“I’ll update Baz and Ani,” Doc says. “In the meantime, I want you both to beextremelycareful, especially at night.”
“You too,” I tell him. “You’re stubborn and impossible, but not invincible.”
A quick smile breaks through his stern face, and then Doc does something that surprises the hell out of me.
He leans down and kisses the top of my head, holding the back of my neck so tenderly it brings tears to my eyes.
“Take no chances,” he says. Then, after a quick nod at Kirin, he’s gone, his warm touch lingering beneath my hair like a soft kiss I’ll carry with me for the rest of the day.
Twenty-Five
STEVIE
Up on the archives level, the entry procedure itself feels the same—hand scanner to get through the first door, then to lock it behind us, followed by the full-body scanner that checks my magickal signature and matches it up with my Academy records. But this time, the body scanner is taking a lot longer to do its thing.
“The system is running checks on your magickal signature like before,” Kirin explains. “But now it’s also checking your vitals for any signs of distress that could indicate coercion or malicious intent.”
“What if I’m just anxious?”
“The magick is smart enough to know the difference.”
“So you’ve built an AI empath?”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
The machine finally beeps, the lights inside turning green. The same disembodied voice I remember invites me to step forward, and seconds later, my phone buzzes with a text—the security code for the final door.
“Go on in,” Kirin says from behind me. “But do me a favor and keep your eyes closed. I made some modifications inside and I want to surprise you.”
“What sort of modifications?” I narrow my eyes. “Do we have to wear full-on Haz-Mat suits to handle the manuscripts now?”
“No, nothing like that. I think you’ll like it, actually.” A sweet, shy smile curves his lips, his ears turning red again. “At least, I hope you will. Close your eyes and step inside. I’m right behind you.”
I do as he asks, my heart rate kicking up a notch. Seconds later, he’s through the machine and standing behind me, his hand coming to rest on the small of my back, gently guiding me forward.
With his mouth close to my ear, Kirin whispers, “Okay. Take a look.”
I open my eyes and step into the lab, feeling as if I’ve just stepped into a portal to another world. Other than the size of the room and the environmentally-controlled file cabinets behind glass walls, everything is completely different.
The walls, once a sterile hospital white, are now a soft, soothing blue, light on top and darker on the bottom, dotted with paintings of various seascapes. The metal tables have been replaced with tables of light blond wood, each one polished to a perfect shine. Weathered white planks line the floor.
“What is this?” I ask, my smile huge. “I feel like I’m in a beach cottage somewhere.”
“It’s a glamour—we couldn’t risk harming the manuscripts with a full remodel, or altering the procedures for handling them. I just thought after what happened here, what you went through… I thought a few changes might help.”
“Kirin, you did all this?”
“Cass helped. He’s got a knack for mental magicks—glamour is part of that. Plus, he had to smooth things over with Trello first—not a jobIwanted to sign up for.”
I turn to face him, my eyes brimming with tears. “For me?” I whisper.
“The library and the archives have always been a sanctuary for me,” he says softly, his pale green eyes shining behind his glasses. “And I wanted that for you, too. Phaines tried to take it from you. I’d like to try to get it back for you, even just a little.” He lowers his eyes, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I don’t want you to remember this place as you saw it last. I want you to remember it new.”
“Thank you.” I pull him in for a hug, my body instantly relaxing into his familiar embrace. Kirin stiffens, but only for a moment, then his arms wrap around me, his hand running up and down my back. He rests his cheek on the top of my head, and the full force of his energy hits me—sadness and regret over what we had, now gone; the protectiveness inherent in our brotherhood bond; and there, underscoring all of it, the love he still feels for me.
My heart skips a beat, my stomach turning fizzy. It would be so easy to fall back into this with him. To erase the slate of our past as easily as he redecorated the archives, painting over the bad memories, hoping to make new ones instead.
But just like the archives redecoration, that would only be a glamour. And I can’t risk losing my heart again unless it’s real.
