Dead To Me

Co

“Don’t forget your bat.”

22

Co

All because of Cyrus Mandalay.

Despite the tattoo down the entire left side of his face, his dreads, his sharklike teeth, and imposing figure, Cyrus had always portrayed himself as a good guy-an advocate of reading and responsible arcane usage-and we had believed him. He wassupposed to be on our side. If Cyrus was somehow tied to Irene’s death or had dealings with the Sectarians without telling us…

It sat like a bad taste in my mouth.

We stopped in front of the bookshop, and I spied Cyrus through the front window. I was surprised to see that rather than wandering casually into the store and then cornering Cyrus, Co

I saw Cyrus’s eyes widen through the main window at the sight of a charging Co

A crowd of kids stood in the teen-friendly section across from the registers, but they were pointing toward the back of the store down an aisle where a stack of books had recently been knocked over. Unheard of at Tome, Sweet Tome.

Co

“Cyrus!” he shouted as he ran through the Stacks. “Don’t make me chase you! I really don’t need this exercise, and when I catch you, I’m only going to be more pissed off!”

I paused by the confused-looking teens and smiled. “Stay here. Don’t come any farther into the store.” Another thunderous cascade of books rang out and several of the kids jumped. One of them looked like he was about to throw up. “On second thought, it might be safer if you just cleared out all together. Catch a movie or something. Go start a gang.”

Slinging my bat over one shoulder, I started down the aisle, slowing occasionally to make my way past several of the literary avalanches. My progress slowed even further as I stopped to check out two stu

“Good luck with that,” I offered, and sped off.

“Simon!” Co

As I rounded the corner of the next bookcase, I could see why. Cyrus stood just inside the gate of the Black Stacks with Co

Cyrus slammed the gate hard against Co

I closed the distance with five bounding steps and swung the bat, aiming for Cyrus on the other side of the gate. I got lucky on the downswing and the bat passed effortlessly between the bars, catching Cyrus on his right shoulder. He stumbled back, and Co

With Co

“It’s not what you think, gents,” he said.

There was panic in his eyes, and it felt good to see it. I flicked the bat at his exposed knuckles where he held the gate closed and he flinched.

“I bet it’s exactly what we think,” I shouted.

I flicked the bat again, and this time it cracked fully against Cyrus’s right hand, causing him to let his grip on the gate go entirely. He grabbed another section of it, but he looked scared.

Co

“Relax, kid,” Co

Cyrus laughed as he slowly backed away. “Do you really think I built the Stacks with onlyone means of exit?”

“Crap on toast!” Co

It was near impossible to open the gate as they struggled through the bars of it. They twisted and pulled at each other through the bars, each of them jockeying for an advantage. With neither man willing to relent, it was the cloth of Cyrus’s shirt that ended up giving way first. There was a tearing sound and both men stumbled back from the gate, finally giving me an opportunity. I threw open the gate, nearly smacking Co

As I closed in on him, Cyrus stumbled farther back into the Stacks. He gri

“Black Stacks…attack!” he shouted and turned, ru

Before I had a chance to take another step, the bookshelves erupted. They shook as books flew recklessly through the air across the aisles. I couldn’t even inch forward, could only watch as Cyrus disappeared down the aisle. Co

“We’ve got to keep after him,” Co

“How?” I shouted over the growing flutter of pages and heavily thumping tomes. “We’ll never make it through all this.”

“We have to try,” he said, and then gri

Co

“Let’s see what you can do,” he said. “Fetch, kid.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think I can divine anything off this.”

Co

I didn’t get a chance to argue further. Before I could say that it was probably a useless exercise, Co

Between the piles of scattered twitching books on the floor and the occasional ones targeting me as they leapt from the shelves, it was slow going. Several volumes gnawed at my ankles, biting like a pack of rabid Chihuahuas, but with only paper teeth, they were more a nuisance than any real threat.

I caught up to Co