Clarence's library breathed like a living thing. Paper, dust, old magic, and memory swirled together in layers so thick that Sous could almost taste the centuries. Lantern light glowed along the towering shelves and the polished floors reflected the golden sheen in subtle waves. Every room in Clarence's home felt strange in its own way, but also held a lot of memories for when Sous was here as a child. It actually brought a smile to her face especially when she thought back to when a potion she made blew up Shadow's house.
Still, it held secrets because of all the books it held. And tonight, she planned to tear one out and make it talk.
Clarence already stood at the far end of the main aisle, scanning a scroll that hovered before him. Shelves rose five stories high behind him, crammed with tomes bound in leather, bark, silk, metal, and materials she couldn't name.
"You seem restless," Clarence said without looking up. "Even for you."
Sous ignored the comment and stepped deeper inside. "You told me you still have the first half of Hacate's diary."
"I do."
"So where's the second half?"
Clarence flicked his fingers and the scroll snapped back into its slot, demonstrating a little bit if magic he knew. The vampire turned, robes running against the floor.
"Hidden," he replied. "Naturally."
She suppressed a sigh. "Hidden where?"
"That is the question." He walked past her, trailing his hand along a stack of bound codices. "And possibly the problem."
She followed. "Then we'll solve it."
He hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, we will. But understanding Hacate means respecting her genius. She did not misplace anything. If a text is missing, she intended for it to be missing."
Sous clenched her jaw. "I respect her. I don't respect what she withheld; besides you and her were lovers. You may just be hiding it because of that."
Clarence waved toward the central reading table ignoring her last statment. "Start there. The catalog is laid out."
The catalog wasn't a book but a chain of floating cubes that shifted shape depending on who touched them. Sous approached and placed her palm against the nearest one. It warmed under her skin and immediately unfolded into translucent sheets of light filled with symbols.
Clarence stood beside her. "Search by her personal lock sequence."
Sous tapped through the pages. "Which one? I don't know anything about this. The first diary was just a simple book."
"Try the year she sealed the diary." Sous didn't know that either so Clarence whispered the numbers to her.
Sous entered the pattern she remembered from her research. The cube brightened, then projected a map of the library. Red symbols pulsed in the air.
Most were on the east wing. One, however, sat deeper, beyond the rows she had visited before.
"What's in that section?" Sous asked.
Clarence peered at the map. "Private collections. Not mine. Hacate stored some of her own works here when she still lived in the capital."
Sous stared at the glowing spot. "Then that's where we look."
Clarence nodded and brushed the cube aside. It dissolved into sparks. "Follow me."
They crossed the main floor, winding through columns of shelves that seemed to rearrange themselves subtly as they walked. Clarence tapped several runes embedded in the walls, and each lit up with a gentle flash.
The far corridor opened after a moment of internal grinding. Sous stepped through first.
The private wing was darker. Clarence lifted a lantern and handed it to her. "Some rooms here respond better to you than to me."
She raised a brow. "Why?"
He smiled faintly. "Your magae is sharper. Less polite. Hacate preferred that."
Sous couldn't tell if that was an insult. Probably both.
They walked until they reached a door framed in obsidian. Ancient carvings spiraled along the surface. Sous felt a tug behind her ribs, almost like the echo of someone calling her name.
Clarence saw her expression. "It recognizes you."
"So open it."
"I believe," Clarence said, stepping aside, "that you need to do that yourself."
Sous sighed and she approached, placing her hand on the door. The carvings glowed red, then gold, then softened into a warm pulse. A heavy click sounded and the obsidian shifted inward.
The room beyond was circular, filled with shelves arranged like flower petals around a center pedestal. Sous scanned the nearest shelf.
She moved quickly along the outer edge while Clarence inspected the inner ring.
"Anything?" he asked.
"No." She checked another stack. "This is all early work. Experiments. Observations."
"The second half of the diary would be later," Clarence mused. "After the war. After her disappearance. After the fight and becoming the Alpha of Apex."
Sous stopped at the pedestal in the center. A single book lay closed on it. The room was silent but the book seemed to create a slight song with restrained power.
Clarence noticed her pause. "Careful."
"I know careful," she murmured.
"Do you?"
She ignored him and touched the cover.
The moment she touched it, the room shifted. The shelves darkened. The lantern dimmed. Clarence straightened sharply.
"Sous," he warned.
"It's reacting," she said.
"That doesn't mean it's the diary."
She applied pressure and opened the cover.
Clarence exhaled. "Hacate never made anything obvious."
Sous slammed it shut. "Then where is it?"
Clarence walked around the pedestal, studying the floor. "Maybe the diary isn't missing. Maybe it's split because she wanted two separate readers."
Sous frowned. "Meaning?"
"One half for someone who would see her logic." Clarence tapped his temple.
"Another half for someone who would see her intent."
"And which does she think I am?"
Clarence smiled softly. "Which do you think you are?"
She didn't answer; this was all just too much for her. She just wanted to read the second half. That was all and yet here she was going on and on on some type of game.
The Alpha slammed herself into the wooden chair and huffed, dust jumping into the air as she did so. Clarence saw her exhaustion, but this was how it was with the witch.