Chapter 5“I was about to put out a locator-spell for you.”
Theo, just through the doors of the library, paused at this greeting. Hair terribly windblown from both a rather unfortunately blustery day and his haste to get here, he ran fingers through it to make himself presentable again. He was relieved to see that the greeting came from Padmini Patel, who smiled at him from over the pile of books in her arms. On most days, Theo came to work fully aware of who he’d be working with that day. Today, he’d been distracted by rolled up sleeves and soapy hands and kind attempts to be helpful, so he’d forgotten, and was glad to find Padmini here.
She was tall and slim, her skin an ocher color, a mellow-brown like the light that bathed the fields in Brighton during the summer evenings. Her long eb
