Page 25

“What kind of grass is this?” I let the man handle the blades and examine them closely. “Imaginary. No veins. The author wasn’t very descriptive, not a deus.”

I nodded sagely.

“Requisitor?” He glanced up to meet my eyes.

“The new kid, Lex.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets as Ville glanced from me to the grass. Then he glanced at me, catching the grass stains on my knees with a gesture.

I nodded. “We kept it PG.”

“Nice.” He handed the strands back to me with care. “Watch him and stay the fuck out of any plague books, right?”

“Nothing we don’t have a vaccine for, at least.” I gave him a thumbs-up.

“And avoid Lovecraft—last thing we need is another elder god uprising. Some of the eldritch look cute at first and they try to take them home as pets…” Ville shuddered, his wrinkled face twisting into something it wasn’t naturally. In his true face, he appeared in his early twenties, but he was always more comfortable in another man’s skin.

“No need to tell me about Lovecraft.” I sneered and watched him wince.

“Point. Big point. Avoid his poetry.” Ville gave me finger guns, and I couldn’t help my face twisting into something unpleasant that reflected back at me from gleaming, dark windows.

“I already had to write a report on a sentient copy and let me tell you, it did not hold back.” I shook my head. “Whoever decided I needed to be the one on that task was an asshole.”

“Gross.” He checked his watch and tapped the glowing screen, tech pulled from a book, I could tell. “I need to get back to my assignment. Keep an eye on the kid, right?”

I nodded as he did something and disappeared, gone with nothing but the sound of a flurry of pages.

Maybe it was jealousy or frustration, but I couldn’t help it. “Jackass.”

So, when I popped inside of the library and met Isa standing by the circulation desk already, arms folded and looking pale, I held up the grass as she glanced me up and down.

“What the hell is that? And you’re a mess.” She tapped her foot. Fuck, I hated the tapping.

“He came out of a book holding it.”

“And where would you have gone to return looking like that?” Like a mother, if I wasn’t older than her.

“We went into some hockey romance, and he really brings out the mood of the book. Full-on requisitor.” I laughed, and her face changed to something more judgmental. “What? I didn’t like… We didn’t do anything. I mean, there was a kiss, but like—who hasn’t ended up smooching in a book before?”

She relented and nodded. “And he brought the grass out?”

I allowed her to inspect as I gave a noise of agreement. “Caught Ville on the way in.”

“Notice he didn’t stick around, yeah?” Isa huffed and crossed her arms. “So, what are we doing from here?”

“I suppose we just monitor him and ask that he limit his diving to here so I can at least go get him if he gets stuck?” I tossed the paperback we’d dove into on the counter and stared at the cover for a long moment. “I think I need to do some reading, though. Make sure there’s no anomalies.”

“Uh-huh.” Isa stared at me doubtfully. “Well, time for me to crawl in bed and get under the covers.”

I nodded and waved her off as I wandered back toward my quarters, sighing as her journal closed.

I wondered what I could figure out about the book alone.

Despite what she thought, I did do my paperwork—most of the time. So, this time was no different. I chronicled the impromptu dive with Lex and then did a physical analysis of the book. Crease on the cover, nothing particularly gnarly in the foreword or dedication. No weird instances of his name being in the book that I could tell after leafing through the first chapter, nor mine.

And so, I set about reading it in earnest, pushing myself into the book, watching the romance play out much as it did the first time, no subtle differences I could tell. I even revisited the spot in the quad where we’d fallen, not a divot or patch of missing blades. Just grass.

And without Lex there… I decided to go take a peep at the goings-on.

From all the noise going on up there on my first dive, it had to be interesting…