Demon Lord's Point of View

Willow had arrived at the library bright and early, far more eager to work on this book than I'd expected. She didn't seem to remember the previous books very well though, especially the later ones. How could we plan the final book if she didn't know what happened in the last couple?

"Have you even read this series?" I asked.

"Of course I have! But it's been a while. The first couple I reread every time a new book came out, but the last ones I only read once." She crossed her arms. "What? You're the one who asked me to write this, remember?"

Oh I remembered. It had sounded like a perfect idea at that time, but I'd just assumed she knew the series like the back of her hand. Everyone else seemed to and wouldn't shut up about it. No wonder she hadn't bombarded me with questions like everyone else: she wasn't a super fan.

Any other day that would be refreshing, but right now it felt like a bucket of cold water. If we were going to pull off this ending, I needed a super fan.

I sighed. "This would be so much easier if you could just step inside my book like I can. Then you'd be surrounded by the story, living it."

And probably running in terror because of the war that was about to happen between the demons and the hero. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn't come inside my book after all. It was no place for somebody as warm and pure as her.

"Too bad jumping into books isn't a thing," she said with a laugh. "I'm sorry, just give me a day or two. I'll read as fast as I can and then we'll start planning again."

"Fine, go read, but don't forget a single detail."

"Yes, Sir Demon Lord!" She saluted me with mock seriousness before turning to leave. "I'm going to need a cozier chair for that though."

Before she made it two steps away, the book in her arms started glowing with a warm golden light. She stopped, turning back to look at me as if I'd know what was going on. Then all of the other books in my series started glowing too until the table was bathed in sunlight.

"What in the nine realms," she muttered, walking back to the table. "What's happening?"

A warmth spread through my connection to the library, like it was telling me it would all be okay. Which only made this whole situation stranger. That light looked like the light that appeared when we were going in or out of our books. Why would that be happening now?

The last book's cover flipped open. I had a really bad feeling about this.

"Hold on–"

The light engulfed me before I could finish. I blinked, waiting for it to dim. The stone walls surrounding me were instantly recognizable: the library had sent me back to my castle. Specifically, my room.

But this wasn't like every other time I'd gone into my book, because this time, I wasn't alone.

Willow was right beside me. Her red hair was the brightest color in the drab room and her green eyes were full of confusion. Willow was inside my book. She was inside my castle!

No, no, no. This was not happening. Had the library heard me joking about her going inside my book because she didn't remember half the series? I hadn't been serious! It was too dangerous, too unpredictable.

"We need to leave," I said. "Now."

"No way," she shook her head, turning to look at the rest of the room, "not until you tell me what just happened. We were in the library and then poof, we're...where are we exactly?"

If I told her we were inside my book she'd probably get excited and refuse to leave, but this magic was a big unknown. Had a human ever gone inside a book before? How would it affect her?

"This isn't part of the library." Willow ran her fingers over the cold stone slab I used as a bed, frowning. "Is this...a bed? Who would sleep on something so uncomfortable?"

"Me." I sighed. There was no way she'd let this go without an explanation. "We're in my room. In my castle."

Her eyes widened. "Wait, we're inside your book? I didn't know you could do that! Why didn't you say something?"

"I can't do that." And even if I could, I wouldn't have. "It's got to be the library trying out new magic. Misty's the one who brought us out of our books, so it makes sense that it would be involved with you coming inside."

"That is so cool," she said, a frown creasing her forehead as she studied the rest of the sparse gray room. "But is this really where you live? It feels so harsh and uncomfortable. The books always had such vivid descriptions, but this just..."

Her voice trailed off like she didn't want to insult me.

"Looks like the author didn't give a damn," I finished for her. "The castle might be detailed on the outside, but the inside is pretty bleak."

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

That felt like a metaphor for my entire life. The outside looked good, but the inside was a blank canvas.

Willow sighed, staring at that bed intensely. "This just isn't right. Not even a demon lord should live like this, so it's a good thing I'm here." She grinned, her eyes lighting up. "Ohhh, we should get some really cozy blankets, maybe a few pillows, really make this place comfortable."

"It's fine, let's just get out of here."

"Really? You don't want even one pillow?" She sank onto the hard excuse for a bed. "I don't think you know what you're missing. This is not what a bed should feel like. It should be so comfortable that you can barely force yourself out of it in the morning."

Something about her being on my bed, stone slab that it was, felt strange. She didn't belong here.

"If I agree to get a blanket, will you leave?" I asked, sounding a bit harsher than I meant to. "For your safety."

The corners of her lips quirked up in a grin. "You think I'm not safe here? I'm in the demon lord's castle, literally in your bed. Who in this entire book would dare harm me here?"

She dropped her bag at the edge of the bed and then leaned back on her hands to watch me. Seeing her belongings in my room felt like she was claiming it, making herself at home in my world. It felt...strange.

I swallowed hard. This was not how the story went and it wouldn't help us finish the book at all.

"We're leaving." I grabbed her arm, ignoring her laughing protests as I willed us out of my book.

The golden light came back, reaching down for me like it always did, transporting me out of my book and back into the safety of the Misty Mountain Library. I let out a breath, happy to have that whole mess behind us.

Except, where my hand used to be gripping her shirt, I just felt empty air.

Willow wasn't there.

My stomach dropped as the glowing light around my book dimmed without releasing her. Was she stuck inside the book?

"Misty!" I shouted, marching toward the book tree as shadows snapped and whirled around me. "How could you let her inside but not let her back out?"

The branches of the tree swayed, giving me no answers at all.

"Bring her back. Now." My voice thundered in the quiet library, causing a few patrons to back away quickly. "I was just kidding about her going inside the book, you know that right?"

The tree bark groaned quietly as Misty continued to ignore me, but a trickle of pride washed through our connection. The library was pretty happy with itself, which probably meant it didn't know she was stuck inside the book. It really thought it was helping us, helping her finish my story. Which was sweet and kind, but oh so very wrong.

"Misty, Willow can't get out. You need to bring her back."

The leaves on the book tree trembled as our bond went cold in a way I'd never felt before.

"What's wrong?" I asked, gently lying my palm against the tree's bark as a horrible thought struck me. "Do you not know how to get her out?"

Our bond warmed a bit and I could sense the rightness of that. The library had been infused with wild magic, bringing us out of our books without even truly knowing how or why at first. The wild magic had taken over and drawn on what the library wanted most, so if the same thing was happening now, it might really not know what to do.

I sucked in an unsteady breath. I couldn't be upset with the library for not knowing how its wild magic worked, but I had to fix this. It was my fault for making that offhand comment. My fault she was stuck.

"Let me talk to Nyssa." I patted the great book tree in what I hoped was a reassuring way. "We'll figure this out. Together."

That's what the overly optimistic library had ground into me over the past few months, that we were better together than alone. Hopefully that still held true. The tree's leaves stopped shaking and its branches seemed to perk up. It trusted Nyssa as its librarian so I'd have to trust her too. She wouldn't want news to get out that the books could suddenly lock patrons inside them after all.

Nyssa was already on her way to me by the time I started looking, hands on her hips and a deep frown on her face. "What did you do now? A few patrons said you were shrouding the tree in darkness or something."

"Accidentally," I said. "But there's more important things to worry about."

"Look, I know you're a demon lord, but you've gotta try and work on your people skills." She paused, staring at me. "Wait, what bigger things?"

"Willow is stuck inside a book."

Nyssa tilted her head and then started laughing. "Good one. What will you think of next? That people are hopping inside books like a cool vacation?"

I waited for her to stop laughing, trying to resist the urge to use my shadows to drag her over to the table of books. There was no way to prove Willow was inside. It wasn't like there would be a picture of her screaming face on the first page, hands pounding the paper.

Would there?

"Just fix it!" I snapped. "The book tree's magic is out of control again."

"Wait, you're serious? And you left her in there alone?" Nyssa gasped, shoving me toward my book. "Get back in there and take care of her, you ridiculous demon! I'll contact Oren and we'll figure something out. Check in again tomorrow if you haven't found a way out yet."

My book started glowing, as if welcoming me inside, but there was one more thing I needed to do. I ripped a piece of paper out of one of Willow's notebooks and scribbled a note to her Gran, letting her know she was safe and sound but we'd be working on the book for a while.

"Give this to the apothecary for me," I said, forcing the note into her hands. "Don't forget."

"You're nicer than you look, demon lord, but hurry up." Nyssa nudged me again. "She's probably terrified."

I nodded, diving back into my book as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, Willow wasn't there either. Or at least, she wasn't where I'd left her. In her place on my bed was a note of her own that read: Gone exploring, don't wait up.

The paper crumbled beneath my fingers as I clenched my fists. Why hadn't she just waited for me? I was barely gone fifteen minutes!

My pulse thundered in my ears as I searched empty castle room after empty castle room for her. After every room had been thoroughly searched, there was only one option left.

Willow had gone outside. Even I'd never done that before...

Outside was where the story of the book took place. My character had never been part of that, I was always locked away in my castle apparently doing evil schemey things in the background. But if I tried to step outside, all that evil might become real. I'd see first-hand what people thought of me.

What's worse, Willow was about to see it too.

I took a deep breath and pushed the doors to my castle open for the very first time since I'd woken up in the library. I'd find Willow, drag her back, and then find a way to return her to the library where she belonged.