We enter a room full of pallid and anxious faces, hushed voices, and fearful looks. All of their eyes watching the barrier we had seen upstairs.

It stretches itself to every corner of the building, static magic running back and forth, reinforcing the barrier magic from the Autarium. The magic crackles and buzzes as it covers every inch of the building, encasing it in its power. Protecting it.

Ilyric stands before the crowd trying to calm them by explaining that it's not an attack but something to do with the Library itself.

Jace, Lucien, and Isaac stand off to the side. Jace’s eyes immediately turn to me as I make my way further into the room. They flicker between Cole and me, his brows scrunching slightly as his eyes narrow, golden flecks forming in his irises.

I shake my head. Clearly, his mind was wandering somewhere it shouldn’t.

The dark figure beside him catches my eye, Lucien. His gaze languid, as if everything going on around him was tiresome and unexciting. He turns to me, dragging his gaze down my body, before slowly moving back up me, his eyes finally meeting mine again, a dark tilt to his lips, before a low growl rolls out from beside him.

Jace glares toward Lucien, a darker amused grin forming on his face.

I look toward the group, their voices becoming more frantic with the magic flowing around the building. Stepping forward and further into the crowd, I pull their attention to me.

“Ilyric is right,” I explain. “It's the Autarium. It's protecting the Library and the Records itself by placing it under lockdown.”

Ilyric turns to me, his brows pinched together. “I’ve never heard of the Autarium doing something like that.” How can I explain that I know this because of the connection that I feel with the Library? That I know it because I can feel it. And I know they don’t have the highest regard for me as it is. Always the same thoughts from the supe communities. If something or someone was different, they were ostracised.

When I was younger, the Wiccan community thought I was one of theirs but soon saw no use in me. My abilities are too different and weak, in their opinion. I quickly became an outcast.

Thankfully, Isaiah found me, and between Isaac and him, we made our own family. They accept me wholly for what I am and my abilities for what they are.

My connection with the Library wasn’t normal, something unheard of or documented in our communities. But it was something so natural to me. A feeling beyond just feeling safe or comfortable between these walls. It was as if we were truly bonded or connected in some way. I could feel what it wanted to do, the intent clear as day in my mind, and right now, it wanted to protect.

The magic surges down with one final flare of power, the barrier fully in place, with the blue-hued magic still visibly flowing down the walls like calm waves on a lake.