(Isla)
The library felt different the next morning. Nothing had changed inside it, yet I entered with a question that had followed me through the entire night. Caius remained beside me as we crossed toward the table where the oldest journals had been arranged. Pryor had already opened the curtains for us.
I looked across the books before sitting down. Some had cracked covers, while others were wrapped in cloth to protect pages that had survived for centuries. The journal that had opened for me before rested apart from the others. Caius had placed it there himself before anyone else entered.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
I looked at the closed journal. Part of me wanted to touch it at once and demand every answer it had refused to give us. Another part remembered what happened the last tim
