Not much to say here, another fixed chapter.

Enjoy.

Stumbling into the annex, Ezekiel slammed the door shut once Stone was through. The thief slumped against the glass of the barrier before sliding to the floor.

Cassandra was gone.

It was a thing that always lurked in the background of their job. The woman had always been living on borrowed time. It was inevitable death would come knocking for her eventually. One day she was going to die and not a thing any of them did could change it.

Only it was nowhere near how Ezekiel imagined it. He always thought she would live a somewhat longer life, filled with many more adventures. When the final bell tolled, she would pass while in the hospital with everyone she loved surrounding her. He even had a small fantasy of Flynn kicking the crap out of some mythical creature just to get there in time to say goodbye. Cassandra deserved that much at least.

In the end, what did she get? Dying in a burning building while it fell down on top of her. Her only company in the end some man they barely knew. At least she wasn't completely alone in her last moments.

If that woman with the fire magic had died in the blaze as well it wouldn't have been so bad. But she did escape, Ezekiel had seen her smash through a wall while he and Stone fled. Endymion could maybe have been able to do the same, but the roof had caved before he could do so.

Endymion and Cassandra died for absolutely nothing.

Leaving their female coworker behind had torn Ezekiel up inside. He was scared to imagine how Stone was going to react. He was closer to her than either of them.

After making it back to the annex, the aforementioned librarian had flopped down into the nearby couch. The same one a recovering Cassandra had rested in earlier.

How was that for luck? She survives having the life sucked out of her only to burn to death.

Stone was sitting with his head in his hands. If it wasn't for the movement of his body's breathing, Ezekiel could have made the safe assumption he had dropped dead on the spot.

Stone had yet to speak a single word since they made it out of the cabin in the woods. Ezekiel was almost afraid of what he would say if Stone did talk. It was Ezekiel who made the call to leave Cassandra, nothing Stone could say would make the thief hate himself more.

A single look at the man on the couch was enough to horrify Ezekiel. He would have preferred to see grief or blind rage. Hell, even if all Stone's anger was directed at him, Ezekiel was the one who made the decision to abandon Cassandra after all. If screaming at Ezekiel would help Jake recover, then Ezekiel would take it.

It was as if Stone was already dead. Like the only thing sitting on that couch was a withered husk of human life.

This was the tough Jacob Stone, the same man who fought a mummy with a sword, who went fist to fist with the trained killers of the Serpent Brotherhood. To see him in such a state...

It was the most disturbing thing Ezekiel Jones had ever seen, and that was saying a lot.

That woman had to be a witch or something. It couldn't be a coincidence that she made her appearance in Salem. People always did say all legends and stories held some truth to them. Maybe this woman was the origin of the legends of the Salem Witch Trials.

Maybe, this was the same being that killed one of their predecessors? If so, this bitch now had the blood of two librarians on her hands.

Morgan Le Fey soon came to mind when Ezekiel pictured the raven-haired sorceress they fought. He sincerely hoped this one wasn't as tough as the other. They hadn't actually been able to defeat Morgan Le Fey, merely foil her plan.

Then there was whatever it was Endymion found in that book. Ezekiel wished he would have thought to grab it, but he couldn't have expected the place to go up in flames. Whatever it was, something had caught Endymion's attention and not in a good way.

Ethe... there was that name too. The journal belonged to whoever that was. The witch they fought maybe? If she was from the time of the trials it very well could have been her journal.

Ezekiel cursed his carelessness under his breath. Even if he couldn't read the book, they had the library. Something around here would be able to translate it. He should have grabbed the bloody book! At least if he did they would have something, instead they had nothing and were down one treasured friend and one sorcerer ally.

Glancing down at his hands, Ezekiel saw he still held said sorcerer's dagger and gun. Stone had the former's twin on his belt. It was better than nothing. Some magical weapons could make all the difference. Only problem was the librarians lacked Endymion's skill with either.

Perhaps if Flynn were here...

Ezekiel all but jumped out of his skin when he heard the loud ringing from his pocket.

He dropped the dagger with a clank before fumbling with his pocket to reach his phone. He didn't have hardly any friends who had his cell number. Cassandra was no longer among them. Stone was right over across the room, whom didn't even react to the sound. That left three possibilities.

Flynn, Jenkins, or Baird.

According to the caller ID, the person on the other end of the line was one Eve Baird.

"Oh, thank god," Ezekiel breathed out as he hit the button to answer.

"Hey Jones, I'm back in town. Just calling to see if you guys have burned the annex down yet." Right now, the sound of Baird's voice was a godsend to the thief.

Normally he would have had some snarky comeback for the former NATO officer, or even a joke that they really didn't burn the place down, but turned it inside out.

Perhaps it was Baird mentioning a place burning down. Maybe it was the vile feeling he still held about leaving Cassandra behind. Whatever his reason Ezekiel was only able to answer with two words.

"Cassandra's dead."

Ezekiel may not be the most morally righteous person but even he felt bad for the horrible news he had to give their guardian. Someone was going to have to do it, and Stone was in no condition to do anything. Plus, if Ezekiel did it over the phone, there was a less likely chance he would lose it in front of Baird.

The only reason he hadn't broken down so far, was his focus on stopping her killer. After that… Ezekiel would cross that bridge when he got there.

The silence on the other end made the sinking feeling in Ezekiel's gut even worse than before, if that were possible. It felt like an eternity before Baird answered. "Where are you?"

Baird's voice was even and calm, but Ezekiel had been around the older woman long enough to know when that kind of tone was forced. Baird cared deeply for the redhead, they all did. But she had shifted into NATO colonel mode, a soldier who had just been told a comrade had fallen in action. It was no doubt Baird's way of coping.

"We're at the annex, Stone's in bad shape." Ezekiel answered. Before Baird could say more he continued. "Just get here Eve. We need help."

The guardian must have heard something in his voice. She made no comment about his use of her first name despite her hatred of the word. "On my way."

With that Ezekiel ended the call.

By the time Baird arrived at the annex, Ezekiel had risen to his feet and deposited his two weapons on their main table. He was standing beside it looking down at the wooden surface when she came flying into the room.

Without saying a word or even looking up, Ezekiel pointed to the near catatonic Stone on the couch.

Ezekiel imagined Baird had been in a similar situation before. A fellow soldier killed in the line of duty and their friends were left to pick up the pieces. She would console them somehow, try to explain their death was for a reason.

Moving to kneel beside Stone, Baird placed a hand on the man's knee. "Stone?"

At first, he was nonresponsive. "Baird?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Baird's voice was uncharacteristically soft. Ezekiel wondered if she had a cookie cutter speech prepared from her career at NATO.

"She's gone." Stone's voice sounded so broken it tugged at even Ezekiel's darker heartstrings. There was a time he would have poked fun for such a thing but he would rather stick himself with the dagger on the table than do that.

"Jones already told me."

"We left her there, we left her to burn." Stone croaked out, whatever control he had of himself was slipping fast.

Ezekiel had to make that call. He was the one who left her behind, even though if they didn't leave all four of them would have perished. Better two than four...

It was a decision that was going to haunt Ezekiel to the end of his days.

Never in his life did Ezekiel think he would have people he cared so much about. Leave it to a magical library to change all that. This was the downside to having people close to you, when they left it was worse than any physical wound.

"I should have been there with her..." Stone's unfocused misty eyes were glued to the floor.

"I know, Stone." Baird sat on the couch beside him. "We all wish we could have done more but sometimes there is nothing you can do. At least you and Jones made it out in one piece."

"It would have been better if I burned with her..." Something in Stone's words was throwing up red flags to Ezekiel's senses. The last thing they needed was a suicidal Stone on their hands.

The homicidal witch was going to be a big enough issue.

"That's not what Cassandra would want, and you know it." Baird all but snapped. "You should try to honor her memory. Live on for her. It's what she would do if she was here."

"Jones?" Ezekiel flinched out of his own thoughts at Baird's voice. She sounded like she was definitely back in guardian mode now. "Threat assessment."

So Ezekiel told her. Every tiny detail the librarians had amassed, including their temporary ally before his demise. All the way down to what had been Cassandra's last moments among the living.

"A witch?" Baird didn't sound skeptical when talking about magical things like she was when she first joined. Her question was a confirmation of the threat they were up against.

"It's Morgan Le Fey all over again. Only without the magic app." Baird had stood up and taken a position opposite Ezekiel at the main table.

"These that guy Endymion's weapons?" Baird glanced over the dagger and gun but refrained from touching the pair.

"Yeah." Ezekiel slid the gun over to her. If anyone should have the gun, it was Baird, firearms were her thing, even futuristic ones. "Looks kinda like it belongs in a steampunk cosplay but it's pretty much a Star Wars blaster. At least it seemed like it when I blew open a door with the thing."

Baird took in the information as she looked down the weapon's sights like she would any other weapon.

The sight brought a sliver of hope to the thief. Baird always exuded confidence in everything she did at the library. It was a comfort to have her with them. It would have been better to have her and Flynn both but the man was still out of reach somewhere. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"We have any other usable information?" Baird sat the weapon down as she turned her eyes to Ezekiel. There was something in them the thief saw. Though she seemed calm, Eve Baird was prepared to unleash a hellstorm of vengeance on that witch when they found her.

Running his fingers through his hair, Ezekiel wracked his brain for anything usable. As things stood they were back to square one. "No, I… I've got nothing."

"Jones." Baird reaches across the table to place one of her hands on Ezekiel's wrist, much like she'd done for Stone minutes ago. "It's going to be alright, we'll get her."

Ezekiel said nothing, he just nodded. If he had tried to speak, it would have betrayed his own emotions too much for his liking.

"These'll hurt her?" Baird looked over the gun again before picking up the knife to examine it as well. "Kill her?"

"I'd bet my last dollar she is the shadow monster, so yeah these will hurt her. But I don't know if they can kill her. We didn't exactly get to test that." Ezekiel explained.

"Untested weapons are better than no weapons." Baird nodded.

"What do we do?" Ezekiel liked to at least pretend he was cool in control and in charge. But right now, he didn't have the will to pull off that façade.

"We have an unseen enemy, unreliable weapons, a comrade down, and innocents still in danger." Baird summed up their situation beautifully. "I don't like it going into the field so poorly equipped, but we don't have much of an option."

"Wait." Ezekiel happened to glance off to the side when he noticed something that made his heart nearly stop. Where's Stone?"

I am so glad I'm finally getting caught back up on my work. I've been neglecting this story especially for waaay too long. Leave a review and let me know what you think please.