Yet she didn’t want to leave. She loved the Great Library. More than anything, she wanted to be a librarian within its walls. She wanted her own House and her own green librarian coat.
This was all assuming she could both break the mate bond with Benedict and beat him to the assistant librarian spot.
Brigid tore her gaze away from Munch and looked back to Beatrice. “Thanks for the warning.”
“And be careful.” Munch’s hand went back to his arrows again. “It might be best if you didn’t walk alone from the Library for the next while. Between Benedict looking for the Wild Fae Primrose and the Faerie Market arriving soon, it won’t be safe for any of us to be alone, but especially not you.”
Beatrice would have argued, but Munch was right. She wasn’t a trained forester like Munch, nor was she as clever as Brigid. While she did have the protection of being bound to the Court of Knowledge, she was still vulnerable as a human in the Fae Realm, especially since she wasn’t married to a fae the way Meg, Sebastian, and Viola were. She could still be stolen in a way that they could not.
“I’ll make sure I stay with someone. Perhaps Buddy can walk me back and forth, if I’m eager for a walk.” She grimaced and held up her hand. It wasn’t glowing at the moment since she wasn’t touching Benedict, but the gold swirl remained as visible and glinting as ever. “Maybe the mate bond will be handy for something. It will be harder for a random fae to carry me off if I’m mate-bonded to a fae noble.”
“Maybe.” Munch’s frown didn’t waver, his fingers still rubbing the fletching on his arrows. “I still don’t like that you’re stuck in a mate bond with him. It seems he’s only gotten more like his father and older brother.”
“I can handle Benedict.” Beatrice pushed to her feet. “After all, I’ve been doing it since I was ten.”
Her family had certainly done their best to halt his tormenting of her. They’d approached his parents, but his parents had done nothing, considering they approved of his hazing of a human. Basil had even offered to go to King Theseus or Queen Hippolyta, but Beatrice hadn’t wanted to bother the king and queen over childhood squabbles. So instead, Beatrice’s siblings had helped her prank Benedict right back and protected her the best they could, given their position in the court relative to his and his family’s.
Through it all, she’d learned how to stand up for herself and not back down for anyone. And as she’d grown older, the prank war with Benedict had grown almost fun more than a torment.
Now she was eighteen, an apprentice librarian, and she wasn’t going to let Benedict win. Not in his quest to find the Wild Fae Primrose for whatever nefarious purpose nor in his pursuit of the soon-to-be-open assistant librarian position.
Now she just needed to break the mate bond before she was stuck with him forever.
Chapter Seven
Benedict strolled through the doors into the Great Library. He had to do better today. He’d pushed Beatrice too hard the day before, questioning her about the Wild Fae Primrose. She’d shut down after that, making both his goals of finding the Primrose and convincing her to keep the mate bond that much harder.
He stopped short just over the threshold. The Library was packed with patrons. Long lines stretched from each of the master librarian tables while even more fae—from the tall, leafy dryads to imposing, broad-shouldered men and women who must be dragons in their fae form—meandered around the atrium, as if waiting for the lines to disperse somewhat before they committed to one.
Assistant and apprentice librarians raced from the tables and into the shelves and back, following the orders of the master librarians.
So much for his plan to spend more time with Beatrice. He’d be lucky if he even saw her today. Not to mention, the two of them would be run ragged by the time their shift ended, leavingthem little energy for searching for a way to break the mate bond after hours.
Beneath the Tree, Tybalt, Borachio, and several of the other young librarians and nobles had gathered before Demetrius’s table. Master Librarian Domitius had also joined them, not having returned to his position at the outpost library. Despite the line waiting for Demetrius’s help, the nobles chatted as if they had all the time in the world.
Benedict resisted the urge to stare at either Demetrius or Domitius. Or, rather, the false Demetrius and Domitius.
“Benedict!” Tybalt clapped him on the shoulder as Benedict joined them.
“What’s going on? Why is the Library so busy this morning?” Benedict shot a glance toward the line of patrons, the first few in line starting to glare or shift restlessly. It wouldn’t do to keep putting them off.
“Word got around to the other courts that we’ve called a truce with the Court of Revels and that the Library has reopened.” Tybalt gave a dismissive shrug, waving off the patrons as if they didn’t matter. “We were just discussing the Faerie Market. Do you think the Wild Fae Primrose will strike at the Market?”
“The Wild Fae Primrose has been rather inactive lately.” Borachio tapped his chin. “Which is puzzling. It’s interesting that the Primrose didn’t rescue you and the others. He rescued some of those who were captured early in the war with the Court of Revels.”
“One of the many reasons I blame the Primrose for my long imprisonment.” Benedict crossed his arms and tried for a nonchalant stance, even as his feet itched to move so he could get to work.
The fake Domitius and Demetrius were openly staring at him now, as if daring him to mention that the real Domitius and Demetrius hadn’t been returned at all.
When Benedict spoke again, there was a real note of bitterness that he didn’t try to hide. “The Wild Fae Primrose turned his back on his own people and left us to rot. He loves humans more than he loves the fae. That’s why he’s to blame for my captivity.”
“I—” Tybalt swallowed back whatever he was going to say, his gaze going to something behind Benedict.
Benedict turned and found Master Librarian Basil, Beatrice’s brother-in-law, standing there. Basil’s dark brown eyes were flat, his mouth pressed into a tight line. While his disapproval was rather obvious, he still wasn’t the most intimidating figure, given his slight build.
Yet there was that tale from several years ago of how he’d faced down a basilisk in the Tanglewood on a particularly monster-filled Midsummer Night. One shouldn’t count him out when someone or something he loved was on the line.
Benedict’s stomach sank. Not only had Basil caught him loitering when he should have been working, he must have heard everything. While Benedict needed to make his blame for the Wild Fae Primrose rather apparent, having Basil overhear made his case with Beatrice more difficult.
