Page 176 of Magical Mission
And yet here they were. Still as stone. Focused on one thing.
Us.
Or maybe what had just passed through.
Keegan sniffed the air. “Something’s wrong with the energy in here.”
“No,” Twobble said, tugging at my sleeve and gesturing up. “They’re clamping it down. The book sprites have sealed the upper layer of the library.”
“How?” I whispered.
“They have failsafe enchantments,” he explained. “For magical breaches. Their priority is the texts. Not us. They’ll let us in, but they won’t letanything elseout.”
Keegan’s gaze swept the shelves. “So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Find it. See what it wants. Stop it.”
“That’s not a plan,” Twobble said grimly. “That’s awish with legs.”
We moved deeper into the library, my boots silent on the old wooden floor, my pulse loud enough to drown out thought. The deeper we moved, the more the air pressed down on us—thick, syrupy, and cold. As if we were walking into a storm made of memories.
Then—movement.
A flicker between shelves.
Not a shape this time.
Aflash.
Like light glancing off a blade.
Twobble whispered, “There—left row, third aisle down.”
Keegan nodded and moved first, low and ready.
I followed, every inch of me braced for impact.
We turned the corner…
Empty.
Nothing but books. Stacks. Dust that hadn’t been disturbed.
But I couldfeelit like something had just exhaled.
“Maeve,” Twobble whispered, tugging at the back of my sleeve.
I turned and saw the word burned into the spine of a book at eye level.
It wasn’t scorched or handwritten. It was etched with magic.
Soon.
My breath caught.
“Okay,” Twobble said, his voice brittle. “I officially hate this thing.”
Behind us, something slammed in the dark.
