The Time Keeper

Chapter 81 - Pull it Together

He stood with his back away from me, one hand tucked behind his back and the other tracing the spine of a book he clearly wasn't reading

"Elias," he said smoothly. "Fancy meeting you here."

He turned the moment he spoke, as if he had been waiting for me for some reason. His lips curled into a polite yet forced smile.

"Just browsing like anybody else, Zhiff," I replied just as quickly as he had turned to look me in the eyes.

He stepped forward, extending his left hand. It would've been rude to ignore it, so I took it, begrudgingly. The cuff of his white shirt beneath his gown shifted, just enough to expose a faint coil-shaped scar on his wrist, like someone had wrapped heated wire around the skin.

His grip tightened a fraction too long, as if his hand muscles were cramping, forcing me to let go first.

"Haven't seen you in a while Elias," Zhiff said as he put back the book he was holding, then slowly ran his index finger across the back of a row of books. "I've been away on a business trip, visiting colleagues. Vinesia is quite lovely this time of year."

"Good for you," I replied. As I recalled from the Geography books, The Vinesian Empire was an extremely large country on the Eastern continent. Much larger than Ercadium, the country where I resided.

He then chuckled with his fist up to his mouth. "Well, not everybody appreciates traveling. Some might prefer routine."

I sidesteped out of his way, reaching out and grabbing one of the geography books at random on the shelf behind Zhiff, making him move out of my path.

Without another word, I took the book over to Robin to check out.

"Find what you need," Robin asked while stamping the book to check out for me.

"Yeah," I replied.

Robin had barely finished sliding the book toward me when a shadow loomed over my shoulder a few meters away.

"Is this a friend of yours?" she asked, her voice light but her eyes narrowing.

I didn't answer.

Zhiff did. "Of course," he said smoothly, stepping up beside me, tossing his arm over my shoulder as though he belonged beside me. "Elias and I go way back."

I kept my gaze fixed on the book, jaw tightening. There wasn't even a word in the dictionary to describe whatever he was.

Zhiff took his arm off me and patted my back. He tilted his head, watching me with that snake-like patience of his. "Eli," he murmured, "do you happen to have the time? I seem to have left my watch at home."

I didn't turn. Not even an inch. "I always have the time," I said, voice flat as stone.

Robin blinked, confused.

But Zhiff smiled. That forced polite smile of his.

Without a second to waste, I took my book and walked out. The quiet library doors groaned open as I pushed them, the winter wind slicing into the warm air behind me. I didn't look back.

Not once.

Not even when I felt his stare digging into the back of my neck like a thorn.

The cold slammed into me the moment I stepped outside, sharp and sudden. Snowflakes drifted through the dark air, catching the lamplight in brief glimmers before turning into moisture on my coat. I pulled my collar higher as the door shut behind me.