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But over time, after their return home from New York City, the Rachel part of her would become quieter and quieter, more and more dismayed at what was happening. After a while it would recede, and eventually it would be locked away somewhere inside.

The pain took her over. The pain lived in Rachel’s body.

And it remembered about the books, the books that had created it. And it coveted them.

Part 7

Beginnings and Endings

The Fox Library

In the Fox Library, everything was dark and insubstantial, colorless in a way that made Cassie recall what she had seen in her despair. They stood in silence, a group of shadows in a dark space, as the shape that was Drummond once again threw a page of the Book of Shadows out into the day. And then color flooded in on them, just as it had the last time Cassie had visited the library. The Fox Library was no longer the Shadow House, but a real, solid building sitting on a hillside in the northwest Scottish Highlands.

“Wow!” Izzy gasped.

They followed Drummond out into the courtyard in front of the house, crunching on the gravel. Unlike Cassie’s previous visit to the Fox Library, the sky overhead was blue and clear, the sunlight golden and warm despite the chill in the wind.

“It’s so nice to breathe fresh air,” Azaki murmured, squinting into the day. “Air that doesn’t smell like old furniture.”

“Where are we?” Izzy asked, so Drummond told her.

They stood in front of the house for a few moments, just enjoying the air and the silence. Lund stood off to one side, the Book of Safety in his hand. Cassie nudged Izzy and nodded toward the large man. Izzy walked over to him and held his arm.

“How are you?” she asked.

“Still okay,” he said. “I think.”

The Book of Safety appeared to have halted the progress of whatever injury the bullet had caused Lund, but they didn’t know if it was a permanent fix or not. Back in the ballroom Drummond had said, “I have something that might be able to help properly. In the library.”

So Cassie had opened a door and all of them had stepped through into the shadows.

Now in the daylight, in front of the house, Cassie looked down to the far end of the lawn and she saw another deer there, watching her just like the last time. Or maybe it was the same deer. Then a second deer appeared beside it, chewing lazily as it observed them.

“Look,” Cassie said to Izzy, pointing to the deer.

Izzy’s face lit up when she saw them. “Bambi!”

“How about a drink?” Drummond asked. “Somewhere comfortable?”

“Oh yes, please,” Azaki said. “Something with a bit of kick.”

They walked back into the house and through the hallway, Azaki murmuring in delight when he saw the bookshelves that lined the walls. They trooped up the stairs, past the tall stained-glass window, and then Drummond led them into the main library.

To Cassie the room felt even grander than it had during her previous visit. Perhaps it was the soft golden sunlight stretching in from the bay window, but the room seemed larger, the comfortable chairs more inviting.

“Home again,” Drummond said, his words a sigh of satisfaction.

He stood awkwardly for a moment, watching as everyone found a seat to sit in or a windowsill to lean on.

“This is an amazing house!” Izzy said, sitting on the arm of the chair that Lund had dropped into. “You own all of this?” she asked.

“He owns the mountains,” Cassie said, leaning against the window and gazing out toward the loch to the west of the house.

“And all these books,” Azaki said. He was sitting in the chair opposite Lund, picking through the pile of books on the low coffee table. “I assume.”

“This is like your dream home, Cassie,” Izzy said. “All these books.No roommate to bug you.” She smiled at her tease and Cassie pulled a face back at her. Cassie’s and Drummond’s eyes met, and then they both looked away at the same time.

“It is beautiful here,” Azaki said, craning his neck to take in the view from the window. He jumped up and walked over to stand next to Cassie, gazing out at the day. There was something about the light that reminded Cassie of liquid gold. The whole glen was washed in it, the mountains and the loch.