Leaving my boots under the clawfoot bathtub, I snuck down the hallway to Isaac's study, knowing its location from a previous visit here. The night everything had gone to hell.

But I'd climbed out of hell before, hadn't I? I could do it again. And this time I had a war to win.

Slipping inside his office, I flicked on a penlight, half-covering the beam to mute the light. The room smelled faintly of a peppery spice. Search as I might, there were no architectural oddities ...