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Jack laughed.
“I don’t think even the king could make that boy go near a library.”
Adam was a little relieved that Isaac Frost wasn’t joining their expedition. He liked the guy, but the history there hurt. If Vran’s death had hurt Jack and Daff, it had gutted Isaac. As Adam understood it, he wasn’t exactly gone. He’d merged with the school’s heart, which meant he’d live a thousand other lives in other worlds, just not theirs.
Jack tugged on his raincoat. “We should get going.”
“Is it safe?” Adam asked. “I’ve got my sword, but I mean, do we need extra backup in case of trouble?”
“We have it.” Jack nodded to Daff. “I’m bringing a ringer.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek.
“Like I’d let you go without me.” She turned to Adam. “You’re taking him to an infinite library. He’d never come back if I wasn’t there to drag him home. Besides, you might need somebody who’s actually useful in a fight.”
She didn’t look like much, but he knew better than to assume. The spirit realm was full of adorable things that would eat you alive and nine-foot-tall monsters only interested in celebrity gossip magazines.
“How do we get there?”
“The usual way.” Jack walked over to the doors of the keep and spoke for a bit.
It didn’t sound so much like words as a sort of equation with some weird directions like “left of the Decay” and “two points off the conical axis” thrown in.
Daff leaned over to whisper.
“The school has been charting the planes. Part of the SPRs’s”—she paused to frown at the name—“function is to track and map wherever they go.”
“How’s that going?”
“Better than expected. There’s volatility, but not as much as you might think, especially around the watchtowers and other focal points. It’s the outlands that get really weird. The working theory is that the watchtowers and other transplanar landmarks act like gravity wells. They draw things in and maintain a kind of stable orbit around the center.”
“What’s at the center?”
“We call it the conical axis, since it’s shaped like a cone, at least as far as the professors can calculate. I’m not as good at the math as them or Hex.”
“I’m not good at any of it,” Adam admitted. “What was your suggestion?”
“Huh?”
“For the SPRs?” He held up the watch on his wrist.
“Oh. Static Clingers.”
“I like it.”
Her smile widened as the door clicked.
Jack offered each of them a hand.
“We should probably link. It might be a rough ride.”
Adam took Jack’s hand as Daffodil took the other with a smitten smile he returned.
She opened the door with her free hand and they stepped through.
28
Adam had ridden the planes with multiple elves. He’d driven through a building into an underworld, but none of those experiences had prepared him for the trip from the school to the Archive Infinite.
