Gareth raised his eyebrows. “Already? Well done.”
Fiacra Browning, the librarian I’d nearly knocked over earlier that day, muttered, “It would go much faster if the priory’s archives weren’t so thick with spellwork.”
“Ah, but we already discussed this with the Warden,” Gareth said, “and you know what her answer was.”
“Well, perhaps we should try asking her again.”
“She won’t change her mind,” I said quietly from my spot by the door. Surprise rippled through the room at the sound of my voice. “The archives are warded for a reason. We’re too close to the Mist to leave them unprotected for even a moment. Olden spies would steal them the second they were vulnerable.”
“Spies?” Loudon stopped filing papers to stare at me.
“Certainly with all your professorial intellect, you could deduce that we are constantly under surveillance by any number of potential enemies,” I said. “The Mist is right outside our doors, after all.”
The uneasiness on their faces delighted me. I felt like I was regaining lost ground, somehow exacting payment for my thwarted plans. I watched Gareth steadily.Go ahead and scold me, I thought.See what happens.
But Gareth didn’t take the bait. “Maybe we could replace the current wards with some that are a little smarter,” he suggested. “More specific.” His voice was pleasant, but his eyes were guarded. “Friendly to allies, unfriendly to enemies.”
Tarek finally paused in his note-taking. “Absolutely not. We don’t have the personnel to spare for yet another project.”
Blaise Gardiner, the cheeriest of Gareth’s friends, a stocky, ruddy-faced literature professor with a keen eye for finding useful information in allegory, looked to me hopefully. “You could persuade Her High and Mighty Ladyship, couldn’t you, Mara? You’re her favorite, or so everyone tells me.”
Truth be told, I liked Blaise. His boisterous, forthright nature felt so out of place at Rosewarren that I found the novelty charming. But I couldn’t help myself. It was as though I’d sprouted thorns, and they were hungry for a fight.
“What else doeseveryonetell you, Blaise?” I asked quietly.
Gareth pushed off the desk and clapped his hands. “All right, let’s move on. You all have your assignments. Loudon’s research team, let’s meet back here after supper.”
As the others gathered their things, Gareth came toward me with his hands in his pockets and a soft smile.
“It’s good to see you,” he said. “We’ve all been so busy since we arrived that I’ve only caught glimpses of you.”
I refused to let him disarm me. “You sent for me,” I said briskly. “I have a lot to do. What do you want?”
“I’d like to eat dinner with you.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“You do eat dinner, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” I replied, flushing.
“Then will you eat it with me tonight? We had so little time together in Fairhaven. And the days here are so full.” He shrugged a little, sheepish. “I’ve missed you. I think about dancing with you every day.”
I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. Not ten minutes ago, I’d been ready to abandon all of this and let whatever enemy I could find in the Old Country destroy me. And now here wasGareth, flirting with me and being very sweet about it. The contradiction left me feeling unbalanced.
“I’m not hungry,” I said, turning to leave. “I need to find Brigid.”
Gareth, undeterred, followed me out of the librarians’ wing and downstairs. Freyda sent a single grumpy chirp our way before flying off down the hallway. In her absence, my shoulder felt cold.
“Bad day?” Gareth asked.
“No worse than any other.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
He nodded agreeably, taking off his tie and shoving it carelessly into his pocket. This had the unfortunate effect of leaving his collarbones on full display. I didn’t know if I wanted to bite them or snap at him to button his shirt.
