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Jacob Stone read in the darnedest of places.
Eve figured it must have something to do with being a genius art historian who got into bar fights for fun — that combination of hyperactive brain and restless body that led to him sprawling out with his research on the stairs, or propping a priceless, dusty tome on a narrow railing on the landing. Today he'd gone for standing at one of the tables in the reading room, legs in an awkward, half-runner's stretch while he braced his hands on either side of the book.
It was the first time in two weeks she'd caught him alone, which meant it was finally time to confront the elephant in the room: that tattoo. And more importantly, the fact that he'd hidden it from them all.
"Stone," she said, tone falling automatically into her no nonsense Colonel voice. He flinched and she winced inwardly, making sure her "we need to talk" came out more gently.
Stone turned, tucking his right arm behind him as she approached. Just like he had in Shangri-La, presumably right after the Monkey King had bestowed his 'gift'. "Baird." He didn't offer his forearm for a bump, hadn't in ages. Of course, the arm he usually offered was the one he was currently trying to pretend didn't exist. Still, Eve missed their little handshake. "What about?"
"That." Eve nodded to his tucked away arm and watched him pale faintly. "Stone, why did you hide your tattoo from us?"
Stone blinked, an expression strangely like surprise crossing his face before it darkened into a frown. "Seriously?"
"Damn right seriously." Eve took a step closer. Stone bristled. "We're a team, Stone. And we can't work effectively as one if you're keeping secrets."
"If — if I'm keeping —" Stone gestured wildly between them, arm no longer hidden, though she noticed he was wearing his sleeves long and pulled down again. "You really want to lecture about keeping secrets from the team right now?"
Eve wasn't an idiot. She'd seen this coming. Of all the Librarians, she'd known Stone would take her apparent defection to DOSA the most personally. She'd just also hoped he'd grasp the need for that secrecy faster. "Yes, I of all people." She raised her hands to forestall Stone's righteous argument, telegraphed by the way his hands twitched to start flailing again. "Look, I'll admit it wasn't my best plan ever. But my top priority was keeping you, Jones, and Cassandra all safe, and that meant keeping you in the dark for awhile. And trusting you all to find Jenkins and take care of things on that end. I know trust isn't easy for you; lord knows Cassandra wouldn't shut up about it when we all first started working together. But by now, I'd like to think we've all more than earned it. That includes letting me know when things with you have gone . . . weird."
Stone had gone still, which Eve took as a good sign, though his mouth was still pressed into a hard line. "You give Cass this same speech after her whole 'I'm gonna go fight vampires instead of fix my tumor' thing?"
Eve nodded. "A version of it, yeah. Pretty sure Jenkins did too. And Jones. And you know what? After her surgery? She talked to me. About her gift and how it had changed. How those changes scared her. And we've been working — together — to figure those changes out."
Stone just looked at her for a moment, then turned back to his book, his shoulders locked up tight. "Yeah well. Cass wanted her gift."
Eve moved to stand next to him, on the side away from the tattoo. He'd started favoring that side since Shangri-La, and she was already pushing his boundaries hard enough. "Not at first she didn't. You know that as well as any of us. You were the one who helped her start controlling it in the first place."
Stone let out a soft chuff through his cheeks, like a big cat at the zoo. "Oh yeah, I was great at that. Stole her freakin' diary and found out her off switch. Just like a true friend."
Eve hadn't thought about it that way before. She'd seen it as a sign Stone cared, that he was warming back up to Cassandra. She wondered if it had maybe been a bit of both, worry for a friend and concern about finding a way to stop her if she went rogue again. "Pretty sure she was just glad you managed to talk her down. Kinda wish we had one of those for Flynn, sometimes." It was a cheap shot, but it got the beginnings of a smile out of him, so Eve counted it as a win. "Look. I get that you were embarrassed. You've been saying for ages that we shouldn't be using magic so much and here you are with your own . . . magic . . . thing."
That hint of a smile went cold. Stone shook his head. "This ain't about me being embarassed."
"Alright, scared then." Eve blinked, watching his expression, then let out a low whistle. "Make that terrified. Stone — Jake. When did magic get so scary for you? You were so excited when you first found out about it. Like a little kid." Stone pushed back from the table and turned around, folding his arms over his chest. But he didn't walk away. "Was it in Collins Falls? Or — that job with the shapeshifter and your father." He wouldn't look at her, and she couldn't read the answer in his face, so she stopped guessing. "Are you worried about having your own 'off switch'?"
A small tremor ran through Stone's shoulders and, at length, he slowly shook his head. Eve kept quiet and waited. After another slow, measured breath, he reached for his wrist, pushing his silver bracelet aside and unbuttoning his cuff. He had the sleeve rolled up past his elbow in a few quick, practiced jerks, revealing the whole stretch of tanned and marked skin. The large space in the middle had been empty the last time she'd seen it, just smaller lines of sigils circling his forearm near his wrist and elbow remaining, but the large central sigil was back, faded to a dark blue instead of black and blurry at the edges, the way old tattoos sometimes got.
"Souls don't just appear outta thin air," he said, tracing the center sigil with his thumb, then rubbing as though he could wipe it off. "Everything I've been readin' says so. What I gave Apep — it was a piece of me. And then we turned right around and killed him."
Eve couldn't deny any of that. "You saved Flynn," she said softly. "You saved the world."
"I know," Stone said sharply, and refolded his arms. "And — I'd probably do it again. I'll probably have to. But —" When he looked back up at Eve, there was a sheen in his eyes, not quite tears. More desolate than that. "Is that all I got? I been tearing off pieces of myself longer'n — my whole life. For my dad. My friends. I got here, I thought finally. A place I get to be whole. But facin' down Apep, I didn't hesitate. After, I thought maybe that was it, one and done, but." He unfolded his arms just enough to rub his thumb over the sigil again. "It's been fading back in. Almost — recharged or whatever. All set to deliver the next piece of Jacob Stone."
Eve nodded slowly, giving that the weight and consideration it was due. She looked down at the book Stone had been reading. It was in Chinese. Of course. She straightened and turned around, leaning back against the table so they were both facing the same way again. "Well," she said. "Then you definitely should have told me. Jenkins goes on and on about how I'm supposed to be guarding your all's souls."
Stone blinked, then scowled. "Baird."
Eve flashed him a sardonic smile. "Look," she said. "You helped fix the Monkey King's soul after it was corrupted, right? That's the reason he gave you this thing?"
Stone nodded warily.
"Well, there you go. Souls can be restored. Maybe that thing fading back in isn't the spell recharging. Maybe it's you."
Stone shook his head, getting agitated again. She counted that as a good sign — it was when he was still that she worried. "It's still, like. A direct line to my soul. Almost literally on my sleeve. What's to keep the next nasty we come across from takin' advantage of that, huh?"
"Me," Eve said. She bumped her shoulder against his. "Your Guardian. Plus Jenkins, Cassandra, Flynn. . . . Maybe Jones will even pitch in if you're really lucky." Stone snorted at that one, glancing at her with his usual cheerful expression before remembering he was supposed to be angry. Eve straightened. "So," she said. "No more secrets?"
Stone swallowed, glancing down at his arm. "Yeah," he said, voice full of gravel, then cleared his throat and tried again. "Yeah. No more secrets."
Eve clapped him on the shoulder and pushed away from the table. "Great. Enjoy the rest of your dusty Chinese tome then." She smiled at him until he smiled back, then headed off, back towards the office to see about finding Jenkins.
Stone was still keeping something back. She supposed she had to expect that. You didn't go from trusting no one at all to opening up about everything overnight — or even, apparently, over the course of three years. That just meant, as a Guardian, she had her work cut out for her. It was a good thing she had a Caretaker and a few good other Librarians on hand to help out as well.
Whether Stone liked it or not.