VISION ✔️ || The Keepers of Astraela #1

13.0 || Of Secrets and Hidden Drives

EVA

THE LIBRARY SWARMED WITH ACTIVITY.

When Eva held the front door open for a few chatty teenagers, her jaw fell open at the sheer volume of people. Folks of all ages milled about to peruse the books and socialize. Their voices, though hushed whispers, bounced off the walls with reckless abandon. The crowds were better than they had been for months—which made her feel even worse once she saw the line swarming the circulation desk and the flushed faces of her youngest employees as they struggled to keep up.

She tried to clear her thoughts with a deep breath. Few unrecognizable faces stood out among the mass. They were patrons. Neighbors.

Friends.

But even the most familiar faces may have been a disguise built for small-town surroundings. She took each step with caution as she approached the circulation desk, and numerous passersby caught her glance with a wave.

How many of them were Astraelan?

"Eva? What are you doing here?"

The bright—and utterly stressed—voice brought Eva's eyes to the circulation desk. Her youngest trainee, Melody, watched her from the first computer with a stunned expression.

Eva smiled at the girl, who had frozen with her scanner in one hand and a thick paperback in the other. "Just came to pick up something." She flicked open the swinging door and stepped behind the desk. "I can't stay long. Hope you don't mind, Mel."

"Oh, oh... of course." Melody snapped back to attention, as if remembering she had patrons to check out. She fiddled with her scanner for a moment before it lined up to the book's barcode. "Are you feeling better?"

Eva's face contorted in question.

"You know..." Melody lowered her voice, holding up the paperback to conceal her lips from the patrons. "After the burritos?"

Heat flashed to Eva's cheeks, her fingers hesitating before wrapping around the handle of her desk drawer. She made a mental note to ask Emrys if he knew any invisibility enchantments that would save her skin the next time he came up with their alibi.

If he had gone in instead, it would have saved a hefty amount of embarrassment, but whatever—or whoever—made him tense on the sidewalk had put a wrench in their plan. Though he'd brushed off his apparent nerves with an excuse about keeping watch, she knew he was trying not to unnerve her.

It didn't work.

"I'm better." Eva tried to give a reassuring smile. "Just staying home as a precaution. Thanks."

Before Melody could press the subject, Eva turned to the drawer. Office supplies littered the interior with no rhyme or reason to their placement. She had meant to organize it for months, muttering hollow promises about the task under her breath whenever Jensen teased her about the clutter. However, other duties had taken precedence... like slamming her head against the keyboard in an attempt to finish her novel. Rearranging personal junk had never been—nor would it ever be—at the top of her list.

After shuffling a mound of half-empty paper clip boxes, her eyes landed upon a green flash drive wedged between the plates of her stapler. Relief flooded her senses, and she snatched it frantically.

"Long time no see."

Eva startled at the voice from across the counter. When she lifted her eyes, a flash of blue hair and Kali's amused grin greeted her.

"Oh! Hey!" Eva broke her friend's gaze long enough to snatch her flash drive again. A totally-not-embarrassed smile surfaced on her lips. "What are you doing here?"