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I nodded and tried to keep the panic that rushed through me from showing on my face. “Yes ma’am, I vacuumed and dusted, and emptied the garbage cans. Is there a problem?”
She bared her teeth and then pursed her lips, a truly weird expression. “When you left the library, were you certain to latch the door behind you?”
I frowned while my heart raced. I had absolutely no recollection of the door in my rush to change and make out like a bandit. I licked my lips. “I usually double-check the doors, but I can’t say for certain. Why do you ask?”
“You’ll have to see for yourself. Leave that and come with me.” She turned and headed back down the stairs.
I scowled at the mop bucket because this meant that I’d have to go down to the library then come back up here and take care of the mop bucket afterwards, which would take extra time that I didn’t have tonight when I was meeting a gargoyle, that is, if he came, and if he wasn’t a delusion. With a sigh, I followed her.
The library had been hit by a tornado mixed with a firestorm. Shelves had exploded back, and the center of the space was black charcoal with fluttering pages of papers. I stood there staring, just staring while horror rippled through me, making my stomach churn and nausea climb up my throat. How could someone do this to books? Books hadn’t ever hurt anyone, unless you were talking about the magical demon-possessed ones that would seriously kill you.
“So, Gabriella Doe, did you or did you not latch the door last night?” Her voice had a thread of rage and panic that made me swallow hard and shake my head.
“I think that I latched the door.”
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me, rattling my teeth while her bony fingers dug into my skin. “You think that you latched the door?”
“Mrs. Hanley, you should probably release the help, you know, so that you can keep having help, and so that she doesn’t submit one of those pesky notices to her union, or whatever it is that maids have. Do you have a union, Red?” Percival the Contemptuous curled his lip as he sneered at me, but only for a second before refocusing on the library. “What happened? It’s not monitored, but surely the hall outside the doors are, so that you can see what came out and in.”
“The cameras were taken out,” she said, shaking me again, hard, like a terrier with a rat. Her eyes were so bright, panic and anger covering everything else. My shoulders would be bruised because her very strong fingers dug into me through the black dress through the white slip, painfully squeezing before she shook me again.
Percival moved very close to her and said, “Do you think that the magicless maid could have done this damage? No. Did she leave the door unlatched? Honestly, do you think that a creature who could tamper with video and do this amount of damage would be slowed down by a quarter-inch piece of metal? It doesn’t matter whether she did or not. You should send her home early, because she’s clearly in shock from seeing something so alarming. Perhaps if you give her a nice bonus, she won’t tell everyone that one of the students at Gray College is playing at summoning demons.”
With a shock of pain, she released me and stepped back, blinking rapidly. I scowled at Percival while my shoulders throbbed. She’d really hurt me and somehow it all seemed to be his fault. That’s right. If he hadn’t distracted me with sneaking out books, I wouldn’t have left the door unlatched, and then this mess would have happened somewhere else, unless someone got in and summoned a demon using the books here.
“You’re dismissed,” Mrs. Hanley said tersely.
“For the night,” Percival added, with a slight incline of his noble head.
I spun on my heel and marched out, crunching over charcoal that used to be books on my way. Once I got into the hall, I collapsed against the wall and rubbed my arms while panic and horror rose higher and higher inside me. Summoning demons wasn’t a small thing. Someone had summoned a demon in eighteen-sixty-four, and brought a war between angels and demons on this earth along with it, nearly wiping out humanity in the process. No one should ever summon demons, particularly in public libraries.
“How bad is it?” Percival said, his voice right next to my ear, which made me jump out of my skin and whirl around, glaring up at him.
“Demons? How could it possibly be any worse? Did you do it? Are you the idiot confident and egotistical enough to think that he can raise a demon and handle it?” I jabbed his chest, but the strong muscles were too offensively perfect for me to touch for long. I crossed my arms instead, glaring at him.
He studied me with a slightly raised brow. “I meant your shoulders. You should go to a healer and have an ointment put on them. You could put in a complaint against the Gray College, but you mentioned something about liking this job, so you’ll probably just endure the misery and abuse like a true martyr.”
I curled my lip at him. “I’m not a martyr. You know that better than anyone. Did you do it? Did you raise a demon?”
“I did not raise a demon, which you would know if you remembered that I’m the most intelligent student at this school filled with gifted and clever people. Maybe you should find a new job for a few weeks until this mess gets figured out.”
“I’m the maid. Cleaning up messes is what I’m paid to do. There’s no way I could find another job that paid as well with such flexible hours.” My stomach twisted at the memory of the destruction, not only of the books, but the smell, like brimstone and sulphur. My stomach didn’t feel so good.
“The pay must be incredible. You won’t be allowed to touch the mess though, not unless you’re certified to dispose of infernal materials. Are you secretly demonic? That would explain your bird.”
I shoved past him, heading outside. I needed to take care of the mop, but I’d do it later. Every sound on my walk home made me jump. Knowing that demons who wouldn’t hesitate to torch a library were running around Singsong City made my scalp itch. I was almost to the corner when someone grabbed my arm, whirling me around.
It was Rynne looking out or breath and horrified. “Hey, Gabby, didn’t you hear me yelling at you? What’s going on? Why are you going home so early?”
I stared at her. She was an employee of Gray college, so maybe the non-disclosure binding wouldn’t count with her. “I’m not feeling great.” I had a million things to tell her, but how could I explain? I wasn’t interested in being sued by the school, so I just smiled wanly. “Just a flu bug. I’m going to go lay down.”
“Oh. All right. I’ll tell mom not to expect you tomorrow at work. Sunday afternoon, let’s hang out. You can tell me about what’s going on.” She gave me an apologetic smile, but what would she have to apologize for? It wasn’t her fault that she could use magic properly and, therefore, wasn’t the idiot who left the door unlatched. She could probably prepare a spell that would mitigate the binding if that’s what I wanted, but then I wouldn’t be able to not tell her about the gargoyle. If he came after all.
“Sure. I’m fine, Rynne. I promise.” Was I? The steady throbbing in my shoulders would be a problem if I didn’t get that taken care of, but I just so happened to live with a healer who made a mean bruise balm.
Rynne looked skeptical, then followed Poe’s flight until he landed on my shoulder. The sharp pain from his claws faded into a dull throbbing almost immediately.
Why are you out early again?
