Page 86 of The Last Syphon

Crouching, Felix aligned the items. “Once we decide on a day, we make our way from our room to the librarium. It remains open to the public from dawn until dusk.” He began to move them down a pathway at a slow, unhurried pace. “Once we make it out of this building, we have to go back into the main palace, which connects to the librarium on the left.”

“What are these…things?” she asked, pointing to a drawing.

“Those are the guards. They are stationed every twenty feet or so from the main palace to the librarium.”

She looked him up and down, brows creased. The drawings did not look like people. From what she could figure out, he’d drawn two lines for legs, one line for a body, two lines for arms, and a circle for the head. Every one had a different hairstyle, some with curls, others with long hair, and some with what Inara could only guess was a bun atop their head.

“Wait a second. If there are guards stationed between the main palace and the librarium, how are we supposed to get into it?”

“We don’t have to sneak past them. Like I said, the space is open to the public. Now, the Head Venerable’s chambers are another matter entirely.” He moved Dragon Felix and Potato Inara to the librarium. It was a big building—several floors, from what Inara could make out, lined with countless books and scrolls. “It is located on the very top floor within the building, and that is not open to the public. We have two options. We can either attempt to sneak in—which, after my surveillance of the area, would be very difficult to achieve—or we can request to see him.”

“Request to see him?” she repeated, studying the drawing intently.

“Mmhmm.” He moved Potato Inara to the top floor. “Here’s my plan. You request to see him about some matter we’ll come up with later. I go in first, you wait outside, and when the door closes, I sing.”

Ah. Interesting idea.

“Would you be able to keep it going long enough for me to get a look around and find the book? Without the layout, I’ll be flying blind.”

He nodded, determination steeling his bones. “I can do it.”

Felix’s power was amazing, but it came with flaws, much like every ability. He could sing anyone and anything to slumber, but it came with rules. One, it took about thirty seconds for the magic in the notes to take hold and the drowsiness to take effect on the recipient. And two, he had to continue singing. Otherwise, they would wake. The longer Felix sang, the more power he used, and the weaker he would become. From memory, the longest he’d been able to do it for was three minutes.

Is three minutes enough time?

“I can see your mind turning.” Felix cocked his head. “What are you thinking?”

Inara grabbed the zipper on her knee-high boots and pulled it down before kicking it off and doing the same thing to the other. She folded her legs underneath her. “It’s a great idea, but I think we need a clearer picture of what the Head Venerable chambers look like. We don’t have the time to waste searching within it to find the book. We need that time to break into whatever vault it is hiding in.”

“You think it’s in a vault?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but it’s better to plan for it than not.” Inara and Felix were quite skilled at breaking into vaults and secure safes. There was yet a lock they’d encountered that they could not open, but like many great things, it took time—time they didn’t necessarily have here.

Felix inclined his head in agreement. “True. Okay, how about this? We pay a visit to the librarium, wander its hallowed halls, slowly make our way up to the Head Venerable’s chambers, and request to see him. Once we’re inside, we’ll do a quick sweep to locate the vault, and then we come back in a few days to do the same thing. But this time, we steal the book.”

Inara couldn’t see a fault in that plan. “Okay.” She nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Fantastic!” Felix clapped once. “Now, tell me all about your day with the prince. Was it exciting? Did you witness the almighty destruction of his devastating powers?”

She snorted. “No. I wish.”

Inara told him all about her day, including the conversation she’d overheard upon arriving at Prince Walder’s bedchamber. Felix had an abundance of harsh and violent words to use in conjunction with Larissa, which Inara found quite humourous. Her best friend had such a way with words. There was no denying, however, the sliver of fear and worry she’d glimpsed in his brown eyes. He would never say it, but Inara knew he was worried about the woman finding out her secret.

Inara was worried about it, too. However, much like Felix, she didn’t want to freak him out with her concerns.

After catching up on her day, Inara quickly switched the subject to him, asking him what he had gotten up to, and she was not at all surprised to hear what he had to say. On top of scoping out the layout for the palace, he’d been testing his skills as a thief, introducing himself to passersbys with a shake of the hand while subtly stealing a bracelet or necklace with the other. He always returned it within the same interaction. It was more about the thrill of the steal than the actual theft itself.

“I saw what’s her face while I was out and about doing my sleuthing.”

Inara licked the last of the gravy off her fingertips. The chicken she’d just consumed had to be about the best thing she’d ever tasted. Felix, the opportunist he was, snagged a few dinner plates worth of food, and had taken them up to her bedchamber so he could snack whenever the desire called.

“Larissa?” she asked.

Felix clicked his fingers. “That’s the one. She was not happy. She was following around one of those High Council guys. The dickish one.”

“Lord Villani?”

“Yeah. Him.” He finished his apple and threw the core in the trash clear across the room. “I don’t like that they’re paired together.”