Page 19
Her brow furrowed. “Ah, he got a living one.”
“A what?”
She waved her hand. “A feisty book. That’s why we have the romance novels behind glass.”
“Can’t get worse than that copy of Beauty and the Beast.” I huffed and caught her attention.
“We have several. Was it the one where they get feisty or the one where Belle invents the internet?” Isa stared at me seriously.
“Of all the fanfiction to punk as a real copy, I ended up with the spicy one.” I laughed, and she smirked.
“Pretty sweet gig? Got a girlfriend to share the spicy details with?” She slid by me, the air following her giving me a chill.
“Ah, no. Not so much.” I offered her a flat smile and set up my workstation for the day.
“Well, dating prospects are minimal in this city. The women aren’t much to speak of.” She hummed as I went about unlocking the closet to the return bin and bringing back the half dozen books within. “Can’t speak much for men. Never could get along with them.”
“Married before?” I thought that was pushing the private questions a little, preferring to keep my relationships professional.
“Never was legal while I was able to date.” She laughed and waved her hand. “Besides, never found the right woman.”
I learned something new and nodded sagely. She was safe. “I’m in good company, then.”
“That makes three for three, here… Then again, archivists tend to lean that way, anyway. We can’t have too many children. Overpopulation and all that. Nature has a way, I suppose.” She waved a hand.
“I did notice a trend in school.” I laughed as I glanced at a book in my hand.
The eighth Boy Wizard novel… I flipped the book over. “Boy wizard and the Creepy Snake Fetus of Wrath. Kinda on the nose…”
“Or lack thereof.” Isa laughed to herself as I popped the front cover open and scanned the instructions for the report.
Instead of just the card pocket, a copy of a report lay tucked neatly in and I unfolded it. Neat handwriting scripted out a few lines. “Who is Ville?”
Isa glanced over. “Ah, an old patron.”
The handwriting seemed oddly familiar as I read through the parameters and the paper back and forth. “Form Y-6 if your true name appears instead of the library’s ex libris.
I peeked at the inner cover and Yup. Alexei Zaslavsky had been printed on the inner cover. “What the…”
“Fill out the form, dear.” Isa’s sigh of a voice had me hastily filling out Y-6 from the drawer, indicating the handwriting was not my own, ink color, time, and date.
“Who reviews these?” I glanced over to her.
“I do, anything interesting gets shipped off to the main branch and they request the book sent to them or destroyed.” The whole thing was so matter-of-fact. “Zeke inspects and corrects anything dangerous but boring.”
“This library isn’t normal.” I closed the book and laid it on a cart as she gave me a no duh look. “I mean, besides the fact that it’s an entire library dedicated to misprints, fanfiction, and alternate versions of books I never knew existed.” I flipped through the other books, finding no more reports to file.
“Well, it takes a special person to handle this kind of mischief, and you fit the bill. Still do, and quite nicely, might I add?” She smiled endearingly at me and strode across the floor, inspecting everything.
As I went about my business, I passed an open book that appeared to be some sort of journal. I lifted the edge of it to peek, and a page slid, turning over as a date flashed back at me, and Isa whipped around, slamming her hand over the book, something about her blinking, or the light blinking. “This is my private journal. Please.”
“Sorry.” I hesitated as she sighed in relief, and what happened next made my entire body go stiff and heart seize in my chest.
Zeke walked into the circulation area, his path straight, unbothered by Isa in his way as he went through her as if walking through a shadow.
The pages of her journal fluttered about before stilling, and she stared at Zeke, a glare twisting her face. “Zeke!”
He glanced back, pretty amber eyes flicking from her to me.
