“Benedict!” Tybalt waved to him as he drew near. “Come join us! Unless you need to report in for a night shift?”
“I just finished a shift, so I’m all yours.” Benedict plopped into one of the open chairs, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles.
“When are you going to be done with all that nonsense?” The book on Pedron’s lap was splayed open and upside down, several of the pages bent.
Benedict had to grip the armrests to prevent himself from rescuing the poor book. “Not for a while, I’m afraid. The difficulty of being the second son.”
“My little brother has become quite dedicated since returning from the war.” Borachio shifted in his seat. His book was closed and sitting on the table beside him with no attempt to even pretend to read.
That was about as good of a natural point to turn the conversation as he was going to get. Benedict shifted to better face his brother, his sneer still in place. “I’m quite dedicated to tracking down the Wild Fae Primrose. Who I…”
“Who you blame for your imprisonment. Yes, we know.” Tybalt flapped his hand. “You’ve said as much many times. It’s getting tiresome.”
“But what I haven’t mentioned is that I have a plan to catch him.” Benedict tore his gaze away from his brother to focus on first Tybalt, then Pedron.
“Really?” Pedron clasped his hands behind his head. The book on his lap slid to the floor, landing with even more pages bent. A Library root shot out of the ground, smacked Pedron’s shin hard enough to make him yelp, and collected the book, toting it back to the shelves. Still rubbing his shin, Pedron continued talking with barely a pause. “That would be quite the feat. All of the Fae Realm has been trying to catch him for years. What makes you think you can do it?”
Benedict squeezed his hands tighter on the armrests. “I’m not going to tell you. But I have arranged to lure the Primroseto the Woodland reading nook tonight. I can guarantee that the Primrose will be there at midnight.”
“Our king won’t appreciate it if you capture the Primrose.” Pedron eyed Benedict, something glinting in his eyes. “He has taken great pains to shelter the Primrose, even taking our Court to war because of his actions.”
“All the more reason our king should be saved from himself.” Benedict let the sneer drop, revealing a true hardness he could feel down to his soul. He couldn’t flinch now, no matter how he sounded. “Besides, are you going to tell him?”
After holding Benedict’s gaze for a moment, Pedron shook his head.
Tybalt shrugged. “I’m curious to see if you can pull it off. The so-called hero has evaded many traps before.”
“I might actually be impressed with you, little brother.” Borachio waved his hand vaguely in Benedict’s direction.
Benedict resisted the urge to release a breath. None of them would tell King Theseus.
But if his guess was right, the fae he wanted to trap would show up in the Woodland nook tonight.
Chapter Thirteen
Beatrice held up the last book from the stack she’d been carrying. The Library detached a branch, took the book from her hand, and placed it gently back into its place.
With a sigh, Beatrice let her arms drop. Finally, all the books had been shelved. As much as she appreciated that everyone in the Fae Realm was showing a renewed interest in the Great Library, now that the war was over, it would be nice if things slowed down long enough for her to catch a breath.
Rapid footsteps made her turn around a moment before Helena hurried around the nearest bookshelf corner. As her gaze landed on Beatrice, Helena made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a cry. She all but flung herself at Beatrice. “I’ve been looking everywhere for Meg and Basil but they must have gone home. Surely you can help instead.”
While the Houses had Anywhere Doors, only those who actually lived in that House could take an Anywhere Door directly there, preventing just anyone from barging in. So Helena would have to walk through the fae village to track Meg and Basil down.
“I’ll try. What do you need?” Beatrice shifted backward slightly to give herself some space from the half-gasping, half-sobbing fae woman. Helena was given to dramatics, but this was a bit much even for her.
“I overheard something, and I don’t know what to do.” Helena wrung her hands. Her face had an even more porcelain pallor than normal, and her blue eyes were liquid with her tears.
“What did you overhear?” Beatrice tried to keep her voice level. As she was also prone to dramatics, she probably shouldn’t judge the woman for not telling everything in an orderly manner.
“You know that, ever since he returned, my husband Demetrius hasn’t been himself.” Helena gave a sniff, still wringing her hands before her. “Because of that, I’ve been keeping an eye on everyone who returned, hoping I would see something or hear something that would give me some answers for why my Demetrius has been an entirely new person.”
Beatrice made an encouraging noise and nodded. Spying on the others probably wasn’t the most healthy way to go about getting answers, but Helena seemed desperate enough to try anything.
“Just now, I overheard Apprentice Librarian Benedict talking with his brother Borachio, Tybalt, and Pedron.” Helena sniffed and trembled, her voice growing even more high-pitched. “He said…he said he had a plan to capture the Wild Fae Primrose.”
“Who said that?” Beatrice’s heart hammered, her stomach swooping. She found herself gripping Helena by the arms, barely resisting giving her a shake. “Benedict?”
Surely not Benedict. Anyone but Benedict.
