A tiny trail of blood drops.
REDLETTER
SUYIN SAT UP STRAIGHT, FOLLOWING THE BLOOD DROPSwith her gaze until they disappeared into the smoky gloom. They seemed to lead toward the far wall of bookshelves.
She stood and followed the trail. It led her all the way to the back of the room, stopping in the center of a long line of towering shelves.
She scanned the books, first peering at her own height and then crouching down and looking lower. And then, using the shelves like the rungs of a ladder, she climbed up a couple of rows and scanned the books there too. Nothing jumped out at her.
As she was climbing down, she saw it.
A tiny piece of paper, stuck to the side of a nondescript book spine. The paper said,Suyin.
Her heart leapt into her throat, and she stared at the book. At the top of the spine was a very small sigil that could have just been a decoration on the cover.
But she didn’t think it was.
Jumping off the shelves, she pulled out the knife holstered at her hip and used the sharp tip to prick her finger. Then, sheathing the blade, she climbed back up the shelves and pressed the drop of blood into the sigil.
Immediately, the entire shelf lurched.
With a yelp, she tightened her grip on the shelves, and only her quick reflexes kept her from toppling onto her back.
The entire shelf unlatched and shifted open.A hidden door.Of course there was a hidden door in here. Why was she even surprised?
She jumped off the shelves again, sucked the blood off her fingertip, and then gripped the edge of the big shelf and hauled it the rest of the way open. It was stiff and took a lot of strength, but she finally pulled it wide enough to slip through.
It was pitch-black inside, so she pulled out her phone and switched on the flashlight. Her battery was precariously low though it had been fully charged before she left. Unsurprising—hellgate travel always messed with electronics, and being in Hell probably did too.
The light illuminated a small table with a big stack of books, maybe a dozen or more. There wasn’t much space in here for more, and she figured it was more of a hiding place for valuables than any kind of room.
The books were old grimoires, their covers worn and faded. On top was a folded piece of paper. Holding her phone up with one hand, she smoothed it open with the other, her heart racing when she saw her name at the top, written in Murmur’s familiar scrawl.
Suyin,
The contents of my library are yours. I can think of no other I would give them to. What that says about me, I’m not sure I don’t care. Take whatever you want, but the books in this stackare the most valuable in my collection. I want you to have them. Left here, they will fall into unworthy hands.
I couldn’t do it. I guess it doesn’t matter why anymore.
She read and reread the note several times, each time trying to convince herself it didn’t mean what she thought it meant. But each time, she only grew more certain it did. Her heart sank deeper and deeper until it felt like it plummeted out the bottom of her.
She picked up her stack of books and slipped out of the dark room, using her back to push the door shut. Placing the books and her note carefully on Murmur’s desk, she approached his still form. She moved slowly as if dreading what she was going to find, though she already knew what it would be.
He hadn’t moved. His wounds hadn’t closed. He wasn’t healing and regenerating.
“Why?” she whispered, staring at his features. Demons couldn’t die without hellfire. It couldn’t be possible.
I couldn’t do it.He was talking about the mark.
“I don’t forgive you,” she tried to whisper, but the words caught in her throat.
A banging on the library doors startled her, and her head snapped up.
“Master!” a muffled voice shouted.
Her eyes widened. Murmur’s subjects couldn’t know he was … indisposed. She was certain any kind of weakness would send the entire castle into a frenzy. And then there were the fires on the plains.
“Master, the defense wards are down, and the legions draw closer! I know we’re not to disturb you, but we must know what to do.”
