Of Sorcery and Snow by Shelby Bach Page B

EASers, at the human world the Canon believed safe.
    And so she did.
    And when her piper and her general delivered the stolen children to her palace, she watched the terrified young wake from the piper’s song and smiled at her good work.
    Miriam flapped the page uselessly. The rest was blank. “That’s it? Stupid book. It’s my Tale, isn’t it? Why doesn’t it mention me?”
    She sniffed hard. I hovered near her shoulder, trying to decide if I should give her a hug or not.
    Chase went in for distraction, his number-one tactic for dealing with someone about to cry. “Okay, admit it: Who’s a little freaked out after that fun trip into the mind of the Snow Queen?” He raised a hand and peered at Lena, who was still kneeling beside the cabinet, swaying slightly. “Lena, ’fess up—I can see you wobbling from here.”
    Lena didn’t even look at us. “I found the map of Portland.”
    She didn’t ask the question again, but we all thought it: Are we still going?
    Paper crinkled as Lena carefully returned the maps to their drawers. Chase and I watched Miriam blink hard at the current volume.
    While we waited, the book added a few more lines. No one read them out loud.
    This, Miriam Chen-Moore knew.
    Safe in the library, surrounded by books and allies, she asked herself what her brother would do, if she had been stolen in his place.
    Then the door burst open.
    We froze. Well, except for Lena, who covered her eyes, probably trying to shield herself from the librarian’s look of betrayal.
    But it was just Kyle again. Gulping down mouthfuls of air, he slammed the door behind him.
    â€œThey saw through the illusion?” Lena whispered.
    He shook his head. “You tripped an alarm. I overheard Rumpelstiltskin tell the Director. They’re coming.”
    â€œWe need to get out of here,” I said, because I was a master of the obvious.
    â€œNot that way,” Kyle said, pointing to the door. “They were literally a few steps behind me. Connor bumped into Rumpelstiltskin and knocked him over to buy us time—”
    â€œIs he okay?” Lena said, and Chase shot her an exasperated look.
    â€œâ€”but they’ll see us if we go to the courtyard,” Kyle finished.
    â€œThe back way, then.” Beside the map cabinet, Chase pushed aside a curtain and pulled a case of tools from his jacket pocket, pretending to pick the lock while he muttered the Fey spell. I closed the current volume, trying to position it exactly the way we found it.
    Lena kept returning maps to their drawers. She was the only person I knew who could be frantic and slow at the same time.
    â€œBingo.” Chase pushed. The door tried to swing closed and lock automatically, so he had to brace it open. Beyond was a corridor with a beanstalk mosaic inlaid on the floor and cast-iron fixtures on the wall. Torchlight flickered across his face. “Let’s go.”
    Nobody had to tell Kyle twice. He darted through so quickly that I wondered if he shared Lena’s feelings about breaking rules. Lena and Miriam weren’t far behind.
    I walked backward, scanning the room for anything out of place as I went. There. Miriam’s handbag thing—she’d left it right beside the book, where any suspicious librarian or Director could find it.
    â€œRory,” Chase grunted when I changed directions and snagged the purse. He was losing the battle with the door. It pushed him back, making his shoes squeak against the floor. He had to use his foot as a doorstop and his arm as a crowbar, just to keep it open.
    â€œSorry!” I whispered, waving the purse as an excuse.
    Then the front entrance flew open.
    â€œStop!” the Director called. “We have seen you! Students are not permitted in the library.”
    I squeezed under Chase’s arm. Something fell out of my hair.
    â€œRapunzel’s comb!” I turned back to pick it up, but Chase grabbed