Even though they left the Espinar Peninsula after lunch, it was dark by the time they walked into the Library. The time difference, or the different time of day, however anyone wanted to put it, was a little jarring at first. It was simply disconcerting to step from a bright twilight afternoon into the slightly more quiet depths of the night in the Library.

Granted, given the different time zones around the universe, the Library was never actually closed. And even when it might seem late in the Library, there were always patrons lingering, looking up books, chattering in groups now that the Library had actually been open for a while.

It was amazing how busy the culinary branch had gotten, the amount of chefs that seemed to want to try new magical recipes at all hours as well as discuss potential palate cleansers and recipe changes with each other.

Bustling. That was the right word. The Library was bustling with activity on a regular and constant basis.

Quinn felt a surge of affection for the Library. Although she was extremely tired from having been dragged on patrols with Arnekai that morning, this morning, whatever. She didn't know how the time zones worked when crossing dimensions. What she did know was that she had been taken around the whole perimeter of the Espinar Peninsula and was shown exactly how the darigháhnish spent their time protecting their sector.

Quinn could feel the chaos when she was there, palpitating just outside the boundaries, waiting for them to slip up so it could pour inside. It made her skin crawl.

So when Malakai indicated they should return to the Library, Quinn wholeheartedly agreed.

Quinn was effectively exhausted after spending so much time with Malakai and his mother, and the tension that anything blunt could have cut through. She was even too tired to think of a good analogy. Quinn barely made it up the steps to her quarters and stumbled through the doors. Aradie cooed from across the room, full of concern, but not enough concern apparently to come and help her magic herself up the stairs.

Which Quinn realized belatedly, she could have done herself. Had her brain been capable of functioning, she would have remembered that she could in fact use magic to not only hover but also bloody fly, and she wouldn't have had to walk up steps in the first place.

It might not sound difficult. But three flights of stairs while wildly tired, were just not fun.

Quinn threw herself onto the bed, not giving two craps about whether she was dirty or sweaty or whatever. She was just tired. She closed her eyes and felt herself sinking into the beautiful soft bed, ready to dream of everything nice like sugar and spice with cherries on top.

She waited for the darkness of sleep to claim her.

Then she waited some more.

And then she opened her eyes.

Because while she was absolutely exhausted and completely bone-tired, she wasn't actually sleepy. Her brain was running nineteen to the dozen. She was fascinated and scared, and worried about the Library as a whole. There was so much, especially after speaking to Arnekai, that she had to go over and rectify and change and figure out.

"Take a breath," she said out loud to herself. Breathing was a very good practice in any being that required oxygen.

"Okay, Quinn, come on," she sat up and slapped her cheeks very lightly. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would need to convene a meeting. But right now, while she was still thinking of it, well, all of the information that they gathered from Arnekai was still fresh in her mind.

Quinn realized that she undoubtedly needed to figure out exactly what it was that they had to keep an eye out for. She wrote down the potential traitors in the midst. Frankly, after speaking to Arnekai, there were more traitors, and more potential traitors than she had thought possible. There was Finn, and Jim, and Bob. And well, technically even centaurs had been hanging around with them back in the day.

Firionas Fae too -- perhaps it could even be Geneva. Although she doubted Geneva. There was Danio, the very first centaur they'd hired. Then there was that other Aracnio she'd interviewed, called Steve of all things. She'd found the name a little unusual for a fantastical universal Library applicant anyway. But then again, Jim and Bob were very commonplace back on earth too. She noted that down for herself, something to look into later as well.

Maybe they thought only leaving a couple behind might keep the Aracnio's far from suspicion. And yet, the twins had begun behaving differently since the moment Tenejo and his kin walked into the Library, or thereabouts. Perhaps not the precise moment, but close...Quinn frowned, that even being the lovely Sabinth and Taree who were tecopsis, very narrowly related to the Salosier. Surely they couldn't have, but maybe they were. Quinn knew she'd end up having to replay so many of the Library readings, Aradie's readings, back to be able to determine whether or not they could have posed a threat.

Speaking of which... had any recent memories been tampered with? That was food for thought. Any memories since the Library had reopened? Quinn jotted that down too.

And then there was Larry, the sedimentite. She'd liked him. He was a really good assistant. He could also be innocent. Just because they were from that species didn't necessarily mean that they were in cahoots with the Library saboteurs. It would have been much easier to just blame the entire species. But you couldn't do that. That wouldn't be fair, right?

Because everything in life was so fair...

Quinn fell back onto the bed again. This time her brain felt a little bit calmer. She had her list of all the things she needed to look into. First thing in the morning, she'd call a meeting and get her supervisors in, and figure out what the hell they were going to do with all of this information.

Aradie swooped down to sit and coo next to her head.

Quinn waved the concern away. "I'm fine. I'm just very tired and there's a lot to do."

Of course, there's a lot to do, Aradie said into her mind, not making Quinn interpret more coos, for which Quinn was extremely grateful, given the fact that her brain felt like mush.

You did well. Sometimes I believe the reason I chose you was definitely right. The owl sounded smug.

"You chose me, huh?" Quinn muttered as her eyes grew heavy.

Well, you didn't exactly choose me. I had to give you a push in the right direction, didn't I?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I didn't realize Librarians got their own familiars." she mumbled.

I'm not your familiar. I'm your friend, guide, and guardian. I believe that is a far more accurate assessment, Aradie said, sounding slightly indignant.

"How come you're so much better at talking to me now?" Quinn asked, suddenly.

We have synchronized in a way. Not quite like the Library, but on our own wavelengths. It'll allow us to communicate over greater distances.

"Oh." was all Quinn managed.

You need to rest. Aradie patted her gently with a soft wing.

"Yeah, I think I'll sleep." Quinn murmured with a smile before passing out.

~~

The light that shone through the upper windows in Quinn's bedchamber the following day was very bright. So bright, in fact, that Quinn, knowing it was technically artificial light in this little pocket dimension, thought she should probably talk to the Library directly about it. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't wake her up by glaring in her face.

However, once she pushed herself to her elbows, she realized that she'd woken up much later than she usually would. She glanced around. Aradie wasn't in the room. She frowned, looked down at her side table and realized her phone was also not there, which was quite odd. She guessed the power bank had probably run out, or Malakai was fiddling with it to get it to work on magic. He'd mentioned something about that previously. She really wanted to know if mana and magic could restore the electrical capacity.

Quinn sighed, pushed herself up, and stretched. She felt a little stiff, which meant the activity she'd done yesterday, or today, or whenever it was with Malakai's mum on the border patrol, had definitely taken its toll. It probably meant that Quinn should be a little bit more active around the Library too. It wouldn't kill her to get a little fitter, and maybe she could also have some coffee.

A juxtaposition for most, but purely logical for Quinn.

She showered, dressed, and decided a tracksuit was definitely on point for the day. One of the perks of being the magical Librarian was simply that she could pick whatever she wanted to wear to work that day, because nobody could tell her not to.

Down in her office with a sandwich in hand, she realized it was already lunchtime. Not that she minded the sleep in. Sleep-ins were, to be fair, one of the best things out there. One of the advantages of adult life that had nothing to do with bill paying, which, no matter what anybody said, was definitely not a perk.

She began her workday by pulling up all the information she'd gathered the previous night. She made sure to get all of Finn, Jim and Bob, Danio, Steve, Sabinth, Taree, and Larry's information that they had available to them through the Library system. She checked their checkout histories, their ages, their habits, observations by the Library, anything that had set off the Library's radar. Anything at all, to be honest. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to flag them.

She tapped her pen against the table lost in thought.

"Pray tell, what are you doing trying to drill a hole through the desk at this hour of the day?" Quinn glanced up and saw Malakai. A rush of relief went through her. Somehow, when he was around, it always seemed a little easier to take everything on. It was nice having somebody who didn't judge her, who made fun of her, who didn't seem to pity her, at least not outwardly, anyway.

"Thanks," she said. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I assumed you'd want to talk about what we spoke to my mother about."

Quinn chuckled. "Yes, you'd be correct." So she sent a silent message to the Library to summon Dottie, Eric, Narilin, Aradie, and Lynx. She still didn't know where Aradie had gone this morning. She'd been there during the night, Quinn was sure of it. She knew they'd talked, or she thought they'd talked. Maybe that was all in her head and part of a really vivid dream. Quinn really didn't need to start having hallucinations right now.

She watched and waited.

"What are you waiting for?" Malakai asked.

"Oh, I just expected people to come sooner." It was at this point Quinn realized she might be overtired.

"The only one you need to talk to right now who can literally pop in is Lynx, right?"

"Yes, I know." Quinn sighed, her head felt a little fuzzy. "I'm just a bit scattered this morning."

"I bet you were up all night. That's why you're up late this morning, isn't it?" Malakai moved to lean against her desk.

"Well, I was up fairly late. I couldn't sleep when we got back." she admitted.

"I don't blame you. I always find the time shift a little weird. But I slept like a baby." He winked and grinned.

"Of course you did," Quinn said. "Anyway, what do we do while we wait?"

"I don't know. I mean..."

Lynx's appearance cut him off and Malakai seemed quite relieved.

Dottie trotted into the room a second later. Quinn thought she was smiling. She was exuding an aura of happiness around her. Made Quinn wish she could give the bench a bit of a hug.

"Dottie," she said by way of greeting.

"Quinn, it is wonderful to have you back, Librarian." Dottie trotted over. "How was it? Were the seats comfortable?"

Quinn couldn't help but laugh. After all, Dottie was pretty entertaining even if she didn't realize it.

Narilin walked in next, a serene smile on her face. Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Wow, my Salosier friend, you seem rather happy. Like the cat that got the cream."

Narilin looked around for just a moment, slightly panicked. "Cat," she said.

"No, it's an expression from Earth. I'm sorry. No cat." Quinn tried to calm her but couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with cats?"

"They just, they sometimes try to sharpen their claws on me," Narilin said. "I'm not very fond of that."

Quinn had to suppress a laugh because that didn't sound like a pleasant experience at all even if it was pure cat in nature.

Next, Aradie swooped in and sat on Quinn's shoulder. And finally, Eric also came in. He was grouchy, scowling as per usual, his arms crossed as he hovered over Quinn's desk.

"Wow, you're in a fine mood," she said. "What's bugging you?"

"It's nothing, just, we have some disagreements on the types of fines that are permissible for us to administer. And I'm just getting a little sick of it." If possible, he crossed his arms even tighter.

Quinn smiled. "I'm sure everything will iron itself out in the end. Anyway, I wanted to pick your brains about Finn, Jim and Bob, Danio, Sabinth, Taree and Larry. Well, actually, you guys probably won't recall Sabinth and Taree. I'll talk to Aradie and the Library about them separately. But Finn, Jim, Bob, Danio, and Larry."

"Finn, Jim, Bob, Danio, and Larry," the imp said, sounding decidedly even angrier.

"Eric, what's wrong?"

Eric was practically dripping lava. "Jim and Bob are gone, aren't they?"

"Really? Like, what do you mean gone? Like 100% they've left? I thought maybe they'd just taken a couple of their days off."

"Wouldn't you think it was rather coincidental for them to do that?" Eric said irritably.

"Well, yes, it was a bit of a coincidence." Quinn admitted. "I guess I was just hoping for the best."

"Well, don't hope for the best because it's not going to come. They've disappeared. They've run off in the wind and just..."

"That's enough, Eric," Lynx said. "We know."

"I guess that proves that they’re traitors then, not much to dig up about all that then," Quinn said. She couldn't help feeling disappointed. She'd really wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. They'd been nice for the most part. "Is it odd that a part of me sort of hoped they weren't?"

Lynx hesitated slightly before answering. "Well, we can’t be completely certain, but I also don't think they were the only ones."

"What do you mean?"

"I think some of the newest batch... I think we'd let our guard down a little bit too much. There's been... There were a few incidents while you were gone for a couple of days." Lynx said, refusing to make eye contact with her.

Quinn groaned. She didn't like the sound of that.