Feeling the wind blow her long, dark hair into her face, China sighed and threw it back over her shoulders. The birds were out and singing their songs, filling the area around them with sound. The little bit of grass outside of her building was immaculate and the building itself looked like any other building in the area, old and boring.
Looking to Tanith, she felt the younger woman place a hand on her shoulder as they both looked up to the building. Removing more of her hair from her face, China rolled her eyes and wished that the wind would stop.
"Here, let me help," Tanith said, looking around to make sure no one could see them. Once she was sure the area was clear she gently took China's hair in her hands and twisted it back, taking the hair tie off her wrist and putting it into a messy bun to keep it off China's face.
"Thank you," China replied, looking up and examining the building, her hands moving out in front of her as she concentrated on what she was doing.
Watching China do her thing for a few moments, Tanith decided to check out the outside of the building. Walking down the cracked path, she pulled her jacket hood up so it hid her face while she checked out the area. There were two sketchy looking teenagers across the road at the bus stop who stared at her like she had interrupted something. Taking note of what they looked like and what they were wearing, she stepped onto the grass and walked around the back of the building. Near one of the bottom windows the grass was upturned and there was a single footprint in the muddy patch that didn't look to be that old. Pulling out her phone, she took an up-close photograph of it and sent it off to Skulduggery, hoping he could swing by and take a better look. Meeting China back at the front of the building, Tanith pulled down her hood and waited until China was done.
"I have assessed my wards and they are all still up, no one has come by and tried to get in since I closed off the library yesterday. Did you find anything of interest?" Turning to face Tanith, China kept an eye out as two male teenagers came rounded the corner.
"I found some upturned grass and a footprint. I took a photo and sent it to Skulduggery, I think he'll be swinging by later to get a better look at it," Tanith replied, turning to see what China was looking at. "Those teens looked like they were doing something not entirely legal at the bus stop when I walked around."
"I don't like them, let's head inside," China said, placing a hand on Tanith's shoulder, nudging her to start walking while she keep an eye out.
Inside of the building, China threw up a quick ward over the door so that even if the teens were to follow them they would have no way of getting inside. Walking up the stairs to the main floor of the library, China took down the wards and opened the door. Once they were inside of the library she put them up again, not wanting to let her guard down, especially knowing there was someone after her.
Walking around the blackened area, China finally got a good look at the damage the fire caused. There were burnt books that had fallen off the shelves, loose paper scattered over the floor, the shelves still stood but they didn't look very stable. Broken pieces of porcelain vases and ceramic plates were littered around the display stands they once stood on. There was a puddle of water on the floor from where the sprinklers had gone off, making everything around soggy and irreparable.
Heading to the wall covered in graffiti, China noticed the can of black spray paint in the corner, the tip of it having come off. Studying it, she knew it was someone who wanted to torment her through destroying what she loved most. Turning to Tanith who was in the unburnt section of the library, she walked over to the blonde woman who stopped what she was doing and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Did you find anything?" Tanith asked, seeing the hurt and anger in China's light blue eyes.
"I found nothing, how about you?"
"Same here, nothing that I could see. I am wondering why the fire stopped where it did. It's in a direct line down the middle of the library and it didn't spread any further," Tanith replied, noticing the divide.
"It must have stopped where it did as I have stronger wards on that part of the library than this part. I was preparing some more displays to go up and it's easier to lessen the wards than it is to work around them. And possibly some of the books that got burnt may only be very well forged copies of the originals which I have locked away so safely no one but myself knows where they are," China replied, letting Tanith in on her little secret.
"I thought that they were all originals. That's a smart thing to do," Tanith responded, not surprised at all by this.
"Don't get me wrong, many of the books that got destroyed are irreplaceable and I will never be able to get them again as they were one of a kind. Only a handful of them, three at most, the ones that were extremely old, were copies. The collection on the display stands were all authentic, they're gone for good and some of those items once held a lot of power but what's done is done, I have no more tears to cry," China said, feeling the anger simmering just under the surface.
"What do you want to do now? Should we clean up or something?" Tanith asked, not sure she knew what China wanted to do.
"I'll pay someone to come clean up once Skulduggery is done doing whatever it is he is doing. In the next building there is an apartment which faces directly at my library. I rented it out when it first went up to make sure no one could use it for spying except for myself. We are going to go there and watch the library to see if anyone tries to enter. Come with me." Getting up, China led them out of the library and down the flight of stairs to the front door. Making sure all the wards protecting the library were still up, she left the door unprotected and headed for the next building, making sure no one was around when she and Tanith entered it.
Leading the way to the apartment, China opened the door and let Tanith inside. Following her inside, she locked the door and threw up a ward. "Now we wait and see what happens."
Feeling Tanith wrap her arms around her waist, China relaxed into Tanith for a moment, taking a second to take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Is there anything I can do?" Tanith asked, placing a soft kiss on China's neck, wanting the woman to relax for a moment.
"I don't suppose you want to bring those two seats over to the window so we can keep an eye out comfortably," China replied, turning her head so she could see Tanith.
"I can do that," Tanith said, letting go of China. Dragging the two arm chairs over to the window, Tanith flopped down into one while China gracefully sat in the other one and stared out the window, looking down on the entrance to the library.
Watching as a few people walked by, China noted they were either talking on their phones, texting, walking their dog or dogs, or out for a run and listening to music with their headphones. Not having realised how many people crossed the front of her building in a day, she was surprised that none of them paid any attention to the people walking in and out dressed how they did.
A few hours had passed and China could hear Tanith softly snoring in the chair next to her. Taking a quick moment to look at the younger woman, China let a small smile cross her face for a brief second. Never having thought she would end up with someone or anyone, especially Tanith, the memory of their first kiss in the rain ten months ago still made her feel giddy on the inside as she remembered the events of that day.
Looking back out the window, China spotted two people standing outside of the building looking suspicious. They appeared to be the two teens they saw from earlier that day, only they had now changed their clothing and had hats on.
"Tanith, wake up," China hissed, hitting the woman on the arm to get her attention.
"China, what is it?" Tanith asked, sitting up properly and yawning.
"Those are the two teen boys from earlier, correct?" China asked, watching them closely.
"That is definitely them, what are they doing?" Tanith asked, joining China by the window. They were lucky that China put up a ward so they couldn't be seen or heard or otherwise they would have been spotted by now.
"I don't know but look across the road, some kid seems to be joining them."
Watching as the three teens stood outside her building entrance, China raised her eyebrow at Tanith when the blonde woman pulled out her phone and started to record what they were doing. It didn't take long before the younger teen started moving his arms in front of the building as they two older teens watched out for others. Smirking to herself as she manipulated the wards, she let out a little laugh when the kid went flying backwards down the path only to land in a twisted heap at Skulduggery's feet.