“All we’re asking is that you try.”
Vern bit his lip. “Well, alright. But I’m telling you, don’t expect anything.”
Vern pulled out his notebook and pencil. At the top of a fresh page, he slowly wroteLiber Autumnus.“Help me find it,” he muttered and closed his eyes.
For several long minutes, nothing happened. His weathered hand rested on the table.
“It’s okay, Vern,” I said, standing up from the table. I was worried he was upset with me for making him try, for confirming what he’d already known.
“You’re still the best damn librarian I’ve ever met,” Max said, when Vern’s eyes rolled back. His pencil started moving quickly across the page. At first, it was just lines; then I realized it was a sketch. Of a building, long columns on either side of a doorway and a sagging roof. Inside the building—a kitchen, living room, then stairs up to bedrooms. Beneath the stairs, an office. A more detailed drawing of the office, showing a small space cluttered with books and posters and a desk with papers all over it.
Vern finished his drawing and opened his eyes. He looked down. “Oh. Now that’s unexpected. Last time I tried this spell, I set fire to the Health Sciences section.”
Max rubbed his chin. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that’s the—”
I swallowed. “The Phi Kat house.”
CHAPTER FORTY
The Book
Max tapped his boot against the floor. “Well, I won’t say I told you so, but …”
I squirmed. I was still doing lessons with Basile, but now it was hard to ignore the mounting evidence that pointed toward him. On the one hand, I felt a responsibility to Dani, to find out what happened to her, to get justice for her. She needed me, like Aaron had. But on the other hand, I still needed Basile. Every day, I got a little closer to the heart of his theory, to the heart of the world of Being.
“We have to tell Dr. Robetresse,” Max said.
“Not yet,” I said, biting my lip.
Max arched an eyebrow.
I had this under control. If I played it smart, I knew there was a way to get the book without making an enemy of Basile. “You haven’t trusted them from the beginning.”
Max arched an eyebrow. “True, but they did hire us to find out what happened to Dani and who’s responsible. And we have.”
“You said it yourself,” I protested. “They’ve been trying to sweep this thing under the rug from the start. If this is one of the books of Magic, they might want it for themselves. You know how valuable these things are.”
“So then what do you propose we do? We need the book. It’s not like we can just mosey on up to Basile and ask him for it.”
“No, we can’t. But I have an idea.”
I drafted probably thirty texts to Basile. In the end, I texted asking if we could meet up.
Cella!he responded quickly.I would love nothing more. Coffee?
Sure. Meet you at the house in a few.
When I got to the house, Basile was dressed impeccably in an airy white shirt, straight, dark jeans, and soft leather shoes. All charm, all smiles. It left a sour taste in my mouth. “Just one sec, I’ll get my keys.”
“Actually, maybe we could talk here? In your office maybe?”
He looked surprised, but recovered quickly. “Of course. Whatever you’d like.”
He walked me through the house, casting a glance at me every few seconds as if to make sure I was still there. When we reached his office, he pulled a small brass key from a key ring.
This time, there were no papers on his desk. No book. It was like another person entirely had moved into the space; this time everything was tidy and neat, discrete math and physics textbooks meticulously stacked in a pile in the corner. Even his pens were lined up in a row.
Something twisted in my stomach.
