Page 72 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

His palms grew sweaty against the fork in his hand. She wasn’t a possession, an object to be hoarded. She’d made that clear last night, and he agreed entirely, because she was so, so much more. But he couldn’t help the way his goblin side felt about that—about her.

They ate in silence. He waited for her to finish the majority of her plate before saying, “Christian texted a little while ago. He said the WU library reported some missing items and wanted me to come take a look.”

“Oh?” Her fork paused mid-bite.

“Apparently the staff noticed several items missing from one of the display collections. They didn’t think much of it at first. They thought the items were checked out for cleaning or restoration. It wasn’t until they couldn’t find the extraction records that they filed the report with campus authorities.”

Eleanor turned to face him, a crease pulling between her brows. His fingers twitched, desperate to smooth it away, to reach for her. He clenched his hand into a fist and held himself still.

“Also, Professor Miller’s badge was scanned for entry after-hours,” he added, getting to the crux of the matter, “right around the time the items went missing.”

Her shoulders fell as she exhaled. “Do you think she went and picked them up? Before she died, I mean?”

“Nope. The time of the scan was after her death.”

“Oh… No one thought to see if her security badge was in her purse when you searched the house?”

“I wasn’t the one who did the searching, sugar. But I’m guessing the folks with WBI either missed it or didn’t think it was all that important. Christian is looking into it. In the meantime, since I’ve got some free time this morning, thought we’d pop over and see the list, get an idea for what was taken, and perhaps put some clues together.”

Eleanor pulled her lips between her teeth, looking thoughtful. “Most of the items on display in the library were historical artifacts.”

“Of the magical variety?” he wondered.

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Well then, we’d better look into it, don’t you think?”

“I…” She sank lower into her chair. “Yes, I suppose we should.”

He frowned. “What? What is it?”

“I haven’t been back since…”

Ah. Of course. “Will you be able to handle it? I can check on it myself⁠—”

“No. I need to be there. I agreed to help you.”

He hesitated, studying her. “We’ll try and make it quick.”

“It’ll be okay,” she said. He wasn’t sure if it was for his benefit, or hers.

Given that she’d abandoned her dreams. The fact that she was willing to go was admirable. But after what she’d been through, he knew she was a fighter, that she could handle this. A flare of pride wedged a nail into his heart, making cracks. If he wasn’t careful, she’d break it wide open.

25

The Mueller Library was exactly as I remembered it. The familiar atrium buzzed with students. A massive cement stairway led us up to the reservations area. That was where Christian waited, standing with two library employees. They were wearing slacks and polos with the WU insignia on the breast.

“Took you long enough,” Christian said, his eyes darting to me. “Rose, right?”

“Yep,” I said weakly.

Christian’s gaze lingered on Bastian, a question in his expression, but he didn’t voice it. “This is Alex and Sarj,” he said, instead. Student employees. Alex was heavy set, with pale skin and shaggy auburn hair. Sarj was gangly and darker skinned, a medium brown toffee, with black hair expertly styled. They both fidgeted, glancing nervously between Christian and Bastian.

“Alex and Sarj are going to show us to the glass displays that are missing their artifacts. Gentlemen?” Christian stepped aside, motioning with his hand.

We were taken to the third floor where the stacks began. This had always been my favorite floor. It was filled with academic texts from A to Z. A Mecca of learning. I’d spent countless hours on this floor, curled up on one of the many couches, or at the tables, studying. Now it was just a reminder of what I’d given up. A reminder of the past. Of Luke.

A shudder raced down my spine. Bastian's hand found my lower back, fingers stroking gently before dropping away.