The hotel was a labyrinth, and Rui found herself wandering in circles. Mao chittered in her arms.
“Canyoufind him then?”
Mao swished her tail.
Rui set her down, and the cat trotted along the next corridor. They passed a statue of a fair maiden holding a pomegranate. The sculpture was carved in fine marble. It was so lifelike Rui could almost feel the fear in the maiden’s eyes as she tried to escape from the man-beast holding her in his muscular arms.
Mao stopped outside a set of arched doors with brass knockers in the shape of a lion’s head.
“Is he in there?”
Mao slow-blinked.
Rui pushed the doors open, gasping at the sight in front of her.
The indigo ceiling was domed with silver constellations, and floor-to-ceiling bookcases spiraled from the sides to the middle of the room. Light reflected from stained glass windows, casting myriad colors against the walls and floors. A library with a maze of books? Who would have thought?
Entranced, she twirled between the bookshelves, suddenly giddy. The library felt magical in a way that didn’t feel like actual magic—not the kind she used to possess, anyway, or whatever disturbing thing Madam Meng had.Thisfelt like the minutes before dawn, the mystical time when the sky was a mix of soft blue and orange and the day was new.
She skimmed the books with her fingers, feeling the ridges of cloth and paper. Some looked well-loved with bent spines and wrinkled corners, others brand-new. None had titles of any kind. She slipped a bookoff a shelf. There wasn’t a single word in it, and the pages of the next book were empty too. She repeated her experiment on another shelf of books only to find the same thing. Or rather, nothing. Maybe this beautiful library wasn’t a library at all.
Something in the corner caught her eye. A book bound in chestnut-brown leather that showed signs of patina. It was musty-smelling in the way old books were, and when she opened it, shefeltsomething. There were no words, but the pages were alive somehow, like the book was a living creature and its story was being written as she stared at it.
Rui didn’t know why, but it felt like the longer she left the book open, the more things would escape into the world, and something would go wrong. She shut the book quickly and put it back. Madam Meng obviously disliked her. It was best not to give the old lady more reason to hate her by messing up any part of the hotel. Besides, if Mao was right, Zizi was in here somewhere.
Right in the middle of the room, where the shelves spun a full circle, Rui found a huddled figure on the floor.
Zizi was fast asleep, curled up with a hand under one cheek, knees drawn to his chest.
The sketches she had found in his room hurtled fresh into her mind, and her confusion returned tenfold. If that was how he felt about her, how didshefeel about him?
Rui knew she didn’t want anyone. She was perfectly fine being alone. She didn’t wanthim. And yet—
She brushed the tangle of hair off his face and trailed a finger down that dagger of a nose, over the bow of his lips, finally resting her hand on his cheek. Zizi made a soft sound, shifting ever so slightly into her palm.
And in this wordless library, Rui felt her heart stumble and fall.
Zizi’s eyes flickered open.
“You found me,” he said, voice low and husky with sleep.
“Actually, it was Mao who led me here.”
“Sometimes I think Mao is more human than cat.” Zizi stretchedlazily, more cat than boy himself. He propped his head up on his elbow, observing her closely. “Is everything all right?”
“I got mad at you because I hadn’t heard from you for weeks, so I broke into your shophouse,” Rui said, pressing her hands to her face. “Sorry.”
“Is that all?”
Rui peeked between her fingers. The smirk on Zizi’s face told her he wasn’t mad about her trespassing. “You need to fix the button that opens your spell lab. It’s not working. I tried it.”
“That’s because it doesn’t work. It’s just a random button that does absolutely nothing.”
“But you use it every time we go in.”
“My lab is secured by magic,” Zizi said, trying not to laugh. He ducked his head, mumbling, “I’ve been doing the button thing to annoy you.”
“Why?” she said, utterly bewildered.
