by Kelly Ethan
“Thank God. Still locked.” She shifted, holding the wood leg outright. The place was bare, but if someone invisible attacked, she’d batter them to death with an antique. Xandie pushed the table out of her way and shrieked as she stumbled over something soft and lumpy. Propping herself up on her knees, she used the wooden leg to probe in front of her. She crawled forward but squealed when she placed a hand in a wet puddle. Her fingers drifted over a lumpy surface. Xandie flinched as she realized the lumpy surface was a human chest.
A loud buzz filled the air and lights blazed. She used her free hand to cover her eyes as she got used to the light.
“Oh my God, she’s killed him.” A piercing shriek echoed around Xandie as she blinked like a myopic owl.
Irene pointed an accusing finger at Xandie. “Look at her, she’s still covered in his blood and is holding a stake.”
A throng of people blocked the doorway. She stared uncomprehending at her red-smeared skin. “Blood?” The soft, lump she’d bumped into had been a body. Her lawyer. The poor man who sported a matching chair leg to Xandie’s twin. One that was currently sticking out from his eye.
“Holy crappers.” She opened her fingers and her chair leg dropped to the floor. She scooted back from the corpse until she ended up against a pair of muscled legs.
A hand pressed on her shoulder.
“You need to come with me. You’re under arrest, Alexandra Meyers, for suspicion of murder.”
Chief Braun’s neutral face swam into her view as he bent and hefted her up. “Murder?” she whispered. “He’s dead?”
Braun shifted his gaze to the crowd of people hovering in the doorway as a man pushed through, accompanied by an attractive blue-haired woman. The man squatted down and immediately checked for a pulse. At the shake of his head, Braun turned again to Xandie. “Your lawyer is definitely dead, according to our esteemed local doctor and our best healer. Time to go to the station.” He directed Xandie past the throng of interested observers.
Lila grabbed Xandie’s arm. “I’ll secure the house after everyone leaves and send mom to the station.”
Amelia crowded in close, holding Theo. “Theo will be fine too. We’ll sort this mess out.”
She nodded blankly and tried to pat Theo, forgetting the handcuffs on her wrists.
“You messed this librarian thing up, didn’t you?”
Her numb feeling wore off as the rough sarcastic words penetrated her brain fog. She looked for the speaker, but the voice matched none around her.
“I knew Sera was tripping on some homeopathic potion those Harrows pedal when she named you heir.”
Xandie’s eyes grew wider she focused on Theo. “Theo?”
“Right, only takes a corpse to hammer through your dense skull and get you to hear me.”
Her. Cat. Was. Talking. To. Her.
“Welcome to the world of the Great Library of Alexandria, cupcake. Insanity is always the best defense,” Theo hissed and flew out of Amelia’s arms. Great, even her talking cat hated her guts.
Her day couldn’t get any worse… could it?
Seven
“We’re here to spring you from the pokey. You got those jailhouse blues yet?” Lila and Holly, Xandie’s cousins, leaned against the cell as Aggie Braun let Xandie out.
“Now girls, be nice. She’s had a trying time.” Aggie patted Xandie on the back and gave her a quick hug.
“Ma, you baked cupcakes and bought her Lila’s butter puffs and a hot chocolate twice a day. You also bought linen from our house and hooked up Netflix for her. Plus, it’s only been a few days. She’s not doing it tough.” Zack Braun rested against the doorjamb of the cell area.
“Now, Zachy bear, you leave Xandie be. She’s a sweet girl. We all know she’s innocent of any crime. No lip from you or no schnitzel tonight.” Aggie whispered to Xandie, “He loves his mother’s schnitzel, family recipe.”
“Thanks for everything, Aggie. You’re wonderful.” Xandie gripped Aggie tighter. Without the police dispatcher’s love and attention, the whole process of jail would have shattered her.
“Get out of here, girl, and attend the library. God knows what the backup of requests is like. Plus, it might be the library has answers for you.”
“Thanks again, Aggie.”
Lila and Holly grabbed Xandie and dragged her out to Aggie’s desk. The girls peppered her with questions.
“Did they fingerprint you?” Holly jumped in with the first question.
Lila didn’t give Xandie time to answer before she cut in. “Did they do a DNA swab, take your photo? Did they let you put make-up on first before your mug shot?”
“Okay, yes, they fingerprinted me and did a DNA swab. Braun interviewed me and they took so called forensic evidence and my clothing. Everyone was nice, and no one jumped me in jail. Can I go home now?” All Xandie wanted to do was take a bath, cuddle Theo and clean up the library backlog.
“Not yet.” Braun placed paperwork and a bag on the table in front of Xandie. “Sign for your belongings and a list of your bail conditions. Plus, the date of your arraignment is in two days. You must be at the meeting, okay?” He gave Xandie a searching glance.
“I can’t believe this. It’s only been a couple of days and your investigation is already finished? From what Aggie has told me, the whole town thinks I did it. Do you?” For some reason, Braun’s opinion of her mattered. Maybe she had a brain disease eating away at her logic centers. “You know I didn’t do it, right?”
“He does.” Zach’s younger sister, Melody, clumped to a desk, sat herself down and sighed in relief as she popped a booted foot up. Following closely behind were Zach’s Deputy twin brothers, Caleb and Riley.
Caleb nodded. “Yep, he has been a bear with a sore head since he arrested you.”
His twin brother, Riley, agreed, “Yeah, he’s a nightmare. Plus, Mom refused to do his washing if he didn’t release you quick smart.”
“Could you three shut up? Mom should have adopted you cubs out when you were born.”
Caleb snorted. “Please, she couldn’t get it right with you, so she had the rest of us to make up for it.” He ducked when Zach threw a stapler.
“For god’s sakes, you four. Let the girl go home.” Aggie slapped a hand on the desk.
“Fine. Keep your nose clean, Meyers. You need to be squeaky clean for your arraignment, got it?”
“I got it. And since I’m not a murderer, it won’t be an issue.” Xandie swept the bag of her belongings up and sashayed to the door with Lila and Holly trailing behind her. She exited the building and breathed in the fresh air, lifting her face up to the sun of the late morning. She closed her eyes a moment and dragged in another deep breath. Despite her release, a feeling of impending doom hung over her. She still had to somehow prove to Zach—and the townsfolk—that she wasn’t a murderer.
Before she could give any more thought as to how she was going to do that, Lila linked arms with her and gave her a tug to get her moving.
“Come on, Princess Jailbait. Let’s get you back to your royal crib.”
Xandie gave a small grin and shook her head.
Sometimes Lila had a way with words.
Xandie waved to her cousins and closed the front door with a sigh of relief. She turned and peered through the window. A snicker escaped as she watched Lila and Holly argued over who would drive. Turns out, Holly was born only a month or two after Xandie and Lila. All three sisters had been pregnant at the same time. Gave Xandie a bond with her cousins she never thought she’d have. Still smiling at the squabbling cousins as they drove off, Xandie was about to turn away when she caught the flicker of a shadow out of the corner of her eye. Frowning, she squinted through the glass. It looked like a figure. Darting out from behind the house and down the driveway after her cousins.
Who would spy on her? The purple rinse naked set? Or someone a little more sinister? Or…maybe someone trying to break into the library. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach then she pushed it away. She
’d be damned if she’d give into the sense of fear that threatened to overwhelm her if she gave it headspace. Shaking off her suspicions and making sure she’d locked the front door, Xandie headed for the library. She wanted a jail-free shower but shuddered to think how much of a backlog waited for her in the library. When the police had finished with her house, they’d given Lila and Holly permission to enter and clean the library anteroom. Nothing scary should lurk in shadowy corners for her to discover now. Just the same, she opened the door with extreme caution, peering in to make sure.
The girls had cleaned the room, thrown away the broken furniture, and set the table back in its original spot. Best of all, nobody lay murdered on the floor. Xandie opened the internal library door in relief. Unchanged, the same warm, book-filled room.
Theo zoomed past, launching himself onto the desk and glaring at her.
Xandie smiled, almost glad to see him. She pushed the fact he’d talked out of her head. In fact, her time in the jail cell had convinced her she’d imagined it.
“I see they released you from the big house. Any jailhouse stories you want to share?”
Her mind hadn’t played tricks on her. A talking cat wasn’t her idea of fun. Theo sounded like a grouchy old man. “Nope, talking figment of my imagination. Nothing to report except the police imprisoned me for a crime I didn’t commit.” For some weird unknown reason, a mouthy feline seemed normal for her new life in Point Muse.
“Yes, I’m talking to you. And I’m sure most crims say they're innocent. Besides, you’ve got no upper body strength to slam a stake through the eye and into what was left of his brain.”
“Left?”
“He’s a lawyer. I rest my case.” Theo coughed up a fur ball and shoved it off the desk and into the trash can.
Xandie heaved into her hand. “Okay, you are one filthy figment of my imagination. Nothing is worse than watching a cat vomit.”
“Try being the one doing it.” He patted a small pile of notes. “Only a few here. The library put a hold on requests until they released you. It likes you. Go figure.”
Wow, rude much? She flicked through the requests. “Not too many here. Thank God.” She rolled her eyes when she found one from Professor Amoru. “Let’s put that one to the side.” The rest were routine. “Mating rituals for cockatrice and a basilisk, feeding patterns for carnivorous cryptids, housing regulations for Baba Yaga’s giant chicken leg house. And legalities of a magically binding petition against the use of black magic within Point Muse surrounds. Normal day, hey Theo?” Xandie pulled the appointment book out and scribbled inside.
“Do you classify normal as released from prison?”
Right, time to deal with one grudge-holding cat. “I didn’t kill my lawyer, and I’m staying to help the library. What’s your issue?”
Theo arched his spine, fur standing up. “My issue is Sera’s dead and others are dying while you decide whether to play in Point Muse. Librarian, up and get to work. Find out who the killer is before they take you down.”
“Wow, strong feelings for a cat. I get you loved Sera, but I’m doing my best. I didn’t grow up in Point Muse surrounded by all kinds of weird, plus a talking fuzz ball.”
“Sera was a librarian. Protector and assistant to the Great Library of Alexandria, but she didn’t own me. I’ve protected the library for centuries. I am the son of the last true librarian, Callistrius, and my full name is Theon. You’d do well to heed me.” Theo bobbed his head, making sure she understood his words then licked his nether regions.
Yep, she respected his groin-licking wisdom all right. “You were human? How did you end up protecting the library as a cat?”
Theo stopped grooming himself and lowered his leg. “Bunch of stuff happened. A demon-possessed Caesar burned the library down and bam, I’m hand-picked to be a guardian.”
“Why do I think you’re telling little white lies?” The library’s light pulsed brighter and Xandie arched an eyebrow.
Theo hissed at Xandie. “Fine, my father was the last librarian. He wanted me to be a scholar or a philosopher.”
“And?”
“I wanted to drink more than study. I slipped a flask into the library and huddled in the rabid siren section looking at scrolls and Caesar.”
Xandie snickered. “You were drunk, looking at ancient scroll porn. Classic.”
“Excuse me? Do you want to hear this or not?” Theo glared before continuing, “A demon that wanted access to the library possessed Caesar. The library refused, and he retaliated with bale fire. My father was at the port picking up new scrolls and wasn’t there at the time. Library protected her core and let its physical self, the actual building, burn, but she needed a librarian. I was the closest person. My physical self was gone, so she reconstituted me as a cat, a faithful guardian. She created the necklace as a conduit and the honor of serving passes through Demetrius’s lines. He created the library in the beginning, and it passed down to you, along with my guidance.”
Man, the poor kid died and was now a nether-region-licking cat. Talk about an adjustment. Put her issues into perspective. “I’m sorry, Theo. I guess I need to figure things out and make sure the library’s protected. Okay, Sherlock Holmes, here I come.”
Theo dropped to the table and placed his paws over his face. “Try to stay alive and out of jail. That’s all I ask. Oh, and listen to me sometimes.”
“I’ve got this. Don’t worry.” She’d find Sera’s killer and protect the library. Back to business, Xandie finished the requests and gave the library a tidy up. Hang on...the library knew everything that happened in the supernatural world. Xandie gripped the necklace around her throat. “Ah, library? Who killed Sera, the agent and my lawyer?”
A scroll flew out from the shelves and whacked Xandie in the chest. She grabbed the scroll and unrolled it. The library translated the ancient Latin into English before her eyes. “Knight’s Sanguis. The Knights of Pure Blood.” She frowned. “I shelved this earlier. When I asked about my mother and Sera and the library whispered blood over and over. But I didn’t understand her.” Xandie stared up at the light overhead. “You meant these guys, didn’t you? Knights of Pure Blood?”
The light overhead pulsated furiously in agreement.
“Knights?” Theo spat. “More like killers.”
Xandie scanned the rest of the scroll but it was a mishmash of first-hand accounts of survivors from Sanguis raids. “Why do you say killers, Theo?”
“They were Templar Knights. They’d bring in supernatural scrolls and books found in their travels. Sometimes they’d even protect the library from attacks. But as the world’s human and supernatural populations grew, so did anti-super feelings within Templar ranks. A group split away; fanatics dedicated to pure human blood untainted by other bloodlines. They hunted down and killed anyone they thought supernatural. Many plain humans died, as well as those in the supernatural community.”
“What did the Templars do?”
“They disavowed them, but the Sanguis still had high-placed Templars who supported them. Haven’t heard from them for at least 100 years though.”
Xandie dropped into a chair and pushed her straight brown hair out of her face. The strands were all stringy since she hadn’t washed it in jail. “You had to be a Templar to be a Sanguis Knight?”
“Once the Templars disavowed them, they recruited from family lines. Allowed the knights to marry and hide in plain sight in society. The training passed down from father to son. If they’re active again, the deaths won’t stop until they control the library or get rid of you. They’re fanatics.”
“So, guys with paramilitary training and Hitler delusions are alive and killing and in Point Muse?”
“Appears so. Watch your back and find them.” Theo jumped down and sashayed to the door. “Time for a kitty litter trip. The tuna hasn’t agreed with me.” He shot Xandie an evil smirk and disappeared out the door.
Xandie shuddered at the thought of what tuna and kitty litter would do to her olfac
tory senses when she had to empty it. A scratching on the library window had Xandie shrieking. She dropped to the ground and peered around the desk and out the window.
A blonde teenager stood at the window with green nails extended, scratching on the glass.
Xandie open the window. “I have a door.”
The teenager shrugged. Luminescent green and blue scales shot with silver appeared on her cheeks, then disappeared again. “I don’t do doors. Mom says I’m a hazard when I’m inside.” She flashed a toothy smile at Xandie and waggled her sharp, long green claws.
What kind of creature was she dealing with now? At least she knew the kid wasn’t a fanatical knight out for her blood. “What can I do for you?”
The girl recited the message with a roll of her eyes. “While you were incarcerated, someone attempted entry into your house. We scared off one attempt and watched two other attempts thwarted by the library itself. We caution that the library must remain neutral in case it’s used against all supernatural creatures. If you can’t look after it, we demand the library appoint a more qualified assistant.” The teenager took a gulp of air and studied her claws.
“Who are we?”
The girl snorted and a little trickle of smoke drifted away from her right gold-pierced nostril. She ran her tongue over pointed teeth. “The elders don’t realize how pompous they sound. We used to eat humans. They sacrificed virgins to us. We will rule the world again. Yada yada yada.”
“Virgins?”
“It’s a thing. Most of the younger gens have moved on now. I mean how hard is it to find a virgin these days. You know?” She sneered at the thought.
