Despite Eric’s very smug face, Quinn perked up at the mention of Hal’s name. She’d come to be fond of the Halschius commander. For some obscure reason, despite the fact that he was a 15-foot tall satyr, she always felt quite safe around him, like he could protect her from the Kajaros of the world.

“So, what’s the message?” Quinn asked when Eric refused to elaborate.

“Oh, you have to take super good care of me,” Eric said. “Hal’s really annoyed that he had to fix me, so you can’t damage me again or, you know, make me take on somebody else’s damage.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? You know you did that all by yourself. That’s what Uncle Hal actually said?”

“Well,” Eric laughed gleefully, “not exactly those words, but that was his insinuation, I assure you. But seriously, Hal said that he had a foresight reading.”

Quinn interrupted him. “Uncle Hal has foresight?”

“No,” Eric said. “Not Hal personally, but there are others who have it that report to him.”

Quinn sighed. “I guess that makes sense. Anyway, he said that he’s had foresight and you need to not rush to get the last book you have to retrieve.”

Quinn was slightly confused by the message. “You mean he doesn’t want me to go and get the book back?”

“No,” Eric said. “That’s not what he said, and that’s not what I said. I said you need to not be in a rush to go and retrieve it. He said that things are happening sooner than expected and there will be some results soon. You need to be patient.”

Quinn wondered how well Uncle Hal really knew her because she thought everybody was aware that she was the least patient person in the history of existence. “So, wait,” she said, which was such a hard thing to do when there was only one book left. Just one, not two.

One.

Freaking.

Book.

And that was it. “Fine. So, what am I supposed to do then?”

“Well, I can’t tell you what to do. I know you’ve got like 4,000 lists. Can’t you do something from one of them?” Eric asked.

Milaro chuckled in the background. “Of course she has other things to do, but she was about to do something with me.”

“Well, what was she...” Eric started, “Oh, wait, I forgot. Hal is coming to visit soon.”

“Define soon,” Quinn asked, feeling a bit deflated now that she didn’t actually get to go and look for the book. At least she thought that’s what Eric meant.

“Don’t be so down about it, Quinn. It’s not a bad thing. Usually, if there’s been foresight about an event, it’s a good thing. He’s not telling you that it’s going to be damaged. He’s not telling you to prepare for it to be repaired. He’s just telling you to wait a bit.”

“Okay,” Quinn said, fully aware that they had been waiting a lot for these books.

“Anyway, I have to get going,” Quinn said.

“What are you doing?” Eric asked.

“Going to visit Mal.”

“Oh, really? That sounds...” But Milaro shook his head. Quinn wasn’t entirely sure why he did that, but Eric’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly into defeat, and the note of his hovering wings rose ever so slightly.

“Well, you could help Geneva and Nishpa run the Library.”

“No,” Eric said, crossing his arms. “I’m not going to do that. I’ve only just got back. I had, like, sick leave or something. Work injury. My wings weren’t working properly. And, um, have you noticed there’s a lot of injured people here?”

Quinn laughed. She couldn’t help it. He hadn’t been there. It wasn’t like he automatically got updated.

He peered around, flitting back and forth as they were close to the entrance. “When did you build a hospital wing? Was I gone longer than I thought?”

“Just a few days,” Quinn laughed. “We went to retrieve the Hunter book and came across some unfriendly vegetation.”

Milaro guffawed. “That was really well said. Unfriendly vegetation. Good one.”

Quinn looked at him for a second. His eyes had bags underneath them. “You look tired,” she said to Milaro.

“Well, I am,” He stood a little straighter, pushing his hair behind his shoulders, “but I fully promise to see you again. As soon as I can, I will sleep for like three days.”

“Yeah, I wish,” Quinn said. “Well, anyway, if you’re not going to help Geneva and Nishpa with the Library, what are you going to do?”

“I’ve got a few things I need to check,” then he paused and look at Quinn, a frown on his face. “Was there anything you wanted me to do?” He asked Quinn very pointedly.

“Um, I don’t think so,” she said, racking her brain to try to figure out if there was actually something that she needed him to do. But there wasn’t. “Hey, Eric?”

“What,” he said.

“I’m really glad that you’re back.” Yeah, maybe that was the missing piece.

“Oh,” Eric, whose skin was practically so dark you couldn’t see anything, kind of flushed a little. “Uh, well, you’re welcome.”

Yep. He was squirming a bit. “Yeah, it’s good to have you back.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Great to be back. I think I need to go and check on fines. Who’s been metering out the fines?” He said as he flitted toward the check-in desk.

“It’s good to see him healthy again, isn’t it?” Milaro said.

Quinn nodded thoughtfully. She’d missed the little imp. He was often a handful, but always helpful. She really hoped his wing wasn’t permanently damaged and that the injury had indeed been fully fixed. Although she didn’t think Hal would have let him out of Halschius had the injury still been prevalent in any margin. She also wished she had a direct line to Uncle Hal so that she could have asked him about his cryptic foresight information.

“Be patient. Don’t go get the book quite yet.” Milaro poked her arm to get her attention. “Quinn, you’re definitely overthinking what Eric just told you.”

“Of course, I’m overthinking what Eric just told me. I overthink everything,” she said.

Milaro chuckled. “Actually, you definitely overthink some things. I have met a lot of people who overthink more than you do, believe it or not.”

Quinn chuckled. “Okay, lead on.”

Even though the infirmary had been moved and quasi-amalgamated into the hospital, it was still on the periphery of it and didn’t take long to get to. It was only about a five-minute walk. The first few steps they took in silence, and then Milaro spoke first.

“How are you feeling, Quinn?” He paused and clarified. “How are you really feeling?”

She mulled that over for a couple of seconds before responding honestly. “Tired. Irritated. Marginally confused by what Eric just told us. Extremely taken aback by Betty, who is all sorts of fantastic, to be honest. A little scared that Malakai won’t recover. And perhaps ever so slightly homesick.”

Milaro blinked at her. They’d almost reached their destination. “When I asked that question, that was not the answer I was fishing for.”

Quinn laughed. “If you don’t want the real answer, you shouldn’t ask the question. Anyway, yes to all of the above.”

“Well, I can allay your fears of one of them. Malakai is going to be fine.” He gave her a conspiratorial smile.

“Really? He wasn’t just saying that he was out of bed when he really shouldn’t have been?”

“Well, he shouldn’t have been out of bed. He still needs to recover energy, but mostly his body has healed. He’ll need to do a bit of conditioning, physically, mentally, for a little while, but he’ll be back at fighting strength in no time.” Milaro’s smile was kind.

Quinn couldn’t quite describe the feeling of relief that worked its way through her. It was like a slow, steady stream that took some of the tension away from her body. “That is such good news,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Well,” he said, “don’t tell him I told you, because he’s going to want to tell you himself.”

“Of course he...” Quinn paused and held up a hand, getting Milaro to stop walking. “Do you hear that?” She asked, lowering her voice.

He raised an eyebrow and spoke mind to mind to her. How can I miss it? It’s loud enough for the entire hospital to hear.

Quinn would have chuckled had the voices not belonged to Malakai and his mother. She crept slightly closer, just enough so she could sort of see them both from a distance.

“I am not going back,” she could hear Malakai saying.

“But, son, you need to be there. You are part darigháhnish, and you require the moons and the tides. The atmosphere of the Espinar Peninsula holds such importance to our kind. It is essential to who we are.”

“I can come back for a vacation some other time.” Malakai dismissed her worry.

“No,” Arnekai sounded irritated. Or more so than usual, anyway. “It’s been ten years and your body is almost devoid of what it needs to replenish.”

Quinn asked Milaro. Is it true? Is he really missing something from the peninsula?

No, Milaro said, not necessarily. Not something he can’t get elsewhere.

Oh, Quinn said.

But he is also Arnekai’s heir, and she is not prone to letting him off the hook entirely. Now that he is about to reach adulthood.

Quinn had so many questions about Elven adulthood, but right then wasn’t the time. The argument grew ever so slightly louder.

“My duty is here and I enjoy it. I’m not leaving Quinn to fend for herself with the amount of wolves that are out there trying to rip her apart. And if you’re not careful, I’ll think you’re one of them.” A threatening note crept into his tone.

Arnekai gasped ever so softly. “How could you say that? I have never been against the Library. Our entire line is made up of Library supporters. My aunt was an exception, not the rule. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it.”

“Do they though?” Malakai asked. “Because I find this very suspect. I get injured and you want to take me away from her when I am one of the few people she has to depend on.”

Quinn felt a slight blush on her cheeks. She probably shouldn’t be overhearing this. He was getting very worked up.

“You’re not thinking clearly. You’re still injured.” Arnekai snapped.

“I am not still injured,” Malakai said. “I am weak, and I need to regain strength and energy. But I am no longer injured and I’ll be taking my leave of not only you, but this hospital, too.”

Before she could second guess herself, Quinn reached out a gentle tendril of awareness toward Malakai’s mind. She saw the moment it impacted him. A faint smile tugged at his lips. And some of the tension went out of his shoulders.

“Look,” he said, his tone suddenly far more reasonable. “I understand that you believe, in your heart or whatever you use to care about people, that taking me back to the Peninsula is the only way I’m going to fully recover.”

“Yes,” Arnekai said. “Exactly. It’s not just that, that’s sort of where you belong. It’s also that it has energies that will replenish you much faster.”

“I get it. You think it’s one of the only ways you can take care of me as a mum?”

“Yeah,” Arnekai said. And Quinn could have sworn she heard sadness in her voice. It was such a complicated mother-son relationship.

Quinn didn’t want to get involved. And so she moved forward and spoke up, so they would know that she was there.“We’re almost there...” she said, out loud as if she was talking to Milaro who had at least caught on and was moving to catch up.

The conversation stopped, and a second later, Quinn stepped into the room. “Oh, hello,” she said to Arnekai, feigning surprise. “Were you saying goodbye?”

Arnekai glowered, just for a second, before nodding. “Actually, I was about to. I have duties to get back to. You will take care of my son, because he apparently cannot take care of himself.”

Quinn chuckled. “I’ve noticed that, but it’s okay, because he tried to take care of me, so I... I’ll make sure he’s fine.”

“You do that,” Arnekai said. She paused for a second, as if she had more to say, but then stayed silent instead.

“Excellent,” Malakai walked into the room, and clapped his hands, “just the lady I wanted to talk to.”

Arnekai gave him a withering look, but complied as he approached her.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, and he spoke against her mind. I am freeing you both of her presence, just in case. Don’t say I never did anything for you.

He walked out with Arnekai, speaking in hushed tones. Quinn and Malakai gaped after them. If there’d been flies in the Library, their mouths would have been fly traps. Then they turned to look at each other, and shrugged.

“I have no clue what that was about,” she said.

“Me either. My mother was ripping me a new one, which I’m assuming you overheard in its totality?” Malakai stared at where they’d vacated the room, still frowning slightly.

“Yeah,” Quinn said, “pretty much.”

“I meant it, though,” Mal said. “I’m not leaving you to fend against these wolves that are trying to rip you apart. I’ll help. I’ll get stronger.”

Quinn smiled. “Maybe we’ll just get stronger together, eh?”