“You’re the only one left with magic,” Bree said. “Out of all of us.”
“You’re special, Ana,” Arach said. “I think the success of this mission may come down to you. Give it everything you have. Whatever magic is inside you—use it. Use your premonition gift to find the spell. The Protectorate needs you.”
“But I have no control over it.”
“You must obtain the control. You need to save yourself, but also everyone else. Save your friends. Save your sisters.”
Fates. No pressure.
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Good. I’m counting on you.” She spun on her heel and drifted away, back into her room.
I turned to my sisters, knowing that my face was probably white as a sheet. “I need a Plan B. There’s no way I can just call on my premonition power and solve this.”
“Any idea what it will be?” Bree asked.
“Well—”
Two other students stepped into the hall. Lavender and Angus. The jerks. They eyed me as they passed.
“She doesn’t stand a chance,” Lavender muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. “Not qualified to be here.”
I seethed but shoved the anger down deep. I didn’t have time to respond. Not when so much was on the line. “I’m going to the library.”
“What about the meeting in the round room?” Rowan asked.
“Skipping. I really need to get started on this, and I need something to help jumpstart my premonition sense, since I certainly can’t do it on my own. Will you update me if anything happens?” I tapped the comms charm around my neck.
“Sure,” Bree said. “We’ll tag team this.”
“Good luck in the library with Potts.” Rowan shuddered.
The day librarian was a mean old bastard. Given the choice, I’d have waited until night, when Florian, the ghost librarian, took over.
But time was the last thing I had.
“Thanks, guys.” I left, hurrying down the hall toward the library. I passed more than a dozen people on my way, and every one of them looked dejected and stressed.
They were all hunting the spell, and they’d lost control of their magic. I almost thought I could see the dark shadow of magic that surrounded them, repressing their power.
I was nearly to the library when Caro, Ali, and Haris turned the corner and bumped into me.
Caro’s platinum hair gleamed, but her eyes were duller than normal. Her silver leather jacket was speckled with blood—not her own, from the looks of the pattern.
Ali and Haris weren’t kicking their usual hacky sack between them, and their dark skin was pale. Their eyes were also duller.
“How’s your magic?” I asked, even though I knew.
“Gone.” Caro frowned.
“It’s the bloody worst,” Ali said.
“Second that,” Haris added.
“Where are you going?” Caro asked. “There’s a meeting in the round room.”
“Library.” I explained my plan.
Caro grinned, the first sign of the spunky girl I was used to. “I like how you think. But we’ve got some info that might help.”
“Italy,” Ali said.
“Italy?”
“Exactly.” Caro nodded. “We were in Beijing, tracking word of new bad guys in town. We came across a group with a silver circle tattooed on the back of their necks.”
My eyes widened. “So did I. In Paris.”
Ali’s gaze sharpened. “It must be their symbol.”
“And maybe Paris wasn’t the only invader’s city that these guys were in,” I said.
“It sounds like a large operation,” Haris said.
“No kidding.” Caro gripped my shoulder as if to impress upon me the seriousness of the situation. “This group—the ones in Beijing—they mentioned something about a drop-off in Italy.”
“Dropping off the spell, maybe.” My heart thundered. “This is a good clue.”
“So Italy means something to you?” Ali asked.
“It could. I have an idea where to look. A rough clue. Lachlan will tell you all about it in the meeting. I have a feeling the teams will split up again, each going after different info.”
Haris rubbed his hands together. “The race continues.”
Caro grinned. “I like it.”
“Good luck,” I said. “Let me know if you learn anything else.”
“Will do.” Caro grinned and turned, then looked back. “When this is all over, you’ve got to teach me how to paint, okay?”
I nodded. I’d promised her earlier, but we hadn’t had a chance. Not that I knew what to teach her. I just painted by instinct, slopping colors on in whatever order appealed to me. Fortunately for me, it usually looked damned good.
But I liked the idea of having a friend date. I wouldn’t trade my sisters for all the gold and kittens in the world, but it was nice to have another friend. We’d lived on our own so long, wary and afraid of forming connections.
I turned and headed toward the library. The heavy wooden doors beckoned, and I pulled them open. As soon as I stepped into the massive, book-filled room, the fireplaces on each wall burst to life. The orange flames shed a warm glow on the brightly colored leather spines of the thousands of books in the library. Paintings hung on the walls—some of them even hung over the books, and they all glowed in the light of the fire.
High against the wall, I caught sight of Mayhem, the winged ghost pug. She had a rag gripped in her teeth and was rubbing it against the spines of the books.
“Earning your keep?” I asked her.
She yipped.
In front of the fire, two plush dog beds contained the other Pugs of Destruction—Chaos and Ruckus. They snored in front of the flames. Chaos’s devil horns glinted in the light, while Ruckus’s fangs gleamed on either side of his lolling tongue.
I grinned at them, then searched the library for any sign of Potts, the day librarian. He’d chew my head off if I messed around in his library without him knowing it. I was willing to face down a half dozen demons, but I was not willing to get on Potts’s bad side more than I already was.
“Oooooh, oooooh!” Ghostly wails echoed from somewhere in the library’s recesses.
I grinned.
Jackpot. It was Florian, my favorite ghost librarian. Bonus—I’d get to avoid the miserable Potts too.
“Oh my fates, what terrifying apparition is this?” I cried, laying on an accent that I most closely associated with a rich lady from the 1800s.
It probably sucked.
A ghost drifted out from the wall. He was young, with thick glasses that magnified his eyes and clothes from the eighteenth century. His fancy wig was a bit askew, but I wouldn’t dare tell him. Florian Bumbledomber, the ghostly night librarian, could be quite sensitive.
“Did I scare you?” he asked.
I nodded. “Totally.”
It was Florian’s greatest hobby, scaring the library visitors.
“I’m glad you’re here, but why isn’t Potts? It’s the middle of the day.”
“He had to attend the meeting in the round room.” Florian sniffed, as if offended he hadn’t been invited. “So I’ve taken over for him.”
“Thank fates,” I said. “Because I really need your help.”
He brightened. “You do? But why aren’t you at the meeting?”
“I’m hunting answers. I already know what they’ll talk about.” I tapped my comms charm. “And Bree will update me.”
“Excellent plan. What do you need?”
I explained the clues I’d been given—an ancient conqueror’s city, likely in Italy. A place that was literally full of ancient cities.
“Ooh, that’s a doozy,” he said. “There are quite a lot of places like that there. You’re going to need the ghost library.”
I smiled. I loved the ghost library.
He led me toward the far wall, which towered high, piled with books, then veered toward the left corner. A large wooden door was hidden in a nook, and he pushed it open.
A wall of cold air rushed out, carrying along the scent of paper and leather and magic. Shining sparks drifted on the air as I followed him into the best part of the library.
It was an enormous circular area, making the huge room we’d left behind look miniscule. We stepped out onto a platform in the middle of the ten-story space. The walls soared high above us and dropped down far below. The huge empty section in the middle allowed me to see all of the circular levels filled with books.