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I hit him with my fiercest look, channeling my own stubbornness into my glare. Our gazes clash as a moment passes between us, neither of us wavering. Suddenly, a glint touches his eyes, a brief softness to them, and a slight tilt to his lips as he gives me a small nod.
I shake my shoulders out, a strange pride filling my chest at the big guy conceding to me.
I give him a small smile as I continue to treat his cuts, making my way to his other arm. His muscles bunch as I clean the wounds around his large tattooed arms, the dark ink twisting in swirls around his huge muscles.
We sit there in comfortable silence as I finish cleaning his cuts, enjoying the calm and quiet peace, when suddenly, a large flash around the Autarium pulls our attention.
The old protection artifact flares, its normally calm wisps of magic becoming frenzied. Static pours from the glass casing containing the old relic as the magic pours like tumultuous waves from its glass.
We watch on as the walls light up in blue and white wisps of magic. They pour from the Autarium and flow into the walls of the Library, the power becoming stronger as we watch.
Suddenly the overflowing magic flares again just before a single wave blasts from the old relic, sending Cole and me to the ground.He uses his body to shield me from any debris.
The blast connects with the magic cascading down the wall to form a translucent bluish barrier.
The Autariums magic was creating a shield or barrier of its own to protect the Library. I couldfeelit.
With the connection I had to the Library, Iknewthis was the Autariums way of protecting the building and the Records. It was connected insomeway to the other protection relics, too, and must have felt or known that there was a bigger threat coming.
We pull ourselves from the floor, the magic still pouring from the old artifact in droves and seeping into every inch and crack in the room and all around us.
It’s formed its own barrier around the building and has placed it and everything in it into lockdown. No-one gets in or out. Its own way of protecting the Library and the Records.
I turn back to Cole, dusting myself off.“We better go to the others.”
He nods, his expression hard and grim as we head to the door.
I turn back before I head out, looking at the old relic as the magic overflows, a feeling twisting from my gut, telling me something is coming.And soon.
CHAPTER TEN
I headinto the main Library, Cole following closely behind me.
We enter a room full of pallid and anxious faces, hushed voices, and fearful looks.All of their eyes watching the barrier we had seen upstairs.
It stretches itself to every corner of the building, static magic running back and forth, reinforcing the barrier magic from the Autarium.The magic crackles and buzzes as it covers every inch of the building, encasing it in its power. Protecting it.
Ilyric stands before the crowd trying to calm them by explaining that it's not an attack but something to do with the Library itself.
Jace, Lucien, and Isaac stand off to the side.Jace’s eyes immediately turn to me as I make my way further into the room.They flicker between Cole and me, his brows scrunching slightly as his eyes narrow, golden flecks forming in his irises.
I shake my head. Clearly, his mind was wandering somewhere it shouldn’t.
The dark figure beside him catches my eye,Lucien. His gaze languid, as if everything going on around him was tiresome and unexciting.He turns to me, dragging his gaze down my body, before slowly moving back up me, his eyes finally meeting mine again, a dark tilt to his lips, before a low growl rolls out from beside him.
Jace glares toward Lucien, a darker amused grin forming on his face.
I look toward the group, their voices becoming more frantic with the magic flowing around the building. Stepping forward and further into the crowd, I pull their attention to me.
“Ilyric is right,” I explain. “It's the Autarium. It's protecting the Library and the Records itself by placing it under lockdown.”
Ilyric turns to me, his brows pinched together.“I’ve never heard of the Autarium doing something like that.” How can I explain that I know this because of the connection that I feel with the Library? That I know it because I canfeelit. And I know they don’t have the highest regard for me as it is.Always the same thoughts from the supe communities.If something or someone was different, they were ostracised.
When I was younger, the Wiccan community thought I was one of theirs but soon saw no use in me. My abilities are too different and weak, in their opinion.I quickly became an outcast.
Thankfully, Isaiah found me, and between Isaac and him, we made our own family. They accept me wholly for what I am and my abilities for what they are.
My connection with the Library wasn’t normal, something unheard of or documented in our communities.But it was something so natural to me.A feeling beyond just feeling safe or comfortable between these walls. It was as if we were truly bonded or connected in some way. I couldfeelwhat it wanted to do, the intent clear as day in my mind, and right now, it wanted toprotect.
