Quinn certainly wasn’t expecting the Library to stop her. But as she tried to open the hidden doorway right by the booth she usually used in the restricted vault, it wouldn’t budge. She frowned and tried again. Okay... why won’t the door open?

  There was a pause, as if the Library was asking her if she was serious, that she didn’t realize why the door wouldn’t open. But then, after a very soft sigh that rippled through the room, it spoke. Because you promised Lynx you would sleep.

  And before Quinn could get any farther, the Library interjected even more. I can’t notice every minuscule detail all the time. That’s just not possible for me. As more of my functions come back online, as the power levels grow... I need Lynx to act for me in certain capacities. If you tell him something. Actually. Whenever you’ve told him something, I’ve always known. It might be a blip, it might be like a notification... but you can’t tell him one thing and then do another.

  Quinn wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that. And Aradie perched over there on the bench, basically laughing like an owl shouldn’t be able to laugh, didn’t help matters one bit.

  But she did have to admit the Library had a point, and now she’d had a moment to calm down and be rational instead of excitable. She was feeling that fatigue right through to her bones.

  “Fine.” she said begrudgingly. “You’re right.”

  Did you get that Aradie? The Library asked. I wouldn’t want to miss being able to replay that moment over and again.

  That’s not nice! Quinn shot back mind to mind again. Except, it was quite amusing a comment. She ended up grinning.

  Aradie swooped to her shoulder, nipping at her ear with a definite chortle.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Quinn grumbled, suddenly yawning. Maybe her body was trying to tell her something, too. She gathered the few books she wanted to absorb before bed and began walking out. They were pretty hefty in her arms, but she’d had them suggested from both the Library and Milaro, so she felt like that killed two birds with one stone.

  Not going to fight me more? The Library sounded oddly surprised by its victory.

  Quinn shrugged as she walked through the Library, the books starting to weigh heavy in her hands. No. When you’ve got a point, you’ve got a point. But you need to remind me first thing to go and check that tomorrow, okay?

  Done. I just know once you get started you’ll be at it at least twenty odd hours, and I think you should do that on a full night’s sleep.

  Definitely not wrong there. Quinn stopped and frowned. What on earth was she doing walking when she could just warp now?

  It was a disconcerting sensation, like a tug through her central core that somehow snapped her equilibrium and presence into the desired spot in the Library. She could feel the power it took being fed from not only the filtration chamber but right up through the entire Library.

  The next thing she knew, she stood outside her quarters. Books in hand, she barely recalled what they were as she mechanically absorbed them, trusting that her brain would process things while she slept. After all, it always did.

  She was asleep before her head hit the pillow

  ~~

  Voices tugged at her consciousness, but Quinn was tired. In a bone weary sort of way. Her legs felt like lead, her brain like mush, as if something wasn’t firing right. Had she got the flu?

  It wasn’t only that, though. Her entire being felt like it weighed a tonne, as if she were bloated and weighed down with water. The pain that spread through her wasn’t sharp or jarring. Instead, it was this ache of bones in positions they shouldn’t be in, locked in place for too many hours on end.

  It was just how she imagined growing old would feel.

  Decrepit.

  Aged.

  Too much of a life lived, so all that remained was to seek and yearn for death.

  Something wavered in her, though. Like a candle in the distance, flickering in place. Quinn focused on the flame, sure it was trying to tell her something. Trying to tell her more than that she was old and out of date now, aimed for the trash pile.

  Because she wasn’t, was she? In her twenties. That’s where she thought she was.

  And technically, she wasn’t even human anymore. Not that she’d ever been. But her mind hadn’t quite grasped that concept, and her memories were based on the first portion of her life she’d lived. Which she’d livedcompletely,y believing she was human.

  Belief went a long way.

  But in this? No, in this it couldn’t replace the memory. Those, for Quinn at least, were core things hidden behind a multitude of protections. Ones she’d built with Milaro’s help, and reinforced both herself and by the Library. So these thoughts, wherever this intrusion came from, it wasn’t her own mind, or that of anyone she’d given permission to enter it.

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  Which meant that somehow, someone else was sincerely attempting to gain access to her mind.

  That didn’t sit well with Quinn, but right now, she didn’t think she’d yet given herself away. All those thoughts, those memories that weren’t quite right, they lingered there in her mind, shuffling through like a remote controlled deck of cards.

  She made sure to separate her logical thoughts from the experience, to allow herself to analyze the situation. Logic dictated that she watch closely, try to glean who was doing this and what memories they were trying to replace or impose on her.

  Their motives could be one or more of a few possibilities. They might want to know what it was she knew. That one was simple enough. Perhaps they sought to figure out why none of the attacks so far had killed her and spared most of her friends, too. There had to be a reason for it, and they were probably after it.

  Then there was also determining exactly what affinities she had and how she might be able to combat them.

  Quinn,however,r had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that wasn’t all. She got the feeling that perhaps Dro who killed Jasper, had perhaps got a whiff of Quinn’s scent and was trying to determine her origin. She could only hope that the smell of her other sister had got mixed in with Quinn’s and thus caused confusion.

  She wasn’t sure why, but Quinn was fairly sure they didn’t want Dro and Drav to know about Quinn as a cosmicisodracus yet. As long as they didn’t get any actual proof, things should be fine.

  Which was how she came to the conclusion that this right here, this was another one of those weird dreams. Except this time Kajaro was nowhere to be seen. In fact, no one was anywhere to be seen.

  She was alone, in a strange,dark,k cloudy area. As if it was a massive cavern with nothing but indigo and black clouds. They swirled around her now, moving closer, gathering near her, and yet never managed to touch her.

  Quinn wondered if that had to do with her mental shielding, dragon scales, or something else.

  What she did know was that the air filled with frustration. A guttural growl sparked the surrounding air as if frustrated it couldn’t quite reach her. As if she was on the tip of its tongue.

  She closed her eyes within the space and breathed. There were a couple of options open to her since obviously nothing bad was happening to her body in the outside world, as otherwise she would have felt the tug of Aradie’s panic settling into her from out there.

  Perhaps she could gain some information, or at least verification of who was trying to break through her defenses right now. And then, when she woke, she’d be checking with Milaro about how this was even possible.

  Although... there was something she thought she should know, should remember, hovering in the back of her mind about that. Something she’d absorbed.

  She let her consciousness divide, allowing herself to traverse this strange, cloudy dreamscape cautiously. It wouldn’t do to be too bold. While this appeared to be close to something of her own making, it still reeked like a trap. She’d fallen into far too many of those for her to be comfortable with any of this.

  If she concentrated. Truly knuckled down and focused on the space, she could still hear those whispers, even as she camouflaged herself to blend in with the clouds that permeated the entire area.

  Snatches of conversation began to filter back to her. All of which she took with a grain of salt. But all of which she made sure to commit to her memory so she could share it with Milaro later.

  Shouldn’t have gotten that book.

  But this was a surprise.

  The book was more important that whatever this is. It was the key. We’re missing it.

  I can get it.

  You lost it in the first place. You were supposed to find Drukala.

  I did find her. I just didn’t... the voice was obviously pouting as it was cut off.

  Silence. That voice hesitated for a second. I’ve lost the trace.

  Does that mean she’s woken up? The more feminine voice sounded worried. That shouldn’t have been possible. I tracked through the Library connection.

  Perhaps she’s better trained than we thought... There’s something off about that human.

  I’m beginning to think she’s not one.

  I’m certain she’s not one. The male voice, that Quinn was fairly sure was Dravishk, held so much animosity it almost made Quinn gasp. But I still don’t know what she is. Regardless. We’ll always be able to track the Librarians.

  Quinn made sure to reinforce her shielding even more. The fog grew thicker, as if it was gathering around not only to obscure but also protect her. She shuddered. This was enough. She had one piece of information, but her danger sense was starting to tingle. She needed to get the hell awake.

  A strangled cry almost broke her concentration as she tried to reach through to Aradie.

  This isn’t subconscious. She’s doing this on purpose. He sounded angry this time.

  Quinn wasn’t about to sit around and figure out if he could, infact,t reach her in her dreams. Her thoughts reached out to Aradie, with a sharp twist, and all of a sudden the bird was pecking her.

  It only took a couple of pecks to pull her out of the mist. Quinn sat up gasping, her head swimming with a fog that momentarily still seemed to blind her vision. The lights in the sconces leant a blurry halo over her room for several seconds before her eyes readjusted.

  She regulated her breathing, pulling Aradie in close to stroke her feathers, and looked around to double check that nothing had somehow made its way back through her dreamscape with her. Not that she thought it possible, but she was still concerned.

  “Thank you.” She whispered to the owl. While she hadn’t been in immediate danger when woken, Quinn was fairly certain she would have been in some danger in short order.

  Aradie gave her a weak glare and then cocked her head to one side as if to ask what happened.

  Quinn shook her head, taking a moment to analyze and reinforce her shielding. Once her breathing returned to normal, she got up and took a shower and then centered herself, sorting through the conversation she’d managed to decipher. The thing was... there were other whisperings she’d missed.

  Had she gotten so used to it that she’d finally been able to decipher what they were saying? Was it a glitch? A trap? A fluke?

  And... if she’d managed to decipher some of it, did that mean she’d be able to decode more from the other memories?

  A little confidence returned she realized it was technically early morning... sort of. In her usual Library time. But this couldn’t wait. She took the time to notify the Library, Lynx, Malakai, and Milaro, and got ready to go meet them in her office.

  All in all, a pretty good night’s sleep... even if it wasn’t in the usual way.

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