Page 34 of Shadows and Runes

Scared and restless eyes fill the room. People stay huddled with only their known companions and fellow Library staff. Accusations begin to be thrown about, and one elderly lady stands up, pointing a thin finger toward a young man on the opposite side of her. “You spent far too long looking around this Library earlier!”

The wide-eyed brown-haired boy opens his trembling mouth, “Are you accusing me of being the traitor? I’ve been an assistant librarian in Sector Three for over four and a half years now! Anyone in Sector Three can attest to it.” His eyes frantically flicker from the small old lady to the woman beside him.

“That's true. Adam has been a loyal worker for many years.” A woman with green eyes, freckles, and a blue bob cut jumps forward, defending the young man. “But what aboutyou?You took a little too long in the bathroom earlier, right?” Her eyes narrow toward the woman.

The elderly woman flinches back, her lips twisting in disgust as she narrows her eyes at the sprite.

Accusations begin to hurdle from one person to the next, their fear and uncertainty engraved on their faces as they continue to raise their voices over each other.

I take a deep breath in, and raising my voice, I pull their attention to me.

“Everyone needs to stay calm. We, as the Librarians and Guards, will look into this problem.”

The elderly woman looks at me, a scornful look in her eyes.

“Leave everything toyou?And how areyousupposed to handle this?” She looks me up and down, her eyes dripping with disregard. Just as I open my mouth, I hear a slight shuffling from behind me, Jace’s growl getting louder.

“Wait a minute!” Aileen shouts, walking toward us. “The traitor couldn’t possibly be a staff member or someone who is a regular in the Library Sectors, right? Someone devoted to the Libraries and Records wouldn't do something likethis.”She turns, looking around the room, people nodding and voicing their affirmation.

“It’s true. We get thoroughly vetted before being accepted as staff.” Callyn nods.

“We can shorten the list of suspects this way, right?” Aileen smiles. “And we can confirm with each other whether stories line up.”

She walks to the left side of the room. “We should form into groups of staff and which sector we belong to,” states Aileen.

The crowd begins to shuffle slightly and shift into small groups. Organizing and chattering with their comrades as they reach each other. Three small groups are quickly formed of people, making up the majority, leaving only a handful of people behind.Sector Two, Three, and Four’s staff.

Aileen stands to one side with her Sector staff, along with the blue bob-cut woman and Adam. Callyn, the elderly pixie, an unconscious Mateo, and a few others make up another group not far from them. Also, what I believe to be Ilyric's Library staff stand on the opposite side of the room. He nods to them as they look at him.

A few people are left in the center of the room and begin to get frustrated by the attention.

“I’m a regular!” shouts a balding man. “I’ve been going to the Third Sector's Library since I was fifteen years old.”

Aileen nods her head, standing forward.“I can attest to that. Harry's been a patron even before I began working as a Library assistant.”She smiles at the disgruntled old man. The man slightly calms with her assurance.

The group in the center quickly dwindles to only a couple of people unaccounted for, regular patrons being checked off by each Sector group.

Two people stand isolated from the crowd, a small petite blonde girl, no older than fifteen, and a brisk biker-looking man.

A large, lightly tanned man with a tight blonde cut,probably Fae, steps forward from the Second Sector Library staff group, taking the arm of the petite girl.

“She’s my cousin,” he says while looking toward Ilyric.

“Derric.” Ilyric nods.“Yes, I remember you mentioning it before. Work experience for a fortnight.” He nods in the small teen’s direction. “Mallia, if I recall.” The young girl blushes at the call of her name from Ilyric's lips.

Ilyric gestures toward the Second Sector group, Derric and Mallia quickly shuffling toward them.

One lone man stands in the center of the Library now. Tattoos cover the length of his arms and knuckles, a leather biker jacket strewn over his broad shoulders with matching black jeans and a scruffy dark beard. His eyes are dark brown, with a shimmering layer of red,a low-level demon so.

“Listen, I get how it looks.” He gestures to himself. “I’m not exactly your regular patron or what you’d expect to see in this kind of place. I also don't have anyone to vouch for me here. So I get the suspicions. But—”

He turns toward me, eyes more tense and firm as he points a tatted finger behind me.

“As far as I know…they’venot been accounted for either.” He flicks his finger behind me toward Jace and then Lucien, becoming more agitated as he looks toward them.

“So why aretheynot standing here and being questioned likeme?!” The man's eyes turn blood red, the anger rising in him with his demon slowly reaching the surface.

Cole steps forward, his eyes glowing a silver hue, a demonic dominance pouring from him and toward the man, and with one darkened look, he has the lower demon bowing his head to him.The man takes a shaky step backward, his eyes on the floor as his demon recedes.

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