Inkcaster (Library Gate Series Book 4)

by H. Duke

  “Let me stay,” he said. “I’ll find her and bring her back to the portal.”

  “Like hell you will,” she said. The gun was still trained on him. He still didn’t think she’d shoot him, but it was best not to test her. She was under a lot of stress, and if history proved anything, it was that the she didn’t handle stress well. Anyway, if they went back to the library, he’d have a chance to think. There were weapons there, things that could give him an advantage against the monster… and against the Pagewalker. If only he had access to some of the items he’d had at his disposal with the Agency…

  Something sparked in his mind.

  “Come on,” April said again, and he allowed himself to be prodded back towards the portal.

  He had to be smart—he had to bide his time.

  They stepped back through to the other side of the portal. None of the UNCs attempted to stop them. They must really be afraid of William the Bold.

  When they entered the library, Randall was sitting next to Dorian, who had a grocery bag filled with ice pressed against his head. When he repositioned it, a large knot was visible on his scalp even through his thick brown waves.

  “What happened to you?” Thaddeus asked Dorian archly as he stepped through the veil.

  “Why don’t you ask your friend, William the Bold,” Dorian grumbled. “He came through here looking for you.”

  “And you let him go through to the page I was on,” Thaddeus said. “Is one blow all it takes to loosen your lips?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything. He smelled you on the pages, then assaulted me. Just for fun, I suppose.”

  A first-aid kit lay open on the table in front of him, and Randall held a small medical flashlight. He ran it in front of Dorian’s eyes. “I think you have a concussion,” he said. “Try not to fall asleep, okay? You might slip into a coma.”

  “I don’t care about going into a coma,” Dorian said. “Now I won’t be able to help you lot with this.”

  “We need you here, anyway,” Randall said.

  Dorian shook his head sadly. “No. We need Barty here. I should be in there.”

  “Well, we don’t have him,” April said, her voice harsh. “So it’s time to start making do.”

  The room fell silent.

  “You’re right.” Dorian lowered the bag of ice and prodded the bump. He winced, then covered it again. “What happened?”

  April began to explain. “I found Thaddeus inside Dr. Jekyll’s lab, with William the Bold, or whatever he calls himself. He was threatening to torture Thaddeus so he’d reveal where the girl is.”

  “Sara,” Thaddeus said, and everyone turned towards him.

  “What?” April asked, her face in an are-you-serious expression.

  “The girl’s name is Sara.” Thaddeus rose from his chair and headed towards April’s office.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Randall said.

  “To get my coat. It’s cold in here compared to the balmy weather in that book.”

  “Just ignore him,” April said, rolling her eyes. “He’s being dramatic. So I get in there…” she continued to talk as Thaddeus walked back towards April’s office. Rex followed him, his canine head held low to the ground as he watched his every move.

  Thaddeus raised an eyebrow at the dog. Well, that was fine. What could a dog do?

  Thaddeus closed the office door as much as he dared without being suspicious, then whispered to the dog, “You’re the smartest one out of the lot of them, aren’t you?”

  Rex only continued to watch him, his head inches from the floor.

  Thaddeus reached for his coat, which hung between Randall and April’s on a stand. He slipped his arms through the sleeves. It was a full-length leather duster, one he’d had for years. He liked the look of it, of course, but his favorite feature was the pockets inside the lining. They were meant for storing wallets and other valuables away from rain and thieving hands.

  Thaddeus glanced through the window of the office that peered out into the Werner Room’s common area. April was speaking and Dorian and Randal listened. No one seemed to care what he was doing.

  He quickly walked back behind the desk, then opened the top drawer. It squeaked slightly. The sound wasn’t loud enough to carry out into the Werner Room, but Rex whined. It was a low noise, but that didn’t mean the dog couldn’t start barking…

  Thaddeus raised his fingers to his lips. Rex remained quiet. He started to open the drawer again, just enough so he could stick his fingers inside…

  There it was. A velvet drawstring bag with a long, hard rod inside of it. He pulled it out and opened the drawstring, revealing what he’d been looking for: the magic wand. Mason’s magic wand. He’d seen April stash it here a few days after Mason’s death, when he’d agreed to cast wards on the library and all their cars and homes. He’d hated to do even that small bit of magic, but he’d recognized it as necessary.

  Well, a little magic might again be needed.

  He replaced the velvet bag in the drawer, but it looked too empty. What if April opened it, looking for a pen? He carefully pulled the drawer further open, revealing a small emergency kit. Bingo. He opened it and pulled out a candlestick and slipped it in the bag. Perfect. He put the bag into the desk. Unless someone opened it, no one would know the difference.

  “What are you doing?”

  Thaddeus looked up. Randall stood in the doorway, his arms crossed.

  “Getting my coat.” Thaddeus gestured to the duster with his free hand. He overexaggerated the movement to distract from his other hand, which held the wand. He retracted it up into his sleeve so that it was hidden.

  “That’s what you said earlier,” Randall said, crossing his arms. “It doesn’t explain why you’re going through April’s desk.”

  Thaddeus drew a blank for a second, then he had an idea. He reached back into the desk. The emergency kit was still open. He reached in and pulled out a bottle of pills.

  He lifted it, shaking it so that the container rattled. “Ibuprofen,” he said. “For the character. Dorian.”

  Randall’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t realize you cared so much about Dorian’s comfort. I thought you hated him.”

  Thaddeus shrugged. “Who said anything about caring? We have work to do. He needs to be as clear-minded as possible. That’s all.”

  Randall thought this over, then nodded. “You’re right. Ibuprofen will help.” He paused. “But I think there should be some in the first aid kit. We’ll use that. I don’t know if you’ve put something in that. No offense.”

  Thaddeus nodded. “None taken.”

  He set the bottle of pills on the desk, then made a show of reaching into the drawer to replace the lid on the emergency kit. As he did, he turned his body so he could slip the wand into one of the hidden pockets in his duster.

  “Right.” He stood up straight after he was sure the wand was far enough into his pocket that gravity would do the rest… and he felt it fall down and land securely.

  “Let’s go,” Randall said, nodding back out into the spot in front of the portal. “You too, Rex.”

  Rex still stared at Thaddeus. He didn’t move, which was strange. He normally did what Randall asked right away. Would Randall notice something was amiss? At least the dog wasn’t signaling at Thaddeus or anything.

  “Come on,” Randall prompted again, and to Thaddeus’ relief the dog got up and began walking away, though he whined slightly as he passed Thaddeus.

  Smart dog, Thaddeus thought. In fact, he’d never seen a dog quite as intelligent.

  As he settled down into a chair, Randall dug through the first aid kit. He pulled out a small packet of pills. He tore it open and offered the contents to Dorian.

  “Here,” he said. “Take these. They’ll help with the swelling and the pain. It was Thaddeus’ idea.”

  Dorian swallowed the pills. Thaddeus, not wanting to appear too obviously-helpful, said, “Well, we need you clear-minded right now.”

  “Th
e bloody creature could have beat me senseless and I still would be more clear-minded than you. Who knows when you’ll have another episode.”

  “Not now, Dorian,” April said, a warning note in her voice. She glanced over at him. Her brow was furrowed. She looked both confused and angry at the same time. Then she shook her head. “I was telling them how William the Bold interfered with the story.”

  “Are you sure what he did would break the world?” Randall said. “Maybe he knows some way that it could fit with the narrative.”

  April sighed. “The prose of this book is very… sparse,” she said. “Almost nothing is described in vivid detail, only summarized. It’s possible that this could fit into the narrative. I mean, Dr. Jekyll could have an encounter with an Officer who takes that much of his potion, and just never tell Utterson, right? But I don’t think that’s it.”

  “Me, neither,” Thaddeus said, and everyone’s heads swiveled towards him. “I mean, William the Bold kept saying that the fortification serum had ‘freed’ him. He said that he’d felt compelled to protect the narrative before, but the serum took some of that away. It’s why he took three more vials of the stuff. And, trust me, this guy was nothing like this before he took the serum. Sniveling is the word that comes to mind.”

  April nodded. “It wasn’t until after he took those three extra vials that he was able to interact with Dr. Jekyll.”

  “And when Enfield came to my rescue the first time he tried to torture me, Officer Powers had a hard time talking in front of him. He didn’t even want him in the room. I assumed he’s a main character?”

  April nodded, then bit her lip. “That woman on the street seemed pretty afraid of William the Bold. Said he wasn’t controlled by whatever controls the UNCs, or something like that. She also said it doesn’t really matter, that this world was broken three weeks before. She said the only way to reset anything is to bring the girl—Sara—back. Put her where she belongs.”

  “They like to say that,” Thaddeus muttered.

  “Perfect,” Dorian said, then winced at the sound of his own voice. He turned towards Thaddeus. “Surely you’ve seen the madness of this. Where is the girl?”

  Thaddeus’ jaw hardened. “Like I told April—she’s safe.”

  “But she’s not safe, Thaddeus,” April said. “You heard what that monster said. He’s going to sniff her out. Maybe he already has. Time there moves faster, remember.”

  “Why would he?” Thaddeus said. “It’s not like he’s going to be able to bring her back into the past—unless there’s a time machine in this story that I’m unaware of.”

  “There’s not,” Randall said, “But he’ll expect you to come back. He’s still a UNC, isn’t he? They know how the gate works. He knows that she can’t stay there.”

  “But she can stay there, can’t she?” April said. “Thaddeus is already back on this side of the gate. The worlds are balanced. She’s not in the right scene, but it’s still balanced.”

  Dorian shook his head. “She’s there, but the story is messed up. If the gate closes at five and everything isn’t as it’s supposed to be… this won’t turn out like Braddy Evers. It’s deviated too far from the storyline. Not to mention the ink rot.”

  “We can’t just leave her there, alone and frightened,” Thaddeus said. She could go back to her family, but what would they do to her? Would they accept her as being lost for two weeks and welcome her home as a prodigal daughter, or would they still be UNCs?

  “You should have thought about that before you did all this,” April snapped.

  “And let an innocent child get trampled to death? Where’s the girl who went on a quest to save a boy? Huh? You really have become cold-hearted.”

  April’s eyes flashed, and she looked like she was going to yell something at him. But she only said, “I’m only weighing the pros and cons. I don’t know if we can deal with the mess you’ve made without letting other books go black. There are people inside those books, too. Just because you haven’t seen their faces doesn’t mean they’re not there. I’m trying to figure out what will cause the least amount of harm.”

  “She doesn’t die,” Randall said. Everyone turned to face him.

  “What?” Thaddeus asked.

  “The girl. She doesn’t die when Mr. Hyde tramples her. She doesn’t even get hurt. At least not explicitly.”

  “That…” Thaddeus trailed off as he fought to process Randall’s words. “That doesn’t make any sense. I was there. She’s prone in the street and he’s barreling towards her. There’s no way she survives. You’re just trying to convince me to put her back, and it won’t work.” It wasn’t like Randall to lie, but he was a military man after all. He’d do what was necessary. Thaddeus respected that, but he wouldn’t fall for it.

  “We can prove it,” Dorian said. He opened the book on the table and began reading the page. His brow furrowed. “At least we could if, that paragraph weren’t obscured by ink rot.”

  “How convenient.” Thaddeus crossed his arms. “I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

  Randall started towards the stairwell. “I’ll go find another copy,” he said.

  Dorian shook his head. “Don’t bother. I checked the catalog when you all first went in. Every copy is either checked out or weeded.”

  “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.” April said. She rubbed her temples. It looked like she was the one who needed Ibuprofen. “I’m not even sure if this can be fixed. It might be best to recoup our losses and do what Thaddeus said.”

  “What did I say?” Thaddeus said.

  “In the book you said we could sever the connection between our world and the one of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by throwing the book through the gate. Makes sense to me.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” Thaddeus’ heart quickened. Then Sara would truly be lost. He didn’t know what would happen to that world after the connection was severed. Presumably it would continue, but the ink rot had already started to spread… and what were the effects of breaking the narrative? He knew he should care about others, but all he could think about was Sara.

  He’d seen so many people, so many children, ripped from their families in the visions the gate had shown him… Please, let me save this one, he thought.

  April reached for the book. She lifted it up, careful not to turn any pages. All she had to do was toss it through the open gate and Sara would be lost forever.

  He readied to reach for the wand. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

  “Wait,” he said. “You’re worried that you have to spend time fixing this instead of dealing with the ink rot, right? What if we did both simultaneously?”

  “You mean split up?” April said. “No way. We already did that and look where it got us. There’s no way I’m letting you near that book on your own.”

  “I don’t mean split up,” Thaddeus said, impatiently. He wished she’d put the book down. “Look. We disagree with what we should do with Sara once we get her—but we have to get her back either way, right? To do that, we first stop William the Bold. Even if you manage to get Sara back where she belongs”—his heart twisted at these words, but he told himself it was necessary to convince them—“he’s still a problem. It’s obvious that he’s willing to interfere with the story. We have to stop him.”

  “And how exactly do you propose we do that?” Dorian said.

  “Simple: We give him the reversal serum.”

  “That would be a good idea if he hadn’t destroyed all of it,” April said. “He smashed those test tubes to smithereens.”

  Thaddeus pointed at her, acknowledging her point. “Yes, he did. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a portal that would transport us back in time before that happened? Oh wait—we do have one of those!” He pointed his arms towards the portal as though presenting it to an audience.

  “You want to go back to a time before the vials were destroyed?” Dorian sounded less skeptical.

  “It’s actually not a bad idea,” Rand
all mused.

  “You’d have to make sure you leave the same number of vials in the box that he smashes,” Dorian said. “You’d have to be very careful not to mess anything up. There are a lot of opportunities to ruin the storyline… which, admittedly, is already ruined.”

  “We’d also have to get him to take the serum when we go back,” April said. “Don’t forget that part.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Thaddeus said. “I have a plan. And here’s the best part: you haven’t erased the ink rot in the lab, so you can work on that while I ready the vials. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

  April considered him for a long moment. “You know that I’m going to have to put that girl back, right? It’s the only way to fix this. If you can’t accept that, then I might as well throw this book through the gate right now.”

  She lifted the book. Thaddeus’ fingers itched to reach for the wand. Not yet, he thought, and steadied his hand.

  He worded his response very carefully. “I promise that no matter what happens, I will work with you to get those vials and turn William the Bold back into Officer Powers. We’ll return to the library afterwards. After that, I can’t make any promises.”

  April’s eyes narrowed. Dorian and Randall didn’t move, awaiting her command.

  “Fine,” April said finally, relieving the tension in the room. “But we will deal with the girl.”

  Chapter 7

  “Are you sure we’re dressed for a dinner party?” Thaddeus asked.

  April shrugged. She hadn’t even taken the time to check how she appeared to the people of the book-world. Most of them had gone into full UNC-mode, anyway. They got a lot of empty-eyed looks as they walked towards Jekyll’s lab.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’re not actually going to the party. We’re just using it as a distraction. We know that Dr. Jekyll won’t be in his lab, because he’s at the party, and later he’s in his study talking to Mr. Utterson.”

  “So I’m not going to the party,” Thaddeus said. “I suppose you are? Looking to socialize, are we?”

  “I’m not in the mood for jokes.”