Page 67 of Veil of Night & Flames

She tilts her head and stares me down. “Because if there’s not a book, there’s probably not an answer. And then we’re really screwed.”

“Right,” I say. So there’s definitely a book. How do we find it? Goodwill? Half Price Books? NASA’s secret Funky Physics library?”

She just shakes her head in a poor, confused you kind of way. “We’ve already got a secret weapon,” she says. “Griffin’s got a zillion books, and he must know all sorts of Hunters who’ve stumbled over others. Plus, he gave me a list of the really rare ones he wants to read but doesn’t have access to. I figure we start with the list.”

“You just said he doesn’t have access.”

She grins, then waggles her eyebrows. “He doesn’t,” she says, pulling out her phone. “But you do.” She taps out a message, and an instant later, my phone chimes. “I just sent you the list.”

“Hello? Do you remember me freaking out on that research paper I had to write? I am so not research girl.”

“You are now.”

“Me? Why?”

“Nightmare Realm library.”

“Oh,” I grimace, but she’s right. If what we need is in the library, I probably am the only one who can get it. Me or Adric, that is.

With a resigned sigh, I open the file, then stare at the list of titles that are even stranger than Mr. Griffin’s loopy handwriting.

Liminal Architecture in the Post-Sundering Age

The Drakkenfeld Codex.

A Treatise Upon the Veil

I look up. “What is a codex, anyway?” I ask, and Tia just shakes her head.

“Those are the English titles, obviously, but Griffin says the actual books could be in another language. Possibly Latin. But also possibly some language nobody in the Real’s ever heard of.”

“Great,” I say. “I’ve always wanted to go on a scavenger hunt for books in a language I don’t know. Because, you know, the fun.”

“Oh,” she adds. “I forgot to add another one you need to look for. Riley and I need it. The Book of something-or-other that translates to The Book of the Threshold. Latin from around the sixteenth century, I think. Apparently, the original was burned, but at least a few copies are floating around.”

“Hopefully I can find one.”

“Fingers crossed,” Tia says. Because if you can’t find it, you may have to cozy up to Sebastian Vance. We ran across a few references that suggest the Oneiroi have one of the copies.

I grimace, then cross my fingers that my uncle’s favorite library is as awesome as he thinks.

“When are you going?” she asks.

“Tonight,” I say. I’m going to go over to Chase’s place, then I’ll leave from there. I’ll come back as soon as I’ve found what’s on your list. And after I see Uncle Finn and Adric,” I add, because those are pretty much a given.

“If you see anything else that sounds like it’s about barriers or keystones, bring it back.” She frowns. “Actually, can you bring them back? Won’t they change character coming to the Real?”

I frown. She may be right. “In that case, I’ll bring them back into the closet.”

“Great. Riley and Griff can camp out there and set up a workspace on the sand.”

I roll my eyes. “I’ll get Adric to move the liminal space to the Griffin’s Nest. But only if we need him to.”

Her mouth twitches.

I cross my arms

She stares at me.