Wicked By Any Other Name Part 20

"I require counsel I can find only here. May we be allowed to enter?" Stasi waited, knowing it was up to the guardian of The Library's door whether they would be admitted or not.

The griffin smiled. "You may all enter." The door slowly swung open with nary a creak or groan.

"No pa.s.sword? You always make me give you a d.a.m.n pa.s.sword," Jazz grumbled.

The griffin c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "When it's just you, you require one, as does the other witchling."

"Don't provoke him," Stasi said under her breath as she practically pushed the others inside.

After the winter cold outside, the warmth inside The Library caused them to slip off their jackets.

Stasi closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of ages-old dust, paper, and materials that fairly screamed the magick embedded in them. At one time, she had thought of applying to be a Library Matron-she loved the history the realm held. But her banishment cancelled that dream. After all these centuries, she suddenly felt it didn't matter, because she had found something even more worthwhile. She glanced at Trev, who smiled back at her. Oh yes, very worthwhile.

As they walked through the dim vestibule, torches adorning the wall burst into flame, lighting their way until they reached the end of a pa.s.sage that expanded into a room that seemed to go on for miles. Rows of intricately carved shelves held ancient grimoires, books, scrolls, and parchments. Stasi recalled a rumor that a portion of Alexander's library was back among the stacks, but in all her visits here she hadn't discovered them and her questions about the scrolls was only met with silence.

Stasi stopped at the front counter and smiled at the man seated on a stool behind it. In all the times she'd been here over the decades, she had never seen him wear anything other than bottle green, old-fashioned knee britches with off-white stockings, a faded green brocade waistcoat over a linen shirt the color of old parchment, and a bottle green, long-tailed coat. Just as he always had stacks of ancient scrolls, leather bound books, and even a few stone tablets carefully arranged on the counter near his spot of power.

Narrowed black eyes peered at her over the rim of ancient half-spectacles perched on his beak-like nose. His thinning brown hair was pulled back into a queue neatly tied with a black grosgrain ribbon, and he appeared ageless even though she had seen him from time to time over the last seven hundred years. Stasi didn't mind his constant lectures on the "do's" and "don'ts" that he made sound like law.

His lips pursed tightly as his gaze swept over them. Like the griffin, he stared at the red hearts but said nothing about them, to Stasi's great relief. "You did not consider dressing appropriately?"

Stasi inwardly winced. The (p.r.o.nounced with a long e, thank you very much) Librarian had rules that were unbreakable. His idea of proper decorum and dress headed the list.

"This was an emergency, sir," she said respectfully. "I hope you will understand."

He inclined his head in barely a nod before he turned to Trev. "And you, young wizard, what are you doing in the company of these witches?" A faint curl of the lip appeared when he gazed at Jazz, who merely smiled back and, for once, kept her mouth shut.

Trev smiled and bowed. "I am helping them solve a mystery in their town, Uncle Peredur."

Uncle Peredur? The two words rang in Stasi's head and, judging by the shocked expressions on Blair and Jazz's faces, they felt the same.

"He's your uncle?" Jazz may as well have asked if the wizard Librarian was Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

"On my mother's side."

"Unfortunately, the upstart took after his father." The Librarian swung back to Stasi. "What do you wish?"

"We believe there is a type of water magick harming our town and we hoped to find materials that would help us discover a way to combat it," Stasi replied.

He peered at her over his spectacles. "And why do you believe that, witchling, when you left the Witches' Academy before you even finished your advanced cla.s.ses on other magicks?"

"It's all up to you," Blair whispered.

Stasi took a deep breath and began to tell the story of the barrier around the lake, the shifts in energy in the town, and the sense of unease that had been moving through the area.

"One of my human clients is suing Stasi, and I am beginning to think that the lawsuit is also part of this," Trev spoke up.

"The barrier around the lake is able to defend itself, so that we can't take it down," Jazz chimed in.

The Librarian's bony shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. "I would suppose you used witchflame." His attention swung to Blair. "And you?"

"I was ready to take down the human who has made Stasi's life a living h.e.l.l," she freely admitted.

He turned away and consulted a stone tablet, then a scroll. "I do not believe this is merely water magick, but Fae. Try section 8,000,038."

The Librarian snapped his fingers, and a two-foot-high green marble hourgla.s.s appeared on the counter. He turned it over, the white sand flowing downward.

"Stennert will guide you." He flicked his fingers to the right.

The nine-foot-tall creature standing at the head of the pa.s.sage could have doubled as Sasquatch's brother.

"I can't believe he's your uncle," Stasi muttered when Trev stepped up the pace to walk beside her.

"Could he have been adopted?" Jazz asked. "I see absolutely no family resemblance. I mean, he's so ... and you're so ..."

"Quiet." Stennert's voice rumbled in the pa.s.sage like rolling thunder. His monster-size feet created mini-earthquakes on the floor every time he took a step, and they grabbed hold of each other to remain upright.

Stasi was positive they'd walked miles, but she knew the various realms The Library resided in were deceptive since they spanned time and s.p.a.ce in a way she doubted she would ever understand.

Any time she visited The Library she was used to seeing visitors from various time periods using the facility, and this occasion was no different. She noticed a wizard dressed in the form fitting pants, elegant black coat, and elaborately knotted cravat made famous by Beau Brummel.

She was so engrossed in looking through the portals to see who was there that if Trev hadn't taken hold of her arm she would have slammed into the furry Stennert when he halted.

"In here," he growled, throwing out a long arm ending in dark talons. "I will return."

Jazz turned to Blair. "Didn't Arnie say that?"

Blair shook her head. " 'I'll be back' was his."

The four stepped through the portal, feeling a tremendous shift of power as they crossed through.

Stasi smelled herbs used to keep the fragile contents of the library from crumbling into dust. While they didn't smell bad, she could still feel her nose tickling. The sheer size of the cavernous room caused her hopes to plummet.

"I guess our best bet is to each take a section," she said as they looked around.

"This is definitely better than some of the sections I've been sent to," Jazz said. "No having to wear special gloves, no disgusting smells. I told you The Librarian doesn't like me."

"I don't recognize this language," Blair said, perusing a scroll.

Trev moved to her side and glanced over her shoulder. "It's a healing spell for rashes," he said.

"Really? I wonder if Lili knows about this one." Their fellow witch had always been a healer and now worked as a doctor.

"According to the scroll that particular rash was prevalent back in the fifth century." Trev moved on. "And if you're not careful in handling those kinds of scrolls, the rash can transfer itself to you."

Blair dropped the scroll as if it was on fire and wiped her hands on the back of her pants as she moved on. "Note to self. Don't touch anything unless it's been translated first."

"I'll second that motion. Since The Librarian feels it's Fae, we need to check that out first." Stasi headed for shelves carved in the stone walls and gingerly fingered a book. She stared at the fine leather binding for a moment before she carefully pulled it out. She staggered under the weight and would have fallen backwards if Trev hadn't taken the book out of her hands and carried it over to a table. "It didn't look all that heavy," she said, following him. She perched on a stool that waddled up to her and edged its way under her bottom.

Trev was breathing hard by the time he set the book down. "I think it gained twenty or thirty pounds just from the shelf to here."

"It's probably one of those books that will provide what you need once you speak your needs," Jazz told them. "You gave a general subject, so it added more to its memory."

An "eek!" escaped Stasi's lips as she watched the book nearly triple in size. "I'll never get through all of this!" She carefully lifted the cover. "Maybe it has a search feature." She lifted the first few pages.

"Ask."

They all jumped as a voice with an upper crust British accent reverberated around them.

"I wish to know about Fae magick," Stasi said, crossing her fingers.

"What country?"

"United States." Blair gestured for a stool and sat down across from them.

"California forests," Jazz added, hopping up onto the table.

"No sitting on the table." The edge of the table dipped down, dropping Jazz onto her feet. She sighed and nabbed another stool.

"And water and magickal barriers," Stasi said. "Human behavior out of the ordinary. Fear. Mercury retrograde and a lunar eclipse."

"Do you prefer to study forest Fae or water Fae?" the book asked, ignoring the last part of her request, as the pages drifted back and forth.

"We need both," Stasi explained.

"There is no both. There is one or the other."

Stasi looked at the others. "Could both be involved?"

"I know my uncle said Fae, but we still don't know if they are behind what's going on in the town," Trev said.

"And early snowstorms," Jazz said.

"One subject at a time, please," the tome pleaded as the pages fanned back and forth. "I'm only one book."

"Would you have an idea where we could start?" Stasi asked.

"Not without more information. But you are in a large section and I may not have what you're looking for."

"I'll look around and see if there's anything more." Blair got up and headed back to the shelves while Jazz did the same.

"What if we narrow it down to forest Fae that have the power to control water?" Trev suggested.

"Forest Fae have no power over water unless water sprites allow them to," the hardbound book stated in its stiff upper lip accent.

Stasi shook her head. "I've never heard of water sprites in the area. They would have made themselves known to us."

"Then you are in a sticky situation, aren't you?" intoned the book.

"Fine, then what about water Fae?"

The book's pages began to turn. Trev narrowed his cobalt eyes. "No," he said slowly, "I've worked on cases involving water Fae. It's been a couple hundred years, and I don't remember all the details, but even if they were at the lake, I don't think they could have the kind of influence on the townspeople that we're seeing."

"Please, book, can't you even point us in the right direction?" she pleaded.

"Not without a place to start." The pages started flipping back at light speed then the cover slammed shut.

Stasi sighed and looked around the room, recalling the many times she'd come to The Library seeking answers and finding them here. This time wasn't proving as easy as in the past. She mentally ran through the list that seemed to be growing every second. "Forest Fae," she said firmly.

"Righto." The cover opened again, the pages fanning until it reached about a third of the way through.

Trev patted her shoulder and moved off to examine a section of shelves.

Stasi stumbled her way through the archaic writing and wished she could ask the book to update the language, but she knew it wasn't possible. It wasn't the first time she'd read the works of someone from ages ago. Except now time was short, and she needed fast answers. But she couldn't find anything to indicate that forest Fae were capable of creating all the phenomenon they had been witnessing.

Trev walked up waving a scroll. "Okay, here's something on water Fae. The good news is that they are definitely capable of wreaking havoc on a given body of water." He sighed. "The bad news is that from what I just read, the only thing less likely than finding water Fae on a mountaintop in California is to find water Fae and forest Fae working together.

Stasi sneezed from the dust. A headache from the herbs was starting to pound its way through her head. It seemed everything they read could answer one question but never connect it to the whole scenario. It wasn't just the lake that was disturbed; it was the town, the people, even the weather.

"We know water sprites don't inhabit the lake, but what if it's something else?" Jazz brought up. "There's always been the rumor that a monster lives in the lake. What if it's true?"

"Then it has to be a monster that can also exist on land," Blair reminded her.

"The Librarian said Fae and that feels right," Stasi insisted.

Trev stood behind Stasi and began ma.s.saging her shoulders. She felt the warmth of his hands ease the tension that had been building up. She reached up and covered one of his hands with hers. The contact gave her hope, along with a good dose of warm fuzzies.

He bent down and whispered in her ear, punctuated with a soft kiss. "We'll find an answer."

"I hope so." She scooted back and stood up. "The Librarian must feel the answer is here, or he wouldn't send us here," she murmured.

"The Librarian also has a twisted sense of humor," Jazz said. "I know you're related to him, Trevor, but please, the wizard doesn't even like us witches."

"Uncle Peredur is happiest working here alone and doesn't like interruptions," Trev explained, grunting as he pulled out a heavy stone tablet, frowned as he read the contents, then pushed it back in.

"Uncle Peredur. Who knew The Librarian had relatives. He's not married, is he?" Blair asked. "No offense, but I can't see him having little Librarians running underfoot."

"There's no room for a wife in his life."

"Understandable, when he didn't make room for a personality." Jazz whistled under her breath as she scanned her section of shelves.

"You two are so mean about him," Stasi chided them as she watched Trev struggle with the large and heavy hardbound book and return it to its spot.

"I have something!" Blair ran back to the table with a tiny book that fit in the palm of her hand. "Forest Fae who worked with water spells."

Stasi grabbed the book and used her fingertips to carefully turn the fragile pages. "So it has happened in the past. But those Fae were punished for uniting forces with water sprites and banished from the world-where does that leave us? How were they stopped?"

"You must go." Stennert's thunderous voice startled them so much Stasi dropped a book and Jazz almost fell backwards.