“No, I thought the library was open to visitors. At least, long ago it was.”
“Long ago? How do you know that? Talk to me.”
But he doesn’t reply.
“Are you talking to your book again?” Ardruna asks.
“I told you, his name is Olm.”
“It’s hard to treat him as a person,” Ardruna says, “when I can’t see him, much less hear him. Olm, can’t you… manifest or something? So I can see you?”
“Are you asking me to exit the book?” Olm asks.
“Exit the book? Not sure that’s a good idea.” I think of the ghostly form he’d taken out on the plains and shiver. “How will I convince him to get back inside afterward?”
Ardruna produces a ‘pfft’ sound. Kind of dismissive. “Sorry, I thought he was your friend.”
“It’s a book I found in the city, lying on the ground,” I say. “A dangerous book.”
“Don’t you like me?” Olm whispers. “I thought we were friends.”
“Are we?” I demand. “Why won’t you tell me what’s in your book?”
“That’s for your own protection.”
“So you are the one blurring the pages,” I whisper. “You know what’s inside. You lied about it and you’re still lying. All you want is to protect yourself.”
“And what if I do?” he says shrilly. “Who will look out for us except for ourselves?”
“That’s sad,” I whisper.
“But it’s the truth.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Olm. Either you tell me the truth, or I let Roane bind you and chain you.”
The book suddenly starts shaking in my hands. It bulges grotesquely, the leather-bound cover cracking.
“Don’t!” I hiss. “Don’t you dare, Olm!”
The book groans and writhes, bulging in different places, and I think I see a face on the cover, a male face, appearing and then fading away again.
“Give me that book,” Ardruna growls, “and I’ll take it to Roane. We’ll bind it so fast it won’t know what hit it.”
I’m trembling, drenched in sweat. I don’t know how much more I can take. These past few days are taking their toll. “No.”
“Why are you still holding onto it?”
“I have…” I swallow hard. “I have this feeling that it might prove important.”
“In what way?”
“It has answers.”
“Really.” Another growl. “And what are the questions?”
“This world,” I whisper. “What’s wrong with this world? Something’s off about it.”
Ardruna stares at me, her blue eyes luminous. “Oh, girl. You have barely just arrived. How would you know if anything were amiss?”
