only ghost running the place.

Those huge, dark, doe-like eyes widen with alarm. “Put them down!”

“You can barely see over them,” I object, but do as she asks. “Plus, if I do this, I can skip the weights at the gym tonight. Do you know how heavy this shit is?”

Oh, shit. Maybe she doesn’t. She’s a ghost. She can’t lift things. “Sorry, boss,” I apologise easily, glaring at the books that are keeping me from offering her a hug.

One day she’ll let me. I’m irresistible, after all.

“Lambert Winthrop,” Goodberry splutters. “Your rudeness is unparalleled.”

Can he seriously not see how uncomfortable he’s making her? I roll my eyes at him. “Look, professor, I’m not the one making an ass of myself in front of the entire building. Did no one ever teach you no means no the first time?”

“My word on the matter is final.” The Librarian dismisses him, and he turns on his heel with a huff, stalking away. With him gone, her attention turns to me. “Now, I’m very?—”

Shit. I can’t let her disappear. I’ll be damned if I fuck up my part ofThe Plan.

“I need your help to find my course books,” I interrupt, giving her my best kicked puppy look.

It would work better if I had brown eyes, but the effect is the same.

The tiniest smoothing of the lines between her brows is the only indication that I’ve managed to melt a little bit of this pretty ice queen.

“Mr Winthrop?—”

“Just Lambert, boss lady,” I say, interrupting her again.

“That would be?—”

“I’m not gonna respond to ‘Mr Winthrop’ anymore,” I decide, grinning.

She releases a huff of irritation. “Mr?—”

“Ah ah ah.”

Arcanists around me are shooting me looks which range from exasperated to downright aghast. They probably think I’m being rude or just stupid.

But she was a person. A real person. Someone needs to treat her like one. Maybe it will banish the sadness lurking behind her eyes.

“Lambert,” she concedes, and I can practically smell the smoke coming from her ears as she floats around her desk. “You’re being too loud. Other patrons are trying to work.”

“Not a rule.” I shrug.

“It’s implied!”

She turns almost translucent as she floats beside me, keeping her arms pinned to her sides awkwardly.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” I check, because I don’t want to be anything like that asshole.

“Don’t think so highly of your abilities.” She means it as an insult, but I grin.

“Never a problem, boss. Now, where on earth am I going to findAn Introduction to Basic Alchemical Runeforms?”