Ashes and Wands - Thomas Shelby Fanfiction
Birmingham Central Library, 1930
The hush of the library was not the sort Tommy Shelby was used to. It wasn't the thick, reverent quiet of a church or the loaded silence of a negotiation. It was clean-almost sacred. He walked between tall oak shelves, cigarette tucked behind his ear, and the click of his polished shoes against the floorboards was the only rebellion in the air.
He was looking for a record-land deeds, something clerical. Boring, Ada had said. Tommy didn't believe in boring. Every detail had a price, even the dull ones.
A voice broke the silence before he saw her.
"You can't smoke in here."
He turned.
She stood beneath a hanging lamp, holding a book with one finger marking her place. Dark eyes-sharp, assessing-met his with the steadiness of someone who had already measured him and found him lacking in something. Or perhaps too full of something else.
"I'm not smoking," he replied, deadpan. "Yet."
She raised an eyebrow. "Intent counts."
Tommy allowed a hint of a smile. "Does it now?"
The librarian stepped forward, slipping the book into the crook of her arm. Black hair, neatly pinned, a charcoal blouse tucked into a high-waisted skirt. Elegant. Efficient. Watchful. She looked like she belonged here-among dusty knowledge and forgotten truths.
"Do you need assistance," she asked, "or are you just here to test the building's flammability?"
"I'm looking for land records," he said. "Early acquisitions. 1918, Birmingham South."
Her eyes narrowed, just a fraction. "That section's restricted."
"Tell your supervisor I'm Thomas Shelby."
She didn't flinch. "I am the supervisor."
And then, something shifted. A flicker-not in her expression, but in the air between them. Magic, maybe. A pulse of something not seen, but felt. Tommy's instincts didn't know the word for it. But they knew the smell of power.
