The Library of the Unwritten - A. J_ Hackwith Page 0,31
I mean it.”
Leto came to a stop a step away. Andras jerked his hands away from Claire’s shoulders and raked a hand through his striped hair. “Consider the facts, Claire. Somehow, a book of Hell resurfaced after all this time and found its way into Heaven’s hands. They very likely don’t know what they have, but they sent nothing less than Ramiel after it. Thunder of God, a bloody Watcher. Fallen or not, unforgiven or not, he’s no errand boy. Now think it through. What will happen if you report this to the court?”
Claire sniffed. “They’ll send us after it, obviously. Just as they did before. And this time I will do a proper job.”
“They sent the Library after it when it was merely an embarrassing personal secret of Lucifer’s, held by humans. You know your history, Librarian. What happens when you scare powerful people who have armies? What does the court of Hell do when Heaven moves against them?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Color fled Claire’s cheeks. “This is a book. They wouldn’t—”
“We’ve gone to war over less. I was there.” Andras said the word “there” in a way that conjured yawning voids and loss. Leto shuddered.
Claire threw up her hands. “That’s unnecessary. This is a book. Lucifer knows we could much more effectively—”
“He might, but the court wouldn’t. You know their opinion of the Library, run by a mere human and a washed-up demon?” Andras’s tone turned brittle and bitter. “We’re pawns, squatters on top of desirable treasures. They wouldn’t just not trust us—they’d take the opportunity to prove us incompetent, to pillage the Library.”
Claire paused, as if losing her footing. “To put the Library above the realm—”
“What about Earth?”
“What?”
“Think,” Andras snapped. “Even if the greedy lot can pull their tails out of their arses long enough to follow the trail and do the job, where do you think this will be settled?”
Andras scrutinized Claire for a response. She stilled, flicking a concerned glance toward Leto. Andras looked as if he’d scored a point. “Do you see now why reporting this is foolhardy?”
Leto saw Claire’s chin rise almost imperceptibly, the stubborn steel that he’d begun to recognize as the librarian’s will coming to bear. “To the courts, perhaps, but if we approached this as a private matter with him . . .”
“The Purge.”
Claire stopped. “That was an entirely different scenario.”
“The what?” Leto felt his confusion had reached a breaking point.
“A . . . tragedy in Hell’s history.” Claire scowled at Andras. “A fool librarian challenged Lucifer for dominion of the Library. Tried to claim independence and lost. She . . . Well, the books were preserved, but the entire Library was remade, sealed. It spurred a line of book burnings on Earth—if you’ve ever heard of the Library of Alexandria, she was born of that time. I suppose he wanted to punish her where it hurt. The muses were in an uproar. It was chaos until the Library had a proper librarian again. Tragic but beside the point, because we are not challenging anyone.”
“Test it if you wish.” Andras gave a soft shrug. “But our fool king went to quite a lot of trouble to keep the codex out of Hell the first time around. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s eliminated his own people to protect a secret. I’d rather not go through that again.”
Claire’s fingers worked a silent calculation, twitching around the bag in her grasp. “Suppose we don’t seek Lucifer’s sanction on it. It’s still an arcane object, presumably on Earth, and a danger to humanity as well as the rest of us. That’s your responsibility to act.”
Andras’s smile eased. “It can’t be ignored. You were right about that. I would be happy to chase this artifact and return it to Hell before it can do more damage. But the last time this book was hunted, the Library did it together, Arcane and Unwritten. Why is that? I wonder.”
Claire narrowed her eyes. “We have a dispensation when books are lost, yes. But this isn’t one of mine, and I’m not a demon. I can’t do this unsanctioned. We just returned the only book—”
“Returned with how much time still on your ghostlight?”
“Most of a day but . . . Oh. No. You can’t be serious.” Leto briefly wondered how the Arcanist had kept such close tabs on today’s events, or if it was public knowledge. Claire voiced the larger problem. “We would still need Walter’s help to travel.”
Andras tapped his lip. “Walter holds transport to the mortal