Page 32 of Liminal

Ah, she’s opened the Botany Hall windows.

I step forward, slapping North on the shoulder. “If we survive this…” and I’m not convinced we will.

“I’ll owe you.” He grunts, like it’s obvious.

I frown at him. “I was gonna say, I hope you’ll let me meet Eddy.”

I want to do something nice for the girl. If she’s had to put up with North’s grumpy ass for this long, she deserves a cake. A chocolate one with thick, sickly sweet frosting and maybe some sprinkles to counteract his bitterness.

All thoughts of baking flee my mind as I step through the doorway into the Arcanaeum. Because there are orange and black streamers everywhere, paper chains strung in cheerful garlands between the shelves, and pumpkins decorating the desk.

We’ve entered into the Rotunda—that vast, circular hall where the Librarian’s desk is located—and directly opposite me, hung by shackles from the end of a bookshelf—is a skeleton that might actually be real.

My chest does a happy little flip. I’d only casually mentioned that it would be cool if she decorated the place for the holidays yesterday, but now…

“No. No, no, no.” Kyrith is lecturing someone, her back to us as she waves a hand at an enormous pumpkin beside the desk. “This is ridiculous. This is a hall of learning, not some tacky establishment taking advantage of an over-commercialised pagan festival.”

Her hand shoots out, and the pumpkin disappears.

Wait, my brow furrows. Shedidn’tdecorate? Then who did? She’s arguing with them with a kind of easy familiarity that makes a swirling bolt of…jealousy stir in my gut.

Normally she saves her boss lady voice for me, but she used it on Goodberry, too. My stomach sinks. I thought it was ourthing.

I edge around the room, searching for the other person who has the right to be here after hours, Galileo by my side. She’s arguing with…nothing.

There’s no one there.

Is this a ghost thing?

“Hey, boss lady?” I inject careful cheer into my voice. “You okay?”

Kyrith whirls, those beautiful sad doe eyes fixing on me in shock. “Mr Winthrop.”

I wince internally as she uses my family name again and raise a brow. Hell, I’d take ‘Bertie’ over ‘Mr Winthrop.’ That discomfort is quickly banished, however, when those same eyes trace the lines of my arms. I flex a little and am rewarded when her gaze darkens. Even for a ghost, she’s really pretty. Like a medieval pin-up girl made… Well, not flesh, but you get the idea.

“Erm, we have tutoring?” I lift the book in offering. “I got sixty-three percent on the last paper, so I brought you a thank you present!”

Kyrith’s mouth drops open as she dumbly accepts the book. “Sixty-three?”

The pages rustle, the glossy front restored effortlessly without her even whispering a word, then it disappears entirely. Then her eyes stray to my biceps, and I grin as her lips part slightly.

“It’s his best grade yet,” Leo says, interrupting smoothly. “I brought the paper so you can look over it and decide where to focus next.”

She’s already tugging at her sleeve, and I eye the crack in her ghostly blue form, wondering if it hurts her.

Her expression breaks, going from concern to a soft, genuine smile. “I’m glad. We can aim a little higher, though, surely? You’re better than sixty-three.”

I shrug, because it still feels like a win. A step on the right track. “Come on. Did you decorate our study nook, too? It looks great.”

The building does one of those strange tiny rustles, the ones you get used to after a few hours of being here, and Kyrith’s frown returns.

“Let’s go.”

Her lack of answer confirms it. She didn’t do this, and she has no idea what awaits us.

As it turns out, it’s awesome. The colour of the stuffed leather chairs has turned a black and orange checked velvet unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and the table has a spiderweb design burned into the surface. There are even tiny bats hanging on strings from the ceiling above.

“This is epic!” I trace the lines as I drop my grimoire down. “Hey, are you going to do Christmas next? I love Christmas!”