Jpov
I squinted at the tablet in front of me, willing to make the carvings in the stone to start making sense.
I wasn't very good at code breaking or cryptology in general, especially compared to Harper or Lucy, but seeing as Harper had been extremely busy lately, and Lucy was restocking the main floor returns, I'd decided to take a crack at it.
So far, it hadn't been going well.
The carvings still seemed to be modeled after a language I didn't recognize which was the first in a while, and the longer I stared at them, the less convinced I was that they were even meant to represent words. Harper's glasses clearly didn't think they were, and I'd gone as far as to pull a couple of titles from the section on numerology to see if maybe that gave me any idea as to what the hell I was looking at when I was interrupted.
"Uh, hi." An uncertain voice said and I looked up from my page to see an anxious looking blonde standing in front of my table.
She was rather short and was clutching a laptop so nervously to her chest, that it took me a moment to realize she was actually very pretty.
"I'm looking for Harper." She said when I raised an eyebrow at her.
Of course, she was. Who wasn't around here?
"She said she'd meet me." She continued. "But I think I got a little turned around when I was looking for her. Then I thought I might have seen her going down an aisle and I couldn't figure out where I'd ended up or where I'd even come from and-"
I felt my eyebrow jump a little further as she started to talk in circles, and she flushed, obviously embarrassed when she noticed.
"Sorry." She apologized looking mortified. "I should have introduced myself, and I didn't mean to interrupt you." She added hastily glancing at the materials spread out over the desk. I'm Libby, I'm Ashton's sister."
"I know who you are." I said a little amused.
Libby had been my favorite healer at Camp Half Blood and was the person I'd always tried to get to when I had an injury. Not just because she was a talented healer, probably one of the best really, but because she was the only person on a planet to who could manage to talk about her personal life while administering stitches, and not make me want to toss her out a window. She'd made several of my more serious injuries far more bearable than they had any right to be back then.
"Oh." She said sounding a little disconcerted.
It was obvious she hadn't recognized me with Harper's glasses on, even with the accent for which I was a little grateful. Seeing as Ashton was her brother, and I had a bit of a reputation back at camp, I was fairly certain she'd probably grown to dislike me in my absence. Most of the Apollo kids did. Still, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, even if I wasn't completely sure as to why.
I hadn't changed that much, had I?
"Have we met each other before?" she asked her tone polite but puzzled all the same. "Or was my name on some sort of visitors list…?"
"That." I said amused, standing up from the table and nodding towards the name tag that was stuck to the front of her shirt that had the letters LIBBY in bold marker for anyone to read. "And your it's on your shirt."
Her eyes went wide, and she looked down before going scarlet and trying to rip off the sticker, but it was too late, and I couldn't hold back a slight smirk.
"Oh my gods." She said sounding humiliated, clearly trying to avoid my eye as I did my best to try and not seem entertained as she just kept talking. "I had an interview today, I want to be a vet, and I was up for this internship and at the end they did this meet and great with all the students. And I really didn't go, but my roommate told me I really should and-"
She cut herself off when she realized I'd leaned back against the table, ready to settle in for what was looking to be an extensive monologue and she sighed.
"Sorry," she said shaking her head. "I'm sure you don't care about this, everyone tells me I talk too much. I'm sure you're busy."
"No." I said with a shrug, interested to hear what she'd been up to after all this time. "Continue. How'd the interview go?"
"Seriously?" she asked in surprise, her expression skeptical, and I nodded.
She stared at me for a moment, obviously trying to tell if I was kidding, but when I gestured for her to keep going, said.
"It went well." She said uncertainly. "Well actually… it went horribly, it was a total nightmare."
"Why's that?"
"I dunno." She said with a sigh, reducing her grip on her laptop slightly as she relaxed and gave me a hopeless expression. "Once I got to the one on one of the interview I just sort of froze up. I got totally tongue tied and just couldn't talk."
"Really?" I asked trying to keep a straight face.
She shot me a look, clearly not buying it, but continuing anyways.
"Yeah. I mean, I know it doesn't seem like it now, but I have a lot of problems when it comes to talking to strangers. When I care what they think of me."
She sighed and then suddenly looked horrified.
"Not that I don't care what you think." She added quickly. "I'm sure you're totally cool and all that-"
"I wasn't offended." I assured her, deciding to rescue her from her nervous rambling before she ended up in a spiral.
"It's just… I'm really bad with first impressions," she said miserably. "And I really wanted them to like me."
"I'm sure it went better than you think." I said trying to sound comforting, but it didn't seem to work.
"They asked me what my first instinct would be in an emergency." She said a hint of shame in her tone. "Do you know what I said? I said it would be to find an adult."
She put her head in her hands.
"I'm 19." She almost wailed "I AM the adult!"
"Ok yeah that's pretty rough…" I admitted unwillingly and she sighed.
I'd never been in an interview, but I was pretty good at making people like me, when I wanted to at least. I had a hard time thinking I'd care enough about what anyone thought of me to go to pieces like that. But then again, I'd never gone to a meet and greet where my entire future was in my hands either. Well, not like the one described
"It just sucks, 'cuz when I'm actually working with injuries, I'm usually pretty great under pressure. It's just when I'm nervous and around people, I either can't stop talking or I just can't figure out how to talk normally at all. My brain just stops working."
She let out another sigh and blinked, as if suddenly realizing something.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump that all on you."
"It's fine." I assured her.
"No it's not, I shouldn't have bothered you and I'm still lost and now I've wasted both of our time."
Part of me wanted to point out that she was technically still wasting both of our time, but decided to keep it to myself in favor of helping her getting her problem solved.
"Harper is upstairs." I said and her expression brightened. "On one of the higher security levels."
"Higher security?" she asked quietly. "What, like not everyone has access?"
"Yes, there's some pretty dangerous stuff in the library. Stuff mortals shouldn't read or if someone does, they need someone to keep an eye on them to keep track of what they're being exposed to and make sure it's not too much. Reading things meant for the gods can really mess you up."
"Yeah, Ashton said something about that." She said a little warily. "I can't say I'm glad to hear that it's true. But what about Harper?"
"She's a bit different." I said hesitantly, not sure how much I should be explaining about the library to a visitor, even if she was Ashton's sister. "Being in charge of this place, it gives her some… unique abilities. Protects her from harmful effects of books she might come across for the most part."
"For the most part?"
"There's been an occasional trapped manuscript or two, nothing too serious."
"Yikes." Libby said her eyes going a bit wide and I was surprised to find I'd almost laughed.
"I can take you to her if you like."
"Really?" She asked, obviously caught off guard by the offer and I nodded.
"That would be amazing, thank you!" she said sounding relieved and I grinned a little at how plainly it was written across her expression.
She hadn't even bothered to hide it.
"Follow me." I said walking down the aisle, gesturing her to come with and after a glance back at the book I'd been reading, she jogged after me.
"So." She said after we'd passed. "If the higher security levels have restricted access, but you can use them. Does that mean you're special too?"
She was grinning at me, clearly joking and possibly even flirting, but it didn't stop the torrent of memories that flooded through my mind, breaking out of my subconscious where I tried to make them stay.
"Something like that." I said quietly and while it was obvious by her expression that Libby noticed the shift in my tone. It was just as apparent that she didn't know what to say.
We walked through the shelves in silence for a moment, her clearly at a loss for a topic and me no longer in the mood to talk.
"So." She continued as I scanned my access card to the door for the stairs and it unlocked. "You really seem to know your way around this place. Are you some sort of frequent flier or something? How come you have access to high security levels?"
It was this that confirmed to me that Libby really had no clue who I was. She probably thought I was just another visitor here to look up information for the day and it was this that had me hesitating just a second before saying.
"I work here."
"Oh." She said, evidently surprised by this information, and despite my mood, I looked over my shoulder and asked.
"Have something you want to say?"
"No." she said quickly, looking embarrassed again as she explained. "I'm sorry, you just… don't really seem like the librarian type."
"No one here is really the librarian type." I pointed out, scanning the key card against the second set of doors.
They unlocked and when I pulled it open, I immediately saw that I had been right. Harper was somewhere on this level evidenced by the books that were hopping off of the shelves, darting to new locations, and replacing themselves.
"What the-" Libby said and I grinned.
"Special abilities, remember? It looks like she's updating the filing system."
I glanced at the titles on some of the books as they passed and found one with a likely looking subject.
"Follow me."
I trailed after it, skirting around book cases and the literature flying off them, catching a scroll just before it beaned Libby between the eyes.
"Careful." I said unable to hide a smile at her startled expression.
I tossed the scroll back into the air where it whipped around a corner to wherever it's destination was.
"Harper is doing this?" Libby asked sounding amazed.
"Yeah, but I'm guessing she's distracted." I said scanning the shelves figuring we had to be close. "Unless her attention is divided while she's sifting through things, I wouldn't recommend being on the same floor as her."
"Jeez." Libby muttered looking around. "That seems a bit… chaotic."
"She can keep track of a lot." I assured her, unsurprised when I turned into the next row only to see Harper reach up and grab the book we'd been following out of the air, and start scanning a page, frowning as she read.
It made me pause.
"Perfect." Libby said happily, clearly not noticing my hesitation. "Harper, we've been-"
But I held up my hand, keeping her from stepping forward as Harper, who looked vaguely surprised to see people in the aisle with her, said.
"Don't."
"Is that thing, hissing?" Libby asked, finally noticing the dark book that was sitting a few feet in front of Harper. It was bound by one of our containment spells judging by the rings of greek letters glowing in circles around it.
"Yes." Harper said evenly, clearly too distracted by the angry book to question why she was here.
"Is that why you didn't see us coming?" I asked her with interest, but she shook her head.
"I knew you were here, but I didn't want to get too far from this thing."
"What is it?" I asked, debating who I thought was more in danger, then taking a hesitant step between Libby and the book that was now flapping it's covers in irritation.
"A donation from Hecate." Harper said frowning. "One of her older spell books. Nothing too powerful, but it's an original." She shrugged. "I put it with some others she gave us, but it doesn't seem to like that…"
"You talk about it like it has a personality." Libby said peaking her head out from behind me but I motioned for her to get back.
"Many of the books on the upper levels do." I muttered feeling tense.
Normally I wouldn't be too worried about a situation like this, but having Libby here complicated things. Harper wouldn't want to move if it might agitate the book and cause it to go haywire, and the binding spell she'd been able to place wasn't very strong. Usually, this wouldn't have been a problem, considering I could usually grab whatever was acting up before it got anywhere near her, but I knew Harper. She wouldn't tolerate a visitor getting hurt over her.
"I think we should move it to containment." Harper said uneasily. "It doesn't look happy."
Suddenly, there was a popping sound as one of the books bindings split.
"That can't be good." I said darkly.
The book started to shudder as it threw itself against the boundaries of the spell, pinging off the enchantment walls like some sort of demonic pinball. The letters burned brighter as whatever magic that was in the pages started to challenge the spell.
"Get back!" Harper shouted, waving for us to retreat and I heard Libby stumble backwards down the aisle.
I hesitated, looking back for just a moment to see if she was ok, but it was a moment too long.
There was a bright flash and a crack like thunder that sent shock waves through the book cases, blasting Harper off her feet with a shout.
Libby screamed as I swore and dove forward, the room starting to fill with a horrible screeching, like buckling steel.
I caught the book as it shot towards Harper's head, and was thrown into one of the stacks, feeling like I'd taken a blow to the chest from a cannon. I managed to hold on to it however, pain radiating through me in dull waves.
The book continued to struggle, hissing and spitting more ferociously as around us, shelf after shelf fell to the ground throwing dust into the air, the smell of old paper and leather growing stronger with each floor shaking 'thud'.
Still grappling with the book, I reached into my back pocket pulling out a second binding spell, this one stronger than the one Harper had managed to set, and wrapped the scroll around the it's covers.
It thrashed for a moment until the seal connected and then went still.
I sighed and let my body relax for half a second, before sitting up and almost immediately wincing as I looked around and saw the total damage the spell book had done.
The room was in shambles, desks broken, collapsed under the weight of splintered book cases and through the dust of unsettled volumes, I could see that books and scrolls were littered everywhere.
I sat for a moment, appalled at the destruction, until I suddenly remembered I wasn't alone.
Feeling frantic, I scanned the room about to call out when I spotted Libby, eyes wide, clutching at her laptop but miraculous unscathed, standing in the intersection of what had been the areas for enchantments and rituals, but the slight pang of relief I felt at seeing her unhurt was immediately eclipsed by panic as I realized she was the only one I saw.
"Are you ok?" she asked, but I ignored her.
"Harper!" I shouted feeling my heart rate sky rocket and adrenaline kick into my system as I realized she was nowhere to be seen.
I scrambled to my feet scattering books as I turned, scanning more of the wreckage.
"Harper! Are you hurt?"
"Fine." A muffled voice said with a groan and I saw an arm pop out of a pile of spell scrolls. "Did you get the book?"
Libby made to dart forward to help dig Harper out, but I caught her.
"Wait."
There was a moment's pause before suddenly, like bullets the spell scrolls shot forward, away from Harper, whose hand I grabbed to help her to her feet.
"I'm fine." Harper assured me sounding out of breath but unrattled, before I could even start to ask.
"You're bleeding." I said frowning and she looked horrified.
"On the scrolls?!" she screeched, glancing around herself wildly and I couldn't hide a grin.
"No, here." I said gesturing towards a cut on her eyebrow, then pointing towards my own. "No blood magic today Harper. Sorry to disappoint."
"Thank the gods." She muttered, the let out a rueful laugh as she glanced at the book currently wrapped in the binding scroll.
"Containment?" I asked and she nodded.
"Containment." She agreed
"Ok I'll take it." I said as she touched her cut gingerly, inspecting the blood on her finger tips as she pulled them away.
This must not have interested her however, because after a brief glance, she looked around the room and her expression went crest fallen.
"My cataloging." She said with what sounded like despair.
"I can help with the injury." Libby said hurrying forward towards Harper who blinked, as if she'd only just now remembered she was there.
"Oh my gods there was a witness." She muttered pinching the bridge of her nose. "She saw all of that, didn't she?"
"It's not the end of the world Harper."
"Oh I can't believe this is happening." she groaned.
"Sorry." Libby said apologetically. "I didn't mean to bother you. I'm Ashton's sister. Libby."
"I know who you are." Harper said taking a deep breath, and I had to hide a smile as Libby glanced at her shirt, clearly wondering if the name tag was still there. "You've healed us both plenty of times." Harper explained sounding as if she'd managed to gather her patience.
She looked at Libby, clearly searching her for injuries.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Libby said in obvious confusion. "But what do you mean by us both? I remember treating you in the infirmary, but not…"
Her sentence died however, as she glanced between Harper and I, recognition glimmering in her eyes.
I felt my stomach sink.
"James." Harper said, clearly missing the tension and trying to recall my focus.
I couldn't help it, I winced at the sound of my own name.
"You should probably get that book down there." She continued her tone calm, but significant all the same. "Before it tries to break out of another binding spell."
"Wait a second." Libby said her tone suspicious, but it turned anger as comprehension dawned on her, and she realized who I was. "James? As in-"
But Harper cut her off, warning in her tone.
"Head of Security of the Cordrian Library and my right hand in its administration."
I glanced at Harper, half of me worried where this conversation was headed, and the other half almost laughing at formal description of a role here that she'd clearly made up on the spot, but she was glaring daggers at Libby, ice in her forming around the words as she continued.
"Even if he brought you to a restricted level."
She shot me a look that told me this wasn't the last I'd be hearing of this.
"You might be Ashton's sister Libby, but you are also a guest here at my discretion. I would think very carefully about what you say next."
Threat was clear in the statement, and while Libby still looked angry, she also appeared to be conflicted. Torn between an obvious desire to retort, and anxiety at crossing Harper's bad side. There was something else however that flitted across her features as she clearly decided how she wanted to go forward, it almost looked like disappointment.
"You didn't tell me your name." she said eventually.
It was clear that wasn't all she wanted to say, but it was the only words she thought she could get away with.
"You didn't ask." I pointed out, trying not to feel bitter knowing how being aware of who I was, was going to change her opinion of me, but I was surprised when once again, she blushed.
"Containment." Harper said nodding towards the book. "I'll take Libby back down stairs." She continued gesturing for Libby to start making her way towards the stairs that would take her to the main hall of the library.
"Alright." I said quietly, but as she walked passed me following Libby through the piles of discarded books, I added. "Head of Security?"
"I panicked." She muttered, shooting me a furtive look. "I had the moral high ground, it felt like you needed a title to sound more official."
"Do I get a pay raise with this promotion?" I said falling into step next to her and she rolled her eyes.
"You don't even spend the money you do have."
I didn't have an argument for this, so I shrugged and tucked the demented spell book under an arm and put my hands in my pocket, trying not to feel too hopeless at the absolute wreck the first of the restricted levels had become.
'Gods, this is going to take months to clear out…' I thought glumly realizing there probably wouldn't be any high more high-stakes excursions into the mortal world while this needed to be sorted.
A stab of bitterness ran through me at this.
'Great.'
I hadn't made any progress with the translation, and now I had even more work to do.
'I shouldn't have brought her up here.' I thought scanning my access card and stepping into the stairway, making my way down past the ground floor of the library and several of the lower levels.
She'd just looked so anxious and upset about her interview that I'd wanted to cheer her up.
I hopped the last few steps to the containment ward, and was about to scan through the doors when suddenly, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand and it felt almost as if there was a pair of eyes on me.
I hadn't heard anything, but it felt as if someone had whispered my name. Someone just out of ear shot. Without conscious thought, I turned glancing under the metal stairs. Under the railings was a solid door of what I knew was celestial bronze burned black by magic so strong, not even I was crazy enough to try and approach it.
Painted in front of the door were caution lines, along with the words 'DO NOT ENTER' in bold. Above it was one word.
Labyrinth
It was the only door in this place that I'd never been through. The only level I didn't have access too.
And behind it was the one book in the library that I, not Harper, had read.
Even through all this ancient, powerful magic, I could still hear it... Still feel the dark and twisted things it wanted to inset into my mind.
I could almost hear the whispering now, just beyond the door and a part of me was dying to know what they were saying, even if I knew it was only horror and pain but –
"James."
I gasped, suddenly aware I was feeling clammy and cold, only to realize I was sweating.
"What?" I started, panting and looking wildly around feeling more adrenaline coursing through me than any combat ever had.
I whirled only to see Harper, her hand on my shoulder looking concerned.
I hadn't even felt her touch me.
I realized I was standing on the caution lines, my hand inches from the emergency glass over a card reader set in the wall. It only accepted one card, the one that Harper currently had tucked into her front pocket.
"You should be more careful than that." I said plucking the card from her pocket and handing it to her, before stepping away.
"James-" she started sounding worried.
"I'm fine." I said shaking my head.
"No, you're not. You look sick."
"I-"
"When's the last time you slept?" she demanded and I laughed.
"You're hardly one to talk."
"I'm not the one battling a titan every day." She said stiffly.
"Aren't you?" I asked and she glanced at the door, almost as if against her will.
"That's different."
"Yeah, it is." I said. "You're keeping gods out too."
When Harper had taken over the library, she'd made it clear to the gods that unless they wanted to find themselves barred from the library, they had to leave me and my sister alone. And it was thanks to that protection that I was still alive.
"They're not actively trying to break in at all times."
"They would be if they thought they could. We both know that." I said and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from me seeming frustrated.
I'd thought Harper was crazy for even suggesting the gods might overlook what I'd done, let alone demand that they do it, but I think even Harper had been surprised how effective a bargaining chip access to the library had proven to be.
It was obvious they hadn't been happy with the terms, and if they could have found a way to remove me, or Harper, from the equation they would have. But for now, Olympus and the members of the library lived in an uneasy peace. They'd even gone as far as to help offer the library protection against more… malevolent influences.
It had kept me out of Kronos's hands, but more importantly, it had kept Lucy safe. And I was willing to keep walking that ledge, for as far as it would take me. Provided Harper was the one directing me where to step.
I didn't trust anyone else to do it. Not even me.
"Go to bed James." She said softly.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not." She insisted. "You look horrible. Like you've seen a ghost."
She glanced at the door again, then back at me.
"Talking with Libby set you off, didn't it? And don't lie." She warned when she saw me getting ready for a denial. "I saw it in your face. You looked heart broken when you realized she'd figured out who you were." She said sympathy in her tone. "That's probably why that stupid book is messing with your mind."
I didn't answer and she let out a heavy sigh.
"Why didn't you tell her who you were?" she asked quietly.
I didn't answer again, mainly because the truth was as pathetic as it was painful.
I didn't want to see what had happened, happen.
Even thinking about it now caused an unpleasant feeling to go through me, permeating me at my core. The way her face had changed when she'd made the connection with who I was. The suspicion and the anger that entred her eyes as she associated the person in front of her with the person I'd been in the past.
I'd seen it enough in other people to know it was coming. Usually, I didn't care. But it had felt different this time. Somehow, seeing it from her had made it so much worse.
Harper seemed to know what was on my mind.
"Who cares what she thinks?"
"I care." I said indignantly, and I wasn't sure who was more surprised by this, Harper or me.
Libby and I hadn't been particularly close when I'd been at camp, but she'd always been nice to me. Well, she was usually nice to everyone, but I'd liked her. She'd been easy to talk to. And being stuck in a place surrounded by people you had to lie to everyday, talking to people hadn't always been easy, even if I'd been good at pretending it was.
"She was sweet." I said trying to keep my tone neutral.
I remembered a few years ago I'd been slashed by a manticore pretty bad, and she made the time spent detoxing from the poison in the infirmary after somewhat tolerable. Even if it was just by showing me photos and talking about her rabbits.
It had been a nice break from what at the time, had been my pretty bleak reality. And even if several years had passed, and both of us were older., I could still see the sunny, excitable little healer I'd become accustom to talking to.
She hadn't been like some of the others at camp, who'd seemed to start to idolize me as I got more and more attention and my abilities started to make themselves known, but as we talked, and I started to tell her some of my stories, she'd looked at me like I was hero. A better person than I knew I actually was. And seeing her face change like that… well, I was used to it from other people, but with Libby, it almost felt as if I'd let her down.
With others, I'd found it didn't bother me. They didn't know me and everything I'd seen, what I'd been through and honestly, I didn't want them to. But talking to her today felt like it had back in the infirmary, reminded me of how things could have been like in another life if I really had been the person she'd thought I was.
By Harper's expression, I could tell she couldn't relate to this, probably because no one, not even Ashton, would have thought to refer to Harper as 'sweet'. Brilliant, yes, loyal, incredibly so, there was also situations in which she could be generous and incredibly kind. But 'sweet' was one thing I didn't think Harper would ever be accused of, not that I thought she'd minded. She didn't have the patience for it. She had too much to do. And even Lucy, who practically hero worshipped Harper, had had to learn there were some things with the daughter of Athena, that you just couldn't take personally.
She'd offended a lot of people, many of them gods. And it was a testament to how much she'd done that she was still walking around, able to keep offending them to this day.
"I'm fine." I repeated. "Really Harper. I'm ok."
She raised an eyebrow, but didn't object as I made my way to the card scanner, entered my ID, then the room's containment center's access code.
She did however, follow me in.
"Libby doesn't have to be here this summer if it makes you uncomfortable." She continued as we walked past scrolls bound by chains of celestial bronze and books behind magical force fields or bullet proof glass. She glanced to her right, at the post it note that continued to smoke from its edges despite all our attempts to make it stop. "She's already getting special treatment just to skip the wait to be here today. We don't have to make it a permanent thing."
"No." I said shaking my head. "This is my issue, don't punish her for it."
"I'm not punishing her for an issue of yours James." She said matter of factly. "I know you like to think highly of yourself, but that's not the problem here. I'm in charge of running this place, looking after it's wellbeing, and that includes the staff." She continued giving me a significant look. "She needs to respect that. And if her being here is going to cause tension-"
"You are so full of shit." I said grinning and she looked affronted.
"Excuse me?"
"Harper." I said as we reached an open containment cell and I scanned my card. "You're like a step and a half from being a minor god."
She rolled her eyes as I entered my ID and the door opened, allowing me to place the book on a plinth with bronze cables that retracted around the item as it was set.
"You're too powerful to be playing favorites."
She looked as if she wanted to argue, and against anyone else she might have.
Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and made a stubborn, irritated noise that caused me to laugh.
"Elegant."
"Shut up James."
"Seriously Harper." I said stepping out of the containment cell. "You don't need to protect me from Libby." I tried to make myself sound more amused than I actually felt. "I appreciate the sentiment, but you don't have to worry so much about me. I'll be fine."
"Alright." She muttered grudgingly. "But only because you say you're ok with it."
She pointed at me, her expression accusing.
"And you'd better tell me if she says anything. Alright?"
"Alright." I said easily knowing Libby could call me a thousand insults under the sun, and that would never happen.
It wasn't as if I wouldn't have deserved them.
Harper's eyes narrowed, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking, but also, that there was nothing she could do about it.
"You're my best friend, James." She said seriously, and there was an amount of emotion in Harper's tone that was rarely ever there. Just as it had the first time she said it, and every time after, I felt a surge of shock go through me at the words. "And I don't care who cries favoritism. You and your sister built this place with me, I can't count the number of time you've probably saved my life. No one is welcome here if they can't be civil to you. Got it?"
I nodded.
"Yeah."
"Good." She said brightly her expression clearing into a smile. "No stop skulking down here and feeling sorry for yourself. We've got an entire floor of book cases to reshelf and I need to reassess the damage to know how pissed I have to be at you, ok?"
"Alright." I said unable to help a grin as I followed her out of the containment center, and back into the stairwell.
She'd just put her foot on the very first step, when, all of the sudden the gravity of what she'd said seemed to hit me. As well as the realization that I knew she was completely serious. Even after everything that I had done.
"Thanks, Harper." I said quietly, and she hesitated for just a second, glancing back at me, clearly as uncomfortable with the amount of emotions that had been displayed on both of our parts in the last several minutes before she continued to make her up the stairs, saying.
"Of course, James. It's something you should know."