Page 27 of Liminal

Still, my spine stiffens, and I sidle backwards incrementally, only to stop myself.

No. I refuse. I have had parriarchs in this Arcanaeum before. They have no power over me anymore.

Yet, when he looks at me, I feel like prey.Woundedprey. Staring down the eyes of a deadly falcon.

Sighing, I wave them towards the closest door, a narrow stained one with a crooked top, set randomly into a bookcase. “Until tomorrow.”

Lambert steps forward, arms rising as his megawatt grin levels with me. I dodge at the last second, flicking my fingers tothwackhim on his cute ass with a book.

“We agreed. No. More. Hugging.” Especially from an heir. It seemed harmless before, but now I can’t help but wonder if it’s a trap. If he knows, somehow, that he’s the key to my ruination.

“Sorry, boss!” He blows me a kiss as he heads for the door. “I’ll bring my A-game tomorrow, I promise. We got this!”

I cover my eyes with my hands, only removing them when the door slams closed behind him. Finally, they’re gone. Now I can?—

Galileo is still here. His quiet, observant presence startles me.

Meeting his gaze evenly, I try to ignore the urge to hide. Parriarch heir or not, I’m in control here. This is my Arcanaeum.

So why are his piercing ice-shard eyes making me feel so… exposed?

“Good night, Mr Ó Rinn.”

He shrugs his satchel over his shoulder and takes a last look at the study nook. “Goodnight, Librarian.”

Knocking on the door, he murmurs something too low to hear, and then steps through. I barely manage to catch a glimpse of the mist-drenched street beyond before it slams shut behind him.

“I don’t understand that man,” I whisper to the shelves, and they rustle in answer. “What does he want?”

But no one answers me.

Eight

Kyrith

Ispend the entirety of the next day thinking about those final moments with Galileo, cursing when I catch myself, then forcing my thoughts back to finding a solution for Lambert.

Cradling the syllabus like a sacred scripture, I wander between shelves in the Botanical Hall as if the books there will miraculously shout an answer if I stay long enough, then give up and merge into the Arcanaeum.

Perhaps drifting will solve the problem.

Wrong. All it does is give me more time to obsess over the intense stares of the heirs. That title, as much as I hate it, is another piece of the puzzle that is the nature of their friendship. I have no doubt that North—as the first Ackland to enter the Arcanaeum—is currently on Josef’s shortlist for a successor.

Three heirs, playing at alliances already.

A united group of parriarchs is a dangerous thing. In recent years, they’ve been squabbling amongst themselves, but if that changes…

By the time Lambert and Galileo return, my paranoia has grown until I imagine the sensation of ice running down the length of my spine.

This time, the Arcanaeum summons them through a door in the biography section and I sigh as I realise someone has put the books back wrongagain.Honestly, if they’re too lazy to put them back correctly, why not just leave them on one of the carts so they can be sorted properly?

Grumbling, because I’ve been having the same silent moan for literally the last five hundred years, I straighten my spine and face down the arcanists striding casually through the round green door.

“Boss!” Lambert calls. “I’m back!”

Oh, magic, he looks too enthusiastic. I can just sense another hug coming my way. At least Galileo, trailing behind him, is more subdued.

“I even brought you something!” he adds, brandishing a book at me with a flourish.