“I beg your pardon?”
“Just a second ago. You couldn’t remember me. You asked who I was.”
His tail twitched in agitation. “I do notforgetthings, Lady Eirlana. My memory is impeccable. I remember the exact second of the day the star shower lit the northern skies three hundred years ago. I remember precisely what Irizar Ryshin wore the day they became Librarian, down to their lucky silver boots. I remember when the three Jacari clans became one, and Kalit and Cantros united under the Kalthos name. I remember—”
“Okay, okay!” She held up her hands, but Iylis barreled on.
“I remember the day the first Librarian … the first …” He trailed off, tail thumping rhythmically on the floor. “I remember …”
“Iylis?” She stepped toward him.
“Oh dear,” he murmured. “I—I have to go.” He lifted his haunches, and she pressed against the wall as he came toward her. He paused, looking for a moment as if he might say something more, but only shook his head and trotted down the hall, his voice a distant refrain. “Goodnight, Kasira.”
For one endless moment, Kasira didn’t move. Her stomach hadtaken up residence in her throat, and she barely heard her balestone clatter to the ground. A sickening, unwelcome notion rooted in her mind: If Iylis knew who she was, he was a threat.
A threat that could unravel everything.
A familiar instinct drove her to unsheathe her blade, to consider the weak points on the leopard’s body, the placement of his heart. But her feet remained planted. Iylis had no reason to keep her secret from Allaster, and yet he clearly had. Maybe she was missing something. Maybe he was not the danger her instincts said he was.
Or maybe the thought of killing him was simply too much for her battered heart to bear.
Fool, warned Loraya’s voice.You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement.
She would talk to him first, understand what was happening—but when she rounded the corner after him, his name on her lips, her voice echoed through an empty hall.
Iylis was gone.
Kasira snapped her fingers on impulse, seeking escape with a half-formed idea, and reappeared in the Eyrie outside Gievra’s enclosure. The cub slept curled up beneath the false stars with his feline tail perched atop his nose. She didn’t say a word, not wanting to wake him, but she gently reached into the web of magic, seeking the slow, steady pulse of his sleeping energy. It soothed her, even as she paced by the enclosure, trying to convince herself everything she had worked for hadn’t just gone up in flames.
Calm down and think, she told herself.
This wasn’t the first time she had been in a con on the edge of breaking down. If she had abandoned every game so easily, she would never have succeeded. Iylis knew her name, and yet he hadn’t gone to Allaster. If he had, she had no doubt the Librarian would be throwing her out at that very moment. Which meant the leopard had a reason for keeping it to himself. And with her magic now in play, escape became a more viable option if things went south fast.
Besides, something was clearly wrong with the leopard. Between forgetting who she was and his behavior just now, if it came down toit, she only needed to convince Allaster that Iylis wasn’t in his right mind. When you set a preconceived notion for someone, they often read another’s actions in that context. The Librarian would likely believe her if she said she had no idea why Iylis was calling her Kasira.
She would approach Iylis tomorrow and see what his angle was before deciding.
IYLIS WAS NOWHEREto be found.
Kasira sought him throughout the Library the next morning, but no one had seen him, and when she asked one of the leopard spirits to find him, it only shook its head and trotted off. With a snap of her fingers, she teleported to her bedroom, where she hoped to find scones and fresh tea. Not only was there no breakfast, but last night’s tray was still there.
“You’re looking for him too, then.” She spun to find Allaster in the doorway and tried her best to look casual.
Inside, she calculated. A quick teleport to the portal room, and she would be out through the Riviairen door, but only if Iylis had already told Allaster she was an imposter. The Librarian regarded her with reservation. Something looked different about him, but he hardly seemed suspicious or triumphant, and she was pretty sure if he ever discovered her, he would take the time to throw it in her face.
Still, she used the opportunity to lay her groundwork. “He was acting strangely last night.”
“Iylis always acts strangely.”
“He forgot who I was,” she insisted. “That’s why I was looking for him.” The concern that filled her expression took no artifice to conjure. “Is something wrong with him?”
Allaster didn’t answer her right away, leveling her with that look he got when he was debating if giving her new information might come back to bite him in the ass. At last, he said, “There is something wrong with Amorlin’s magic. I don’t know what, but as you’ve noticed, mypowers aren’t working quite like they should. Like the other leopard spirits, Iylis is tied to the Library. Perhaps it’s impacting him too.”
Finally. It had taken weeks to reach this point, but at last Allaster was answering her questions without restraint.
“Tied how?” she asked.
“I honestly don’t know. He has been here longer than me or Mora.”
