My foul mood followed me out of Ava’s shop–where I quickly withdrew after our conversation–and down to the city of Ventosus. The meeting with Jacob and Cove wasn’t for another hour or so, but I planned to take the time to find refuge from my thoughts in the library.
My curiosity grew as I trudged down the brief path to the library. The streets and streams were as dead as they’d been last night, devoid of all but those who had to be here. The few mages I did pass were fearful, walking or floating hurriedly around, their eyes darting across the streets as they spoke to each other in hushed undertones, pausing to watch me warily as I passed.
The mystery of it all was a welcome, if concerning, distraction from my thoughts. I kept my ears open, hoping to catch a hint of the cause.
A group of five whispering women in modern dress exited a boat at the small docking area in front of the library, their voices getting louder and their shoulder losing their tension as they drew closer to the relative safety of the enclosed public space. I drew closer, my curiosity getting the best of me.
The faint breeze blew in my favor, fluttering their hair in the wind and carrying their conversation back to where I walked. One of the young ladies, a woman with dark, curly brown hair that spilled freely down her back, scoffed as she bumped her friend's shoulder. “That’s the second disappearance this month! And what are the police doing about it?”
“I’m sure they’re doing the best they can,” one of her friends responded calmly as they stepped across the threshold into the library. The doors drew shut behind them, cutting off the crest of the conversation.
They’d already given me enough tidbits of information to think about. With nimble fingers, I pulled up the ever-expanding webpage Cove had given me ages ago on my phone. I selected the “news” section, which was updated periodically by a select few individuals Cove had given access to. Right away, articles on the disappearances popped up.
I chewed thoughtfully on my bottom lip as I climbed the stairs to snatch a pile of books. The disappearances expressly referred to both the vanishing of a person and any traces of their magic. Frequently, it was an indicator of death or a rouge mage. While such events weren’t necessarily uncommon, having two vanish within a month was nearly unheard of, which drew concerns about localized crime. The keyword there was nearly–in the decades before Jacob had taken his current position, such disappearances had been common.
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My thoughts turned briefly to Ava, and I shivered, wondering if perhaps this was connected to the magic-stealing. The timeline lined up uncomfortably well and pointed to Ava potentially being a far greater threat than Jacob was willing to admit. If she’d regained her memories and used the disappearances to rebuild her power…
I plucked a book on the theory and execution of portals off the shelf, adding it to my growing pile.
“Hayden!”
Leala’s voice was louder enough I couldn’t have missed it. Unwilling to deal with her, I pretended I missed it anyway, slipping into a forest-themed room and locking the door soundly behind me before she could follow. Footsteps paused briefly outside the door before shifting disappointedly down the hallway.
I let out a long breath and wondered if I’d manage to escape the library without human interaction.
Less than an hour later, I exited the library, having escaped one conversation I hadn’t wanted to have. Unfortunately, the next was inescapable.
Jacob was already waiting when I arrived for my meeting, waving me in with a faint twitch of the lips. “Cove’s not here yet,” he spoke the obvious.
I nodded, dropping into my usual chair and pulling out the first book my fingers reached, a textbook on spaciotemporal magic from my inventory. Jacob nodded approvingly at the title as he shuffled papers from his desk. “You’re picking things up quickly,” he complimented.
Stuck in my terrible mood, I only nodded in response.
Cove arrived just as I was delving into the more theoretical aspects of the textbook, which postured that every spaciotemporal mage should keep dream journals, as the warnings and visions often appeared as dreams that would slip away as quickly as they’d come. It was something I’d done a few times before, and the short paragraph I’d managed from the chapter was enough to convince me. Who knows how many visions I’d had without ever realizing it?
I pulled my reluctant eyes from the pages as Cove entered, watching him carefully out of the corner of my eye and waiting to see if he had additional grievances to air.
Cove’s brow furrowed as his eyes brushed over me before clearing as his attention landed on his father. The purple bruises beneath his eyes and his chapped lips were the only visible remnants of our argument. Like on the ship, it was almost as though it never happened.
“Hayden, father,” he greeted, deceptively cheerful as he sat down in the chair next to me.
Jacob and I greeted him in return as I snapped the book shut, breathing in the steadying dust and chemical particles that drifted from the pages as I returned it to my inventory under Jacob’s appreciative eye.
“I see you’ve picked up some new tricks.”
Cove leaned forward. “You don’t know the half of it!!”