Cassie looked around the small library as the man in the robes left her and Hardison there for their studies. She couldn't believe the luck they'd had in finding someone to bring them right to their answers. Unfortunately, the man didn't tell them where to look. He just left them at the door and stomped off.

"There's a lot of books here," she commented, bringing the door almost closed and dropping her hood. "I mean, for such a small room."

It was jam packed. Shelves lined all the walls, and all of them were so full that some of the books were sitting on top of others. There were three study areas. These desks were surprisingly free of books, but there were some stacked underneath each station. Other piles were staggered around the room, some of them toppled, and some amazingly in tact. There was no window in the room, but a small ball of light hovered in the air.

Hardison was also looking around the room. He'd uncovered his head, and there was dismay on his face. "Where do we even start?"

"I don't know, but we have a little less than three days to find what we're looking for."

She went over to one extremely high and tottery pile and touched it experimentally. When she glanced back over her shoulder, Hardison was reaching for the light. His dismay had turned to curiosity.

"I wonder what this is."

"It's a magic light."

"But how does it work?" His fingers closed around it. "It's squishy."

He worked it in his hand, frowning as he looked at it from all angles.

"Magic."

"I need me one of these."

"It is pretty neat. Do people still say 'neat' anymore?"

Hardison gave her an amused but kind half smile. He let go of the light, and it popped back up in the air like a buoy.

"I suppose we should get to work."

"Yes." She surveyed the room once more. "I'll take this pile over here."

He sighed. "And I guess I'll take this one."

Cassie grabbed an armful of books off of the pile she'd called and lugged them over to one of the study desks.

Hardison didn't even bother to do that. He slumped to the floor beside his own pile, leaning his back against one of the shelves. The books wiggled a little, and he glanced behind him to make sure one wasn't going to fall on his head.

Cassie watched him get comfortable and swipe a book off of his pile before she turned to her own books. Two of them were in languages she didn't recognize, a handful were in English, and the rest were in Latin. Luckily, she was familiar with Latin.

Once they'd started reading, they were mostly quiet. When they did talk, it was in hushed voices to report their progress—or lack of. After about an hour, Hardison broke the silence .

"I could really use an orange soda."

"What?"

"Orange soda. Drink of kings. Keeps my brain working."

"Oh. I never have that problem. My problem is shutting it off."

"Yeah, well..."

Hardison was cut off by a loud voice in the hallway outside their door. "Are there guards here?"

It sounded like Parker, and Cassie looked at Hardison to confirm. He nodded slowly, obviously listening to see if there'd be more.

"They don't need guards." Another voice answered. "If anyone tried to take something off this floor, well, something important, anyway, the magic field we felt when we came up would stop them. Only a High Robe can do that."

That was good to know, Cassie thought as the voices got too far away to hear clearly. A rattling sound accompanied them, and she wondered what Parker was doing on this floor.

Hardison got up, a little awkwardly with his long arms and legs, and shut the door the rest of the way.

"I hope Ezekiel doesn't come up here," Cassie commented quietly, thinking about the thief being caught by the magical barriers. That would be bad.

Hardsion looked at her questioningly.

"He can't resist anything shiny. He's like a crow."

He made a sound of amusement but just asked, "You find anything?"

"Not yet. Did you?"

"Nah. Not unless I want to know how to build an aqueduct system. These guys actually have running water. Without electricity. But it's only in certain parts of the building."

"Well, you learned more than I did, though I did have one interesting book on shearing sheep."

"So, back to it?"

"Back to it."

Hardison groaned as he dropped back to the floor, his long legs stretched in front of him. He was surrounded by piles of books, which he seemed to have arranged by language. Since Cassie was done with her own current pile, she stacked it near the leg of her desk and went over to one of the shelves at random. She plucked out six huge and heave books and struggled under their weight as she went back to her study area. She was trying not to be discouraged, but it was going to be a long three days.

XXX

Sophie sat in front of the Warrior Quartet, wondering about how alive they were inside. They looked completely dead. As she studied them, she could see no visible spark of life. They were just two statues, a box, and a bowl. Completely inanimate. Yet, if Eve was to be believed, inside each of them, there was some kind of consciousness. What did it want? What was its purpose? Could she exploit it?

She hadn't touched the Bowl yet. Before she could, the servants had come in with a deep metal tub. They'd all taken gleeful turns scrubbing off the grime from the dungeon. In fact, Eliot was behind her now, splashing away as if Sophie weren't even in the room. Eve and Jake had retreated to one of the bedrooms to give him privacy, but, since he didn't seem to mind, Sophie had elected to stay in the room and study the Quartet.

It sounded as if Eliot approached bathing the same way he approached everything else—with grim enthusiasm. Sophie allowed herself a small smile as she pictured him there attacking the dirt on his skin like an enemy. The thought was both amusing and aesthetically pleasing.

"See anything interesting over there?" Eliot asked, and there was a pause in the splashing.

For an instant, Sophie was almost afraid he could see inside her head, then she realized he was talking about the Quartet. "They're just objects. Probably priceless. I haven't quite been able to figure out the significance of the skeletons."

"They're all over the place."

"Yes, and trying to figure out why is driving me mad."

"It's death," he said firmly.

"Yes, death, but death of whom—or of what? It doesn't make any sense. The skeletons aren't doing anything menacing. If anything, they look as if they're dancing."

"Like on that Disney cartoon?" He sounded amused.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh. Well, it would have been funny if you did." There was more splashing.

"I'm going to ask somebody."

"About the cartoon?"

"No." She laughed. "About the skeletons."

"It might be important," he agreed. "Hand me that towel, would you, Soph?"

She got up and turned, contemplating him in the tub. Eliot was smooth and well muscled, and water slowly dripped down his skin. It was scarred in places, but rather than detracting from his beauty, it gave him character. Definitely aesthetically pleasing.

"Where'd you put it?" He trusted her enough to have her in the room when he was this vulnerable, and she refused to say or do anything that would in any way make him feel uncomfortable.

"It's over on the chair."

Her eyes glided over several of the chairs until she saw the towel draped over the back of the one Jake had been sitting on earlier. She went over to retrieve it, staying far enough away from the tub so she wouldn't get an inadvertent glance at more than she should.

He turned in the tub to watch her and reached out his hand. She smiled at him wickedly, giving the towel a toss. It landed over his head, covering his eyes.

Eliot growled and tore it off. He scowled at her, but her smile only grew wider.

"Next time, you'll make sure it's within reach, won't you?"

He made a face at her and, for a moment, looked more like a boy than a hardened hitter. Sophie felt a sudden surge of affection for him. Despite the fact that she found him attractive, he was the closest thing to a brother she'd ever had, and her relationship with him was one of the things that had helped her settle into her new life over the past seven years.

"Just get dressed," she told him, turning away and going back to the Warrior Quartet. It hadn't changed in the five minutes she'd been gone. It was obvious she'd have to actually touch the Bowl to learn more. She'd wait until the servants came for the tub to do it. After they were gone, she'd be able to find out what she needed to know to proceed.

The clothing they all put on after their baths (in water that seemed to clean and heat itself because it never got dirty and it never got cold) was more modern than Sophie would have expected. It was handmade, but the comfortable, if a bit baggy, trousers had a steel zipper, and the blouse was light cotton. This meant that there had to be at least some kind of contact with the outside world. If they cold get out of the building, they should be able to find a way home.

Sophie sighed and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. Absently, she listened to Eliot moving behind her as he got dressed.

She was surprised when the door rattled, and glanced in that direction to see Parker barreling through.

"Jesus, Parker, don't you ever knock?" Eliot barked, and Sophie heard him scrambling.

"Sorry," Parker hissed, but Sophie had no idea why she was whispering.

"Shut the door, Parker," she instructed. "A real servant wouldn't leave it open."

"Oh, yeah."

Parker closed the door, and Sophie got to her feet. She let herself look at Eliot, who was at least wearing pants. His chest and his feet were both still bare.

"Why were you naked?" Parker asked him curiously.

"Never mind, Parker. What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Her face scrunched up and then cleared. "It's bad. Really bad. You've got to get out of here."

"We're trying," Sophie told her.

"What's going on?" Eve and Jacob appeared in the doorway. Now that they were dressed similarly, Eliot and Jacob looked more alike, and a stranger might not be able to tell the difference.

Parker stared at Jacob as she'd been doing since they'd met.

"I'm still not Eliot's clone," he said conversationally.

"If you say so."

"Parker, what did you come to tell us?" Eliot cut in.

"The High Robes are going to kill you!"

"What the hell is a High Robe?"

"They're magicians. Duh."

"Parker, remember we don't know everything that you do," Sophie pointed out.

"The magic people are called Robes," she explained impatiently. "There are Novices, Robes, and High Robes. The High Robes want to kill you. They're going to cut holes in your body so the blood will drip out."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Eliot commented, "We knew they planned to sacrifice us."

"But not kill you!" Parker insisted.

"What do you think sacrifice means?"

"Not knives and cutting and blood." She looked more disturbed than Sophie had ever seen her.

"It's all right, Parker," Sophie lied smoothly. "We've got a plan."

"You do?"

"In fact, we've got several plans, A through M."

"But Hardison usually dies in Plan M."

"Not this time. This time everybody lives."

"Hey, Doctor Who."

"What?"

"You know. The guy in the long coat. 'Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives'." She said this in a strange tone of voice with a slight British accent.

"You've been watching Netflix with Hardison again, haven't you?"

"Yeah." Parker smiled.

"Okay, will somebody tell me what Doctor Who has to do with anything," Eve demanded.

"Nothing," Eliot said. "Parker's just being crazy. What exactly did they say, Parker?"

"There are going to be guys following you. You'll each get a High Robe to prevent you from escaping. They're supposed to pull on something if you try. I don't know what that means."

Sophie glanced at Eliot. "That's not surprising."

"No."

"If we don't sever our connection before then, it will probably be too late," Eve said thoughtfully.

"We might need to ask you more questions about this later," Sophie told Parker, placing a hand on her arm. "Try to remember everything they said."

Parker nodded. "Okay."

"Where's Jones?" Eve asked. "Did he take off?"

"I haven't seen him for hours. He was washing dishes."

"Washing dishes? Now, I'm really afraid he's run off."

Parker shrugged. "I don't know."

"I'll kill him."

"I'd like to see Jones doing dishes," Jacob smirked.

"You're not helping. Parker, if you see him, ask him to come check in when he can. We don't want to lose anybody."

Parker straightened at the authority in Eve's voice. Sophie knew her reply could go one of two ways. Authority usually grated on her, and she rebelled recklessly, but sometimes...

"Yes, ma'am," Parker said seriously, giving Eve an awkward salute.

Eve rolled her eyes and took Parker by the shoulders, turning her around. "You're doing a great job. See what else you can find out."

xxx

Ezekiel Jones was no longer washing dishes. In fact, he had no idea what he was doing or how he'd gotten into this situation. All he'd done was flirt a little with Molly, the cute red head, and the next thing he knew, he was being led through the complex blindfolded.

They'd talked a bit on and off as Norma, the head of the kitchen, watched over them warily. Molly seemed to listen to Ezekiel's answers carefully, and, as the afternoon went on, he'd started to realized she knew more than she let on.

Once the dishes were done, they'd been sent to give the one hour supper warning to one of the Novices. After they spoke to him, Molly's eyes turned shrewd, and the innocent servant girl dropped from her face. It was such a drastic change that Ezekiel staggered back. She hauled him into a storage room and hastily pulled the curtain closed.

"I know you're not from the village," she whispered, staring up into his face. "Where did you come from?"

"What do you mean? Of course, I'm from the village."

"Are you from the Serpent Brotherhood?"

"What?" Ezekiel demanded in shock.

"Not the Serpent Brotherhood. Good. Are you from the Library?"

"You know about the Library?"

Molly smiled, and it was so chilly that he wasn't sure if being from the Library was a very good thing or a very bad thing.

"Um...I mean, what library?"

"Are you the Librarian?" She peered at him. "No. Not unless you're a very new one."

"Hey!"

"We've been waiting for a representative from the Library to come here and help us make things right for a very long time. There's someone you should meet."

That's when she'd blindfolded him and taken his hand. It was warm and soft in his, and he'd decided to let himself trust her.

They walked for a long time. Molly was kind and skillful, so he only bumped into things a few times. As they went along, Ezekiel's anxiety grew. She could be leading him anywhere.

At one point, they went up a set of stairs that were too close together and felt weird enough that he almost stumbled. Halfway up, a strange feeling went over him, tingling from his head to his feet. He shuddered as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

He paused to protest, but Molly said, "That's just the magic force field," and tugged on his hand.

At the top of the stairs, they turned right. Molly walked more cautiously, and they paused often. Finally, she shoved him in a room and shut the door behind them.

"Molly, what's going on?" a voice asked.

"There's someone you have to speak to."

She reached up and took off Ezekiel's blindfold. He blinked in the sudden light.

"Who are you?"

Ezekiel squinted up at a very tall young man. He had shaggy brown hair that flopped over his eyes. His hood was down, but Ezekiel had a feeling he wasn't a servant. "Who do you think I am?"

The young man scowled, and a man beside him, a little older with solemn eyes asked, "Why have you brought him here, Molly?"

"He's from the Library," she hissed, looking over her shoulder, even though the door was closed.

The tall young man looked skeptical. "Anyone can say that..."

"But he didn't say it," she said forcefully. "It was what he didn't say."

"Molly..."

"Let's start over," the other man interrupted. "Hello, I'm Mark. This is John. Who are you?"

"Ezekiel Jones," Ezekiel told him cautiously. "What will you do to me if I'm from the Library?"

"Are you from the Library?" Mark asked.

"He's not. Look at him. He's a spy. We should kill him," John said quickly.

"Hey, no one's killing anybody." Ezekiel held up his hands and spoke with his own accent.

"You hear that?" Molly demanded. "He doesn't talk like we do." She put her hand on Ezekiel's shoulder. "It's okay. We've been waiting for you. We need you."

"Of course, you do." He patted her hand. "I'm Ezekiel Jones..."

"You said that part," John muttered.

"...and I'm a Librarian. Who are you?"

"We are the True Robes," Mark told him, "and we want to free the Warrior Quartet."

He watched Ezekiel's face carefully, but Ezekiel just said, "What?"

"The High Robes have corrupted the Quartet, using them for evil. We want to free them to return to their true purpose."

"Their true purpose. What's that?"

"They were created to fight the Serpent Brotherhood."

"Okay, start at the beginning, mate."

"Are you really from the Library?" John asked.

"Yeah."

"After all these years, they've finally sent someone."

"Uh...sure. But tell me what's going on, just so I can be sure." He didn't want to tell him that his being there was a coincidence. Or he thought it was. When you were talking about the Library, you couldn't be sure.

"We were originally created to fight the Serpent Brotherhood. We were a magic order, but we were also an order of warriors."

"To help in the fight, we created the Warrior Quartet," Molly continued. "Four of our best warriors gave their lives so that the Quartet could exist. Control of the Quartet was given to the High Robes, who, for centuries, used them to root out and execute members of the Brotherhood."

"But then it changed." Mark's face was so earnest that Ezekiel couldn't look away. "The High Robes became corrupt and wanted power for themselves. They made a deal with the Brotherhood and gave them the Quartet to split up and scatter, claiming they were stolen."

"Then what happened?" Ezsekiel was interested despite himself.

"The corruption continued. They started exerting magical influence on the world and spreading the corruption. Instead of fighting the Brotherhood, they started planning on taking it over. Anyone who opposed them disappeared." He glanced at John. "Keep on disappearing."

"There are still those that oppose them," Molly said. "We want our order to return to its original purpose and fight the evil of the Brotherhood. We want to free the Quartet and let it do what it was created to do. The High Robes want to pervert its magic and use it to create chaos in the world. Now that you're here, the Library can set things right."

Ezekiel stared at her, knowing it was as much his duty to help them as it was to save Baird and Stone. He really hated duty.

"So, you're here to help us?" Molly asked, and he saw some of the sweet innocence in her face that he'd seen when he met her. There was hope there, too. Even Ezekiel couldn't harden his heart against it.

"Of course, I am," he told her.

After all, if anyone could save the day, it was Ezekiel Jones.