I stop short.
The book isn't where I left it.
I check the room, search frantically between the sheets, under the bed, in the drawers. Nothing. It's disappeared.
I leave the room and plant myself in front of Colt and Cherie, who exchange a knowing look.
“Have you lost something?”
“My book,” I growl, putting my hands on my hips and trying to keep the air around me still. “A big book, old, with symbols on the cover. Have you seen it?”
Colt and Cherie look at each other again and smile.
“What the fuck have you done?” I yell, though I'm not sure I want to hear the answer.
Colt scratches the back of his neck, a gesture he always makes when he's nervous.
“I sold it, Nell,” he admits. “To a collector downtown.”
“You did what?” The air in the room now stirs violently, making some papers fly. “How the hell did it occur to you to sell it?”
“It was just an old book!” he defends himself, pulling a wad of bills from his pocket. “And they gave us a lot of money for it. I thought you'd be happy. I can't believe they paid so well for a book you weren't going to read.”
I look at the bills as if they were a snake, and a panic attack floods through me. That book was my guide, the only way to understand my powers, to prepare myself for what's coming.
“You're a fucking moron. Who did you sell it to?” I bark, trying to control myself so there's no accident.
“To some guy named Anders Pearshield,” he responds, shrugging and extending the money toward me. “He has an antique bookstore on Washington Street. Damn, you should thank me for all the money I got.”
“I have to go,” I announce without even looking at him.
“You just got here.”
“I know. It's urgent,” I insist, heading toward the door.
“Nell...”
I leave the apartment before they can stop me. Panic accelerates my pulse as I go down the stairs two at a time. Without that book, I'm lost. Without that book, I can't complete my training. Without that book, I could fail the mission and condemn Colt and the others to jail.
But there's something else, something that terrifies me even more than failure. When Kaelisar finds out I've lost a unique book... I prefer not to think about what will happen.
Chapter 15
Nell
As soon as I enter Anders Pearshield's shop, the doorbell announces my presence.
It smells like old paper, leather, and a light touch of incense that I suppose is trying to mask some persistent stench. Maybe mold... or mouse droppings. Who knows? Shelves full of old books rise to the ceiling, some tilting dangerously under the weight of centuries of accumulated knowledge.
The book must be here. Somewhere. My book. My only chance to understand this magic that stirs under my skin like a caged animal.
An old man emerges from the shadows at the back of the store, and his hunched figure casts an almost grotesque silhouette against the wall. He has white and sparse hair, but his eyes are penetrating, too bright, and full of life.
“Good afternoon,” he greets with a surprisingly deep voice. “Looking for something in particular? You don't seem like the typical antique book collector.”
Instinctively, I clench my fists inside my jacket pockets, and the air around me stirs slightly, making the pages of an open book on the counter flutter.
“I'm searching for a book my friend sold this morning by mistake,” I respond, fixing my gaze on him. “Big, leather-bound, with strange symbols on the cover.”
