Spirited Legacy (Lost Library) (25 page)

Heike watched Lizzie, suspicion all over her face.

“You’re totally ratting me out to John and telling him I flipped out,” Lizzie said.

“Yes, it’s headed in that direction.” Heike hadn’t looked comfortable since she stepped in the room, but she seemed even less comfortable with the direction the conversation had taken.

“Please. Do I sound like I’m hysterical now?” Lizzie attempted to portray a reasonable, sane demeanor.

She wasn’t sure exactly how to convey sanity—but it must have worked, because Heike tentatively shook her head.

“Why wouldn’t Harrington share that information with me? I’m the one person we
know
can stop him.” Assuming Lizzie could figure out how to repeat what happened before, but she’d keep that questionable tidbit to herself.

“When you had your magic.” Heike’s dark blonde eyebrows quirked up, and she tilted her head. “You know. Before your accident.”

“But this is temporary, right? That’s what everyone keeps saying.” Panic edged into her voice and Lizzie took a short, sharp breath. She’d just gotten used to
having
magic. The thought of losing it was distressing.

“Oh—yes. I think so. No, I just meant, right now. You’re not much help now, right? You’re not recovered yet, are you? I mean your magic is still gone?” Heike looked hopeful for a contrary response.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s back yet. I didn’t really want to short circuit anything, so I haven’t tried to do any kind of magic yet,” Lizzie replied absentmindedly. Her brain was already racing to the next conclusion. If they knew where Worth was, that meant they had a plan. And she really hoped that they’d simply not gotten around to telling her. She had just woken up.

“I think Harrington is going to keep you out of the loop. I owe Harrington, for this job and for giving me a second chance. But I’m worried that Ewan will be a part of the raid, and I have to consider his safety, too.” Heike was clearly conflicted, and it was causing her a great deal of stress. Quietly, Heike added, “Ewan is more important to me than a job. Even this job.”

Her tone firmer and more certain, Heike said, “And I think they need you.”

Hmm. If they were planning an immediate search of the property, then they might leave her out of it.
Damn.
And if Heike was concerned for Ewan—well, Lizzie couldn’t help but think John would be in on anything having to do with Worth. A raid of his property? An attack on him directly? What were they planning?

Lizzie squared her shoulders. “I’m heading down to breakfast. Have you eaten?”

Heike nodded mutely in response.

Lizzie said grimly, “Good. I’m not sure you need to be a part of the conversation I’m planning.” As Heike turned one way down the hall and Lizzie another, she realized she’d forgotten something important. “Heike?”

Heike froze and then turned around slowly.

“Truly, thank you,” Lizzie said. And she meant it.

Chapter 28

I
f Lizzie could have guessed how the breakfast conversation would end, she might have chosen a less direct confrontation with Harrington. Or maybe avoided the conversation all together. Maybe then she wouldn’t have found herself a prisoner in her own room a few short hours later.

When she arrived in the breakfast room, Harrington was just finishing his coffee.

“I’m surprised to catch you here this late,” Lizzie ventured.

“We just finished up a meeting.” He eyed her cautiously. “That you clearly know about.” Shaking his head, he said, “I told John it would be easier to leave before you were up. You’re in no condition to join us. Without your magic, you’d be more of a liability than an aid and you might get someone hurt.”

Lizzie didn’t correct him regarding her source. “It only makes sense to take the one person who might be able to fight Worth effectively,” Lizzie reasoned.

“Your magic is back?”

Lizzie sniffed. “Not yet, but at any moment. I could easily be ready to go by the time we arrive.”

“No.” His voice, face, even his posture were implacable.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes at him. Why was he being so unreasonable? Surely Harrington wasn’t worried about her?
Nah.
He must be really concerned she’d place the crew at risk. “You’re wrong.”

He looked up, catching her eye. “Maybe.” Carefully folding his linen napkin and placing it to the side of his plate, before leaving the room, he said, “I’ll ensure you can’t follow us. For your safety and everyone else’s. And John has already agreed that this mission falls under the IPPC umbrella. He won’t help you.”

Lizzie grabbed some toast and bacon, making an impromptu sandwich, and filled a mug of coffee to go. Then she headed out to find John and see exactly what the hell they’d been discussing in her absence. It didn’t take her long to find him.

The conversation went something like this:

She said, “What are you thinking?”

He said, “Not my jurisdiction; I’m not in charge.”

She said, “Bullshit.”

He said, “I’m not arguing.”

When she couldn’t do magic on the spot, he rested his case. And for some reason she just couldn’t work up a good mad. Not at John, at least. She kept thinking, what if he was somehow diminished in a serious way and then
he
wanted to go off and pick a fight with Worth. She’d do her damnedest to make sure he didn’t.

Which left her locked in her room with Tavish on the door as her jailer. And still seriously pissed at Harrington.

“Hey. You guys gonna feed me?” Lizzie yelled through her door.

Tavish popped his head in and said, “Sure. Sandwich okay?”

“You’re an ass.”

Tavish ignored Lizzie’s derogatory comment. It was a lot milder than some of the profanity she’d spewed during the previous two hours, so Lizzie wasn’t surprised by his lack of response.

“Sandwich?” he repeated.

She sighed. She was in a quandary. She could use her magic to break out. Maybe. She hadn’t checked to see if it was back since she’d spoken with John. And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t feel quite right. Better than yesterday, but off. And since her magic was a strange and foreign thing she hadn’t quite worked the kinks out of, she couldn’t say for sure what that meant. She did know that she was saving any magical effort for a good, workable plan. If she was going to short circuit herself because she used her magic too soon, better it be for a successful effort.

And realistically, even if she did manage a breakout, she’d have a dragon on her tail. She wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, except for flying (Ewan had done his recon by air), fire (none of them denied it), and knowledge (they all lived a really long time). But that was enough incentive for her to avoid a chase scenario.

Maybe she’d have to be patient. And wait.
Hell, no.

“That’s fine. I’ve been kind of light-headed. You’d think I’d be used to it after all of the fainting I’ve been doing.” He probably didn’t know she ate a late breakfast and had been feeling great this morning, right?

“Um-hm. I’ll get you something.” And he shut the door firmly with a little snick.

Maybe if she kept dropping hints, they’d give Harry a call to check her out. She knew he wasn’t on the mission—his authority issues with IPPC or his uncle had cropped up again?—and he was friendlier with Lizzie than the IPPC. He seemed a good ally in an escape attempt. She huffed. She couldn’t believe that she was plotting an escape from her own employer.

It turned out Heike needn’t have worried. Her concern had been misplaced, since Ewan wasn’t a part of the raiding party. None of the dragons were. Lizzie hadn’t caught all the details, but it seemed that a raid on Worth’s residence was well outside the scope of any favor Lachlan owed to Harrington. So Lizzie wasn’t counting on additional help from Heike.

John, Max, Pilar, and, surprisingly, Harrington made up the team. Harrington was their warding expert—reputedly at least as good as Sarah. Before IPPC had taken control of the Library, Worth had it heavily warded and secured with traps. And Sarah had gotten them into the Library without injury. So, if Lizzie was doing the math correctly and Harrington trumped Sarah on talent, then he should be up for the challenge.

The question was—could the four of them get back out once they’d broken in? When she’d pitched a fit earlier, they’d responded by explaining they planned to avoid Worth. But that seemed beyond naïve, asinine even. Of course Worth would know they were there. And he would defend himself and his property, of that Lizzie had no doubt.

Maybe they had a better plan than she imagined? They hadn’t exactly shared all the details. And what they hell were they looking for? Maybe there was a book, but what if there wasn’t? What if the knowledge they needed was in Worth’s head? What if he’d made the improvements to the process himself?

Lachlan said it was unlikely in today’s climate that as many deaths as would result from perfecting the process would go unnoticed. Unlikely, her ass. What if he chose some area with high crime? Or poor infrastructure? The world seemed full of places—dark and faraway places—where Worth could hide as many bodies as he liked.

Harrington had mentioned that his people were starting to see patterns. They believed that the Lost Library wasn’t the only magically significant project that Worth was pursuing. If that was true, then Worth’s operation was massive. Which made Lizzie even more convinced that he could hide away the effects—the casualties—of experimentation on other magic-users.

Lizzie had worked herself into a frenzy of worry by the time her lunch arrived. Like she could eat. She had absolutely no idea how she would get past the good intentions of Harrington, embodied in her dragon guard, and it was making her sick to think of her lover and her friends facing Worth without her.

“I have your sandwich.” Heike poked her head in.

As soon as Lizzie looked up, Heike came all the way in the room carrying a tray.

Lizzie was still trying to decide what to say when Heike set the tray down and said, “I know how much you like orange juice, so I had them put some on the tray for you.”

Huh? She did, in fact, like orange juice. But she drank tea or coffee in the morning when they both breakfasted. No way Heike knew orange juice was a favorite. She thought fast. Gamble that the OJ meant something and be quiet? Or ask Heike for help and indirectly inform her keen-eared jailer that she was contemplating escape? She stuck with her gut and remained silent.

After Heike had gone and Tavish was safely on the other side of the door—good lord, surely they didn’t have x-ray vision? She needed more info on these dragons—Lizzie checked the OJ. Sure enough, there was a note. “Breaking you out. Be ready. H.”

That sneaky bastard. Harry really was quite out of sorts with his uncle if he was willing to disobey Harrington so directly. Before the smile could stretch completely across her face, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye—her window opening. Harry was waiting at the open window. He motioned for her to hurry. “Come on, then, if you’re ready to go.”

Lizzie looked at the door, frowning.

“Afraid of heights? I hadn’t really considered that.” Harry looked thoughtful.

Lizzie looked at Harry like he’d lost his mind. “No. I’m just waiting for someone to hear us and open the door.”

“Ah. No worries. Heike took care of that. She waited until the last possible minute and then placed a ward against sound. But I’m not really sure how long it will take them to detect the ward itself or notice the absence of rude complaint emanating from your room. So get a move on.” Harry’s head disappeared as he made his way down a rope ladder, not even giving Lizzie a chance to argue the rude complaint comment.

As Lizzie eyeballed the skimpy rope ladder, she reconsidered her denial regarding heights. Then she shook her head. She was
not
afraid of heights. She was, however, pissed that she had to go to such extremes to do what was clearly the right thing. The ladder twisted and swayed under her. Making her way down this flimsy ladder, three floors from the ground, definitely counted as extreme. Two overprotective men deciding on her behalf that she wasn’t fit—well, one deciding and the other not arguing—when she was the only chance they had in a direct confrontation with Worth equaled stupid men in her mind.

She paused, letting the movement of the ladder settle a little. John had played scarce after their mini-discussion. She was only mildly annoyed that he hadn’t argued her case with Harrington. She totally got it, but— he
hadn’t actually tried to prohibit her from joining them. He hadn’t even made a token effort.

Maybe they were more of a team than she realized. She
was
his mate. Mostly.
Gah.
They really needed to sort that out. Maybe if they actually got to the point of defining their relationship and being in agreement on what she actually was, they’d be speaking the same language. She was starting to suspect that though John may not be expecting her, he wouldn’t be surprised if she landed on his and Harrington’s doorstep.

More than halfway down, the muscles in her arms burning and her toe hunting the next rung on the ladder in vain, she decided she’d have to maim Harrington to make up for this. John may or may not get a pass, depending on her mood. But Harrington was totally on her shit list. Her hands were starting to ache from the death grip she had on the ladder. Yep, she’d figure out a way for Harrington to pay.

“Could you move any slower?” Harry asked from about ten feet below her. “This is actually an escape, a prison break so to speak, so some speed is preferred.”

She glared down at him but quickly decided that was a bad idea. “I hate to be unappreciative”— she said as she stared firmly at the wall in front of her—“but this is just a touch outside my regular skill set.”

“No complaints,” he admonished her. “I almost had you belay down and then decided that might be asking a bit much and assuming some skills you didn’t have. You see before you the compromise.” He sounded quite proud of himself.

As her feet touched the ground, she regained her sense of fair play, thankfully. Because, otherwise, she would have told her rescuer where he could stuff his ladder. Likely ruining poor Harry’s excellent mood and definitely shattering his pride in a job well done. She reminded herself—he had done a good job. She was out of her room and free of a dragon shadow. For now.