At once, the air changed-quieter, colder, filled with the scent of dust and candle wax. The heavy oak doors fell shut behind her with a weighty thud that echoed through the cavernous room.

Shelves rose like dark battlements, towering above her, crammed with tomes whose spines glinted dully in the half-light. Shadows stretched between them like clawed fingers, swallowing corners and stairwells.

Her false smile faltered the moment she was alone.

She pressed a palm against her middle, steadying ...