Shatter the Earth (Cassandra Palmer 10)

“Lady?”

“Just for a while. Let everyone cool off.”

Rhea looked confused, worried, and not a little relieved, all at the same time. “Lady, I can do it,” she said earnestly. “I know I can. I just . . . need some time to figure things out.”

I smiled. “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”

Chapter Nine

Next stop was HQ, where I was supposed to meet Pritkin for dinner, after texting him an apology for ducking out yesterday. I’d blamed the cat. Damned thing should be useful for something after basically dropping me like a hot potato. Last time I’d seen it, the fluffy bastard had been curled up on Annabelle’s bed, preening itself.

Men.

I’d taken some care with my looks, spending some time to make my hair extra bouncy and wearing my new outfit, since Pritkin had basically had no time to admire it yesterday. But before I could relax with my boyfriend, I had an errand to run. Fortunately, I had a couple hours, since his shift didn’t end until eleven.

I turned my feet toward the library.

It looked much the same as yesterday, except for being even more deserted. I thought I saw the banker looking guy shortly after I came in, but the next second there was just a bunch of glowing watch fobs disappearing behind some stacks. And when I went to look for him, he’d disappeared.

Figured.

I finally found a librarian, or somebody official looking anyway, only to be informed that the section with the manuscript I needed had been firebombed in the attack. Nothing at all remained. And there was no digitized copy, as the record in question had been placed on restricted access, which didn’t allow for copies, electronic or otherwise.

“So, you’re telling me it’s gone forever?” I asked her.

She adjusted a little pair of pince-nez, and sniffed. “Unless you have a time machine,” she said, and moved off.

I stared after her for a moment.

Well, there’s an idea, I thought, and shifted.

The library, as it turned out, looked a little different a month ago. And because I hadn’t moved, except in time, it was like watching a video in reverse. Shattered stacks leapt back together, books fluttered up from the floor and refiled themselves, blackened starbursts popped out of sight on the walls, and missing bits of carpet magically reappeared, like puzzle pieces fitting back into place.

And a different woman suddenly showed up in front of me.

“Oh, dear,” she said, and stumbled back a step. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

I didn’t say anything. I was too busy taking in the steel gray cap of hair, the almost smooth, chocolate mocha skin, and the bright blue eyes of the woman who I’d previously seen only in a photograph. She had glasses on a little chain around her neck that practically screamed librarian, and a bright floral dress that didn’t.

Shit, I thought, feeling my stomach fall.

I hadn’t been prepared for this.

“Can I help you, dear?”

“Mrs. Lantham?” I said, feeling sick.

“Yes.” She squinted at me, which probably explained why she hadn’t screeched and run when a woman popped into existence in front of her. It looked like she was pretty blind without her glasses. Of course, there were spells for that, but the wards down here interfered with them, so the older staff continued to use glasses.

She settled hers on her nose and squinted at my face. I braced myself, but nothing happened. Guess I wasn’t all that well-known at the moment, I thought.

“I need information about an obscure spell,” I told her. “They, uh, told me that you’re the person to see.”

She smiled. “Yes, I am known as a bit of an authority on esoteric enchantments. Which one would it be, dear?”

“Nodo D’Amore. It means—”

“Lover’s Knot.” She frowned. “Yes, I know it. But that’s a bit tricky, I’m afraid.”