“Yes, I…” I clear my throat and then whisper, “I was hoping to access theback room.”
It sounds scandalous—like Moss Hollow has a seedy underground, where criminal types go to exchange fairy sugar for illegal alchemy ingredients, and the headquarters just happens to be in the Moss Hollow Library.
The woman smiles. “Is this your first time here?”
It must be obvious. How couldn’t it be?
“It is…”
“Go into the non-fiction section. Just beyond the shelf of cookbooks, you’ll see a door marked, “Janitor’s Closet.” Stand in front of it. As soon as it recognizes your magic, you’ll hear a click—that’s the lock releasing. Then just go on in.” She smiles warmly. “I’m assuming you know how to look up books with a computer catalog, don’t you?”
I glance at the old-fashioned card catalog in the center of the library. “You use paper cards in the human section, but a computer system to catalog your fae books?”
“Yes.” She frowns like she can’t understand why I’m asking. “Humans aren’t allowed in the back, so we don’t have to keep up the quaint aesthetic in there.”
I glance again at the man-chest cover, not sure that’s giving the right vibe either. “Right.”
“The computer, dear?” she asks.
“Oh, yes. I know how to use a computer catalog.”
“Wonderful. If you need anything, just let me know.”
I find the entrance without issue. As promised, it only takes a second for the charmed door to recognize my magic and let me in.
The back room looks very much like the main part of the library, with hardwood floors, ramps, and bookshelves creating rows and lining the walls. But the space is lit with fluorescent lights, and there are study tables, two rows of computers, and a sign that says, “No elemental magic allowed.”
I suspect there’s a story behind that. The question is, did someone set the building on fire, or did they flood it?
“The coast is clear,” I say as I gently set my purse on a table that’s privately tucked between shelves near the back corner of the room. “We’re the only ones in here.”
Rowan wriggles out, using his wings once he frees them, and then lands on the back of the chair next to me. “You nearly suffocated me.”
“This was your idea, not mine,” I remind him. “What are we looking for?”
“My magical theory college professor was fascinated by the idea of pixies learning to wield their magic. For a good year, he studied your kind, and finally, he made a breakthrough. His pixie test subject?—”
“‘Test subject’ doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in me, Rowan.”
“Let me finish. His pixieassistantwas able to wilt a daisy.”
“Most people can wilt daisies,” I say, unimpressed. “All they have to do is neglect them.”
“That might be, but she was a spring pixie, and she did it with hermagic.”
I blink, the idea of that almost too outlandish to be true. Spring pixies can walk through a dormant orchard in the dead of winter and bring blooms without lifting a finger to make it happen.
“We just have to figure out how Professor Bellview did it,” Rowan muses.
“We have to do more than that. You’re not a daisy, and even if you were, killing you wouldn’t be that helpful.” I pause. “For you, anyway. I’d still end up birdless.”
Rowan tucks his tufts against his head, glaring at me.
I smile. “You probably don’t realize this, but you’re adorable when you do that. It’s hard to take you seriously.”
“Enough chatting,” he says sharply. “Let’s begin.”
Chapter 10
