stare. “I hope you don’t think less of me, but when I found out you were here, I was happy for more than one reason. I am glad to see you, but I’m also about to be up to my eyeballs in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
He glanced at the armor bag in the corner of the room. “The kind that makes me glad you brought your gear.”
“Damn,” swore the big man.
“You don’t have to get involved in it if you don’t want to,” Will said, trying to reassure him. “I know you’ve seen enough back in Barrowden and you deserve a rest.”
Tiny nodded. “You’re right, and the thought of putting that armor on fills me with dread, but I’ll come with you anyway.”
Will felt more alone than ever, but he tried to smile anyway. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll be fine—wait, what?” It had taken a moment, but Tiny’s words finally sank in. His tone said no, but his mouth said yes.
“You know I hate violence, but I’ve made a career out of it anyway. At first, I fought to protect my friends, now I fight to protect the people of Terabinia. If you need help then I’ll get to do both.”
“I haven’t even told you what’s going on,” said Will. “How do you know it’s to protect the people of Terabinia?”
The massive soldier reached out and slapped Will’s chest just over his heart, the blow landing with such force that he nearly lost his balance. “Because I know you, Will. Your heart is always getting you into more trouble than you can handle, and it’s always on someone else’s behalf.”
Will shook his head. “That isn’t true.”
Tiny arched one brow. “We can argue later. I need a nap.”
“Don’t you want to know what we’ll be doing?”
“It might disturb my sleep. Tell me later.”
***
At the library, he ran into Janice as he headed for the stairs. “Oh, hello,” he greeted her, noting that she had tied her hair into an unruly bun and somehow anchored it in place using only a pencil. Clearly an act of magic, he told himself silently.
Janice blinked at him for a second then frowned. “This can’t be good.”
“What?”
“You’re in the library.” Pretending to shade her eyes with one hand, she stared in the direction of the front entrance. “Has the sun gone dark? Is this the end? Has Marduke risen from hell to consume the world?”
“Very funny. I do come to the library on my own for legitimate purposes, you do realize that, don’t you?”
“Mmhmm,” she replied noncommittally. “And what brings you here today?”
Will glanced to one side then focused on meeting her gaze. “Nothing special,” he answered, keeping his tone innocent.
“Then you won’t mind if I tag along.”
“I’m sure you’re busy. No need to go out of your way.”
“I don’t mind,” she said blandly, following him up the stairs. As they passed the second floor, she commented, “Third floor, spell archives—why am I not surprised?”
“I could be going to the fourth floor.”
“Mmhmm, you could, but I’d bet good money you aren’t.”
Will stopped. “God damn it, Janice. Don’t you have something better to do?”
“And there’s the temper,” she observed. “Is that why Rob’s mad at you? Did he ask too many questions?”
Will pursed his lips. After a second he replied, “I’m not angry.”
Janice took his hand and started back up the stairs. “Come on. I’ll help you look for whatever it is.”
“I don’t want to get you involved.”
“I’m not going to get involved. I have no desire to get caught in one of your adventures, but this is the library. I’m pretty good with index cards. I’ll give you a hand and then you can go do stupid things with the information afterwards. I won’t interfere.”
He glowered at her for a moment, trying to decide whether to be offended or touched by her remarks.
She tugged on his arm. “Come on, hero, it’s the library.