All right, so he was desperate for any crumb of time he could have with her. It didn’t matter if she scowled and glared and spat insults at him the whole time. He would take whatever she’d give him.
“Why would that make sense?” Beatrice spun the rest of the way toward him and ticked off on her fingers. “It would make more sense to search separately to maximize our efforts. And I can’t trust you not to sabotage our efforts just to torment me. Besides, I don’t really want to spend time with you, and I highly doubt you want to spend time with me.”
“You might be surprised.” He stepped away from the bookshelf, crowding her space slightly. That was the truth, or as much of it as he could tell her. He held up his hand and began ticking off just as she had. “If we search separately without coordinating our efforts, we could end up searching a book the other person had already searched. That would hardly maximize our efforts. And, no, I’m not going to sabotage our efforts to torment you. I have as much vested interest in our situation as you do.”
While he didn’t actually want to end the binding, he knew what it was like to be bound and forced to do things one didn’t want to do. He wouldn’t do that to another person. If she didn’t want to be bound to him as a fated mate, then he would do all in his power to free her.
More than that, her family was somehow connected to the Wild Fae Primrose. He wasn’t sure how, but the gossip at the ball the night before had confirmed that much. It was awfullycoincidental that the Wild Fae Primrose started operating in the court within a couple of years after this family of humans moved in. Beatrice didn’t know it, but she was going to lead him right to the Primrose.
“Vested interest in not finding yourself married to ahuman.” Beatrice planted her hands on her hips. “I know how you feel about humans.”
Benedict bit his tongue. He wanted to correct her. Desperately. But he had an image to uphold, and the fate of the Court—and the Library itself—depended on him keeping it.
So instead, he finally worked up enough nonchalance to shrug. “That could be my reason. It is certainly my family’s. Now, are we working together or not?”
“Fine.” Beatrice spat the word before she whirled away from him once again. “But we’ll start after our shift. I’m not going to shirk my duties at the Library for this.”
“Ah, I see.” Benedict’s grin actually held a hint of genuine emotion to it this time. “You’re going for the assistant librarian spot that will open up once a new head librarian is chosen.”
“And I’m assuming you’re going for it too.” She bustled away, the bookwyrm still balanced on her shoulder.
“Of course I am.” Benedict wouldn’t deny it. The promotion to assistant librarian would mean access to his own House. He could finally break away from his family and become the man he wanted to be rather than the one his family forced him to be. “May the best librarian win.”
That parting shot made her spine stiffen and her footsteps turn into stomps, much as he’d known they would.
Perhaps annoying her wasn’t the smartest plan, if he wanted to remain in this binding with her and if he wanted to get close to her.
But as she kept reminding him, he’d never managed to be smart when it came to her.
Chapter Six
Beatrice didn’t want to sound quite so desperate as she stood before Master Librarian Demetrius’s desk. “Are you sure you don’t have anything else for me?”
“Yes.” Demetrius glared at her in the manner that was uncharacteristic for him. He was generally aloof and taciturn, a stark contrast to his gregarious and dramatic wife, but he was usually friendly to Beatrice and her family, given that he was a friend of Basil’s. “Leave me be. I have work to finish up.”
Beatrice turned away from the table with a sigh. A glance at the other tables where the master librarians worked showed they were also finishing up their work for the day. No fae waited for help finding books at the moment, and several of the master librarians had left while the night staff was taking over.
At his table, Basil hunched over a book, flipping through it and occasionally jotting notes. He looked so absorbed that she didn’t want to interrupt, especially if he was working on her little problem.
Turning to the rest of the Library, she didn’t try to hide her grimace.
Benedict leaned a shoulder against the end of a bookshelf a few yards away, his arms crossed in a way that emphasized the breadth of his chest. When her gaze landed on him, a slow smirk twisted his mouth, somehow making his blue eyes even deeper. A few strands of his golden hair lay across his forehead in that way that just begged to be brushed aside.
Ugh. He was droolingly handsome, and he unfortunately knew it.
Dragging her feet, Beatrice trudged over to him. “Well. I guess we’d better get started.”
“Don’t sound so glum. It might not be as bad as you think.” Benedict straightened off the shelf. As he did, she could see that he hadn’t merely been crossing his arms, but he had one of the bookwyrms snuggled in his arms.
The sight sent something like betrayal through her chest. The bookwyrms wereherfriends. How dare they snuggle up with her nemesis.
Yet he, too, was an apprentice librarian. He was as much a part of the Library as she was.
“If anything, it will be worse than I think.” Beatrice marched past Benedict, giving the bookwyrm a glare as she brushed past. “I was thinking we should start with the section on the Laws of Bindings. Surely there will be something in there on breaking a fated mate binding.”
“Likely. If we can find it in the dense tomes.” Benedict fell into step with her, still carrying the bookwyrm. His blond hair, worn long to his shoulders, was loose again today, and the last of the evening sunlight glinted in the strands as if they were spun gold. “I thought perhaps searching the romances might be beneficial. If this situation was ever encountered before, there will be a romance about it.”
Beatrice rolled her eyes. “I’m not searching shelves upon shelves of romances with you. That’s one of the largest sections in the Library.”
