Alice Series Box Set by Maria Dean

Author:Maria Dean [Dean, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

Elixir

CHAPTER 1

Astrid Pfeiffer understood why X had made himself at home in the Merriam Park library. For an introvert with a thirst for knowledge, the library was a sanctum. And X was definitely an introvert.

When she was lonely fourteen-year-old, she spent a lot of time in the Wicker Lake Academy's library. It was a year after she'd been ejected from her aunt's home in North Carolina and sent to an ominous boarding school in the Midwestern woods.

Everyone in her year was still awkward and unsure of themselves, meaning no one wanted or had the courage to talk to each other. Astrid relied on books and imaginary friends throughout elementary school. She made herself at home in a library alcove in between the nature and true crime sections. The library was her new safe space, far away from the cluttered turmoil of teenage angst and social anxiety.

Astrid's third visit to Merriam Park was during a busy middle school trip, and she found X hiding out amongst the adult romance stacks.

"They're everywhere," X grumbled when She caught him deep in a steamy vampire novel. "All they do is knock things over and shelve things incorrectly."

The lawyer turned dimension traveler sat on the floor across from him. "Kids are nightmares like that sometimes." She set two piping hot cups of coffee on the ground. Taking one, she picked up a discarded paperback and snorted.

X grabbed the other cup of coffee. "What?" He asked, watching Astrid gloss over the description of the book. "I never took you for an erotica fan."

Astrid shook her head, chuckling to herself as she shelved the book. "Not really. My aunt had way too many of those scattered around her house when I was younger. They scared me more than anything." She paused for a moment. "What are the odds I can get a Saint Paul library card?"

Shrugging, X said, "I don't see why you couldn't. It might be useful when I have documents to give you." There was the other reason they were meeting in the soft-core section. The employee break room was occupied, but Astrid still needed information from X. Her last trip through an Alice portal was the most intense one yet. She needed to figure this magical mess out, now more than ever.

Astrid also had to watch herself. X thought she was on the monster hunter's side. She couldn't let him in on the fact she supported the Russo family.

Maybe support wasn't exactly the right word. There were three Russo brothers vying for her attention, with their younger sister teetering between wanting to kill Astrid and just being mildly annoyed by her presence. Astrid had her reservations about being involved in the family's drama, mostly as it was tearing her understanding of her own family apart. She still wanted to commit herself to helping them. The Russo family forced her out of her comfort zone. Though it felt weird to admit the cousins helped her grow into a new person, Astrid knew for a fact she wasn't the same person she'd been when she first stepped foot in Magdalena's house.

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