“Don’t go. Come closer. Closer.”
“Well, that’s certainly not ideal,” said Willow, “but I’m not hearing them, so I don’t see the harm in going on ahead.”
“Willow, please. Alison would never forgive me if I let something happen to you. Let’s just go get Idris. He’s probably almost here already. Then we can pick up the trail again once we have someone a bit more equipped to deal with whatever that voice is.”
“Closer. Closer. Closer…”
“Fine,” said Willow. “Maybe if we get you a matchbox, you’ll stop stepping on my tail.”
“Sorry,” said Rinka, following the cat back up the stairs as the whispered voice faded away behind them.
Chapter Fourteen
THE LIBRARY
Alison
Alison listened as Keir recounted his experience in the office. There was no sign of a fire or any other presence in the room, but she didn’t doubt him for a moment: she’d seen what magic was capable of.
Speaking of magic, she was wildly impressed that he’d been able to wield her magic—their magic—to put a stop to whatever it was that haunted him. As much as he tried to deny it, he seemed to be deeply connected to the old magic, and she was proud of him for facing his fear and wielding it in his time of crisis.
“Shall we keep going and try for the library?” he asked after she had finished with her questions.
“I think we’d better. Something like what happened to you could be happening to Ceri right now.”
The door of the library was cracked open despite the breeze blowing through the hallway.
“It seems like this should have shut,” said Keir, his voice filled with apprehension. “I don’t like it.”
“We’ll stay together,” said Alison. “We’re stronger together.”
Once they were inside, Keir lit Alison’s candle to help them see. “What happened here?”
The floor was littered with books. It was as if the library had thrown a tantrum, emptying half of its shelves in its fury.
“There’s a path through them. Look,” said Alison. There was a narrow path through the shelves where the books had been roughly shoved aside. “Ceri’s magic, I think.”
“Ceri?” she called. “Are you in here?”
“Ceri! Leo!” Keir shouted. His voice carried quite a bit further than hers, but there was no answer.
As they followed Ceri’s path, they heard a whispering sound from across the room.
“Do you hear that?” asked Keir.
“Whispers? Yes, I hear it. I can’t make out what it’s saying.”
“It’s probably better if we don’t know.”
They turned the corner in the opposite direction. Whatever the whispering was, it didn’t seem like Ceri had gone that way.
As they came upon the next set of shelves, a couple of books fell. “Poetry,” said Alison, kneeling to pick one up. “This is where I was when we first arrived. Thanks, library, but we’re a little busy right now.”
The next book that fell hit her in the head. “Ow! That’s really unnecessary.” She felt odd speaking to the empty room in the dark. “Did Ceri go this way? We’re trying to find her.”
As if in response, a book dropped from a shelf further down.
“Thank you,” said Alison.
