Chimes at Midnight

“Is it just me, or is getting hot in here?” asked May, causing Jazz to break into a peal of laughter. I wrinkled my nose at her, but I was secretly relieved. I would have either thrown myself at him or blushed myself to death in a few more seconds, and neither of those was a great option.

“You are all evil.” I slicked the wisps of hair that had escaped their net of ribbons back from my face with both hands, releasing the illusion that had been making me look human in the same gesture. “Okay. We have three problems. If the Queen of the Mists isn’t supposed to be in charge, who is? How do we find them? And how do we depose a sitting monarch who has her very own private army?”

“Remember when our biggest problem was ‘who turned the laundry pink’?” asked May. Then she sighed. “Yeah. Me neither.”

“Your guess is as good as mine on all of these topics,” said Tybalt. “Even in my misspent youth, I never attempted to depose a monarch of the Divided Courts. Only my father, and I doubt our means of succession would hold in the Courts of Oberon.”

“Probably not, but . . .” I paused. “Maybe we don’t need to guess about any of this.”

“What?” said May.

“What?” echoed Jazz and Quentin.

“Li Qin has a Library card.” I dug my phone out of my jacket pocket. “Maybe she can get me a temporary pass or something.”

Tybalt blinked. “That is a surprisingly thoughtful, nonviolent solution.”

I stuck my tongue out at him as I scrolled through my contact list, finally locating the entry for Li Qin Zhou, current acting regent of Dreamer’s Glass. She was the widow of Countess January O’Leary of Tamed Lightning, and the adoptive mother of Countess April O’Leary, also of Tamed Lightning. She was also the only person I knew who might be able to get me into the local Library.

The phone rang twice before Li Qin picked up, with a cheerful, “October! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today. Has Treasa turned up?”

“Not as such, no.” Duchess Treasa Riordan was technically the regent of Dreamer’s Glass. It was a real pity she’d gone and gotten herself stranded in Annwn, leaving Li Qin to mind her fiefdom. And by “real pity,” I mean “too bad she didn’t do it sooner.” “I need to ask for a favor.”

“Anything. I owe you.”

“Yeah, you do, but you might want to hear what I need before you agree to it. Can you get me a Library pass?”

There was a pause before Li Qin asked, “May I know why you need one?”

“Stuff. Important stuff. I’m not going to burn the place down or anything, I just need to look a few things up, and the Library seems like the best starting point.”

There was a longer pause. Then Li Qin said, “I know when you’re not telling me everything.”

“Fine. The Queen just exiled me from the Kingdom. I have three days to get out. I’m sure you’ll hear about it in short order, since neither Dreamer’s Glass nor Tamed Lightning were on the list of places it’s okay for me to go and hide. I need to get into the Library to find out whether there’s anything I can do to keep myself here.”

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place? The Librarian owes me a few favors, and I suppose it’s time I collect. I just . . . have you ever used a Library before?”

“Not in the fae sense,” I said.

“All right. I’ll see what I can do. If I can get her to agree, I’ll call you.”

“Okay. That’s cool. I appreciate it.”

Li Qin laughed. “Of all the things I expected you to ask me for, Toby, a Library pass was not high on the list.”

“I’m full of surprises. Open roads, Li.”

“Kind fires,” she responded, and hung up.

I turned back toward the others. “Li Qin’s going to see if she can get us into the Library.”

“You didn’t say ‘us,’” said Tybalt, voice suddenly sharp. “You just said you needed a pass.”

“Oh, Maeve’s teeth. I’ll explain when she calls me back, okay?”

Tybalt nodded. He didn’t look completely mollified. I’d worry about that later.