East Side Freedom Library Novels & Stories

You don't know when it'll be there again. Old habits. The east corridor was longer than I remembered from my first exploration. I walked it slowly. No rushing. No performing casualness. Just walking the way I used to walk Stone City's quieter streets in the early morning. Like I belonged there. Like the space was mine. Two guards trailed me at a distance that was close enough to matter but far enough to feel like freedom. It wasn't freedom. But it was the shape of it. The library was at the far end. Double doors. Dark wood. I pushed them open and stepped inside.

I kept my stride controlled, not fast, not slow. I found the library easily. It was on the east wall, just like Morrison said, with tall windows. * * *

Get ready for me! As soon as I hit send, the driver pulled up to a stop. A beautiful villa came into view, the one Chandler and I had bought with the money we saved up together when we got married. This house didn't belong to the Armstrongs, nor to my family, the Elledges—it belonged to the two of us. All our sweetest memories were made here. I raised my phone, thinking Chandler would be ecstatic. But after a few minutes, he only replied with a question mark and then asked, [Are you serious?]

Isolde's mother gave Zara the address at two in the afternoon, after the disclosure had been filed and the panel had received it and Justice Osei had sent a message confirming receipt with the specific quality of a woman who had stopped being surprised by what the morning produced and was simply processing each development with the efficiency her role required. The library's name was the Crestmoor Reading Foundation, which was the kind of name that communicated civic virtue without inviting scrutiny. It had a public face reading programs, community lending, a respectable website with photographs of children and books and the warm institutional aesthetic of genuine cultural contribution. The

Ezra told himself this was just the project. Nothing more. He'd repeated it enough times on the bus ride over that it almost sounded true. The library on Fifth Street was quiet the way it always was on Saturdays .... a few old men reading newspapers, a mother trying to keep her toddler from pulling books off the shelves. Ezra had been coming here since he was a kid. It felt strange, bringing Jace Ryland into it. Like letting something ugly into the one place that had never hurt him.

_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> She had heard Rhen mention it two days ago. A journal. Restricted section of the east library. Pre-academy techniques that nobody teaches anymore. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> She dressed up early and went to find it. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> The east library's lower floor was accessed through a door that looked serious and wasn't. She eased it open and went down. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Cold air. Two high windows. Shelves on every wall are packed with old volumes nobody has touched in years. She moved along them quickly, running her eyes across spines, looking for something that didn't fit.

That way, I'll know how to stop them. After a long search, which consists of me opening and closing all cabinets multiple times, I hit the jackpot. Right on top of his table is a file named “East Side Projects.” I open it and quickly scan through. My eyes land on a date: 23/01/25. That must be the date for the demolition. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoes from outside. Lorenzo is coming. Shit.

One entrance going to the library is through a bridge that connects it to the castle. It looks like a kid at heart designed it. The roof is made of an open book, and the edges are the spine of the book. There is also a waiting area outside which are just stone benches that are made to look like stacks of books. It is so amazing that I almost forgot the reason why I am here at two in the morning. I am thirty minutes late though because Theo is being such a workaholic that after the party, he still worked on some documents, before hitting the bed.

"No, Alpha. She was not in her room when I got here. A junior Servant said she saw her walk to the library " I paused, letting the maid’s words settle. The library. Of course. A tired breath left my chest as I looked toward the far hallway. The library sat at the very end of the east wing. A perfect place for Elena… and a terrible place for my peace of mind. She could stay in there for hours without noticing she was starving. “Go,” I told the maid quietly. “You can retire for the night.” She bowed and hurried off. I stood there for a moment longer, rubbing the back of my neck. My muscles were stiff from the long hours at the border, but somehow, thinking about Elena ignoring dinner made me f