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Max let out an ear-piercing bark, protesting the lack of walking. The bark was enough to break the painting’s hold on Alice.

“Okay, Max, just a moment,” Alice said as she glanced down at Max.

She turned back to the painting, examining a gold-plated sign inlaid on to the base of the elegant, dark wood frame. Alice read over the words about the stranger in the painting.

Madeline Sinclair

Founder of Newbury Grove

Donated by the Sinclair-Grove Library

Ravens Hallow, OH

Library? Library! Ez’s library.

“Come on, Max,” Alice said as she charged down the path, now pulling Max along. “We need to get back. We’re going for a little trip.”

Max bolted forward in front of Alice at the promise of going on a trip.

Chapter 2

Secret Public Library

“Someone told me there were dog barks coming from my library. I should have known it was you,” Esmerelda Honeydew said as she entered her darkened library. “You know they make ladders now. You didn’t have to fly up there.”

Alice sat sidesaddle on top of Guinevere’s brown leather seat, with her legs crossed. They hovered close to the top of the towering bookcases. A few candles hovered around her. Their flames flickered on the pages of the leather-bound book placed on her lap. She tore herself away from the book and glanced down at her friend. “I prefer this way. I can move around better.”

Max sprinted around the corner of a bookcase to greet her friend. The long hairs of the playful golden retriever’s tail waved high in the air like a flag. She held her toy cauldron in her mouth. Max gave two squeezes of the squeaker as a greeting.

Ez patted the rambunctious dog on the head. “Nice to see you too, good buddy. Is Alice treating you okay?” she asked.

Max sat down and wagged her tail aggressively across the hardwood flooring.

“I’ll take it as a yes,” Ez added. She turned her attention back to Alice. “You could use a little more light.”

Ez snapped her fingers. The candlesticks around the library roared to life. Vintage lamps hung from the ceiling, pushing pushed back against the darkness with their yellowish-orange glow. The colorful leather spines of ancient tomes worn with age rested on the shelves of the floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookcases. The ceiling reached two stories high. A rail system connected multiple bookcases with a ladder reaching to the top.

“Kiddo, you look like hell,” Ez said.

Alice ran her hand through her frizzy hair. A few purple strands fell in front of her face. Her eyes were strained and weary as they readjusted from reading the ancient text. Dark bags lingered under her eyes. Her normally bubbly personality was tempered with the weight of a soul on her shoulders. The restless nights had ravaged her appearance and drained her soul.

“She won’t let me sleep,” Alice replied in a monotone.

“I hope you’re not talking about my good buddy here.” Ez patted Max once again.

“No, my reflection. She’s like an alarm clock. Every six . . . five . . . four hours. Two. She yells at me to get up and get back to work. I’m going to have to start sleeping on the couch. Or in the wine cellar. Oh, I reconnected our magical rooms again, by the way.”

“I figured.”

“I hope you don’t mind. I thought since the Savinos were gone, it didn’t matter anymore. It’ll save us both on gas money.” Alice flipped the page of her book, once again searching through the ancient lore for the answers she sought.

“So, what are you doing here?” Ez asked.

“Reading.”

“Yes, but why are you here?”

Alice drooped her shoulders. She rotated her neck back and forth to alleviate the strain from being hunched over. “You knowwhat I’m doing. I’m going to be late on the next shipment. I’m a little . . . preoccupied.”