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“What do you mean?” Adam asked.

“We couldn’t return without a text, something it wanted. I think that’s why a lot of us never came back. We couldn’t procure a copy of whatever the Archive required. Like I said, it’s a machine, of a sort, and rare books are its fuel.”

“What kind of rare book?” Adam asked. He could feel a prickling sensation at the edge of his Sight, the way it did when something unpleasant but inevitable was headed his way.

“A book of magic, or a history, but nothing you can buy in a shop, at least not any of the normal kind.”

“What about a one-of-a-kind grimoire?”

Jack looked at him with concern, perhaps worried that Adam meant something from RCC’s library.

“I have one. It would get us in.”

“If you want to go, that should do it.” She dug around in her bag until she produced a brass cylinder. “This will get you there.”

It was cold in Adam’s hands. It felt metallic, almost tinny. Little bumps covered it. They were arranged into patterns, a bit like braille.

“How does this help us find the Archive?”

“Resonance,” Jack said excitedly. “It holds the dimensional frequency.”

“Exactly.” The scholar nodded her approval.

“Thank you,” Adam said.

She shrugged.

“Good luck, heroes.”

Jack led Adam away from the pile of books she called a house. The rain strengthened and puddles formed as the ground grew saturated. The guy at the lamppost had noticed them, and he did not look friendly.

“Time to go, I think,” Jack said.

Adam agreed.

Rain pelted the roof and ran off the full gutters like a curtain of water as they took to the porch of one of the houses.

Jack spoke to the front door. It clicked and opened.

They stepped through, back into the supply closet at the college.

Adam passed Jack the cylinder. His eyes lit up and Adam almost joked about him needing his precious.

“How is this going to work?” he asked.

“I’ll trace the resonance to the right location. I’ll need some help, but once I’ve got the coordinates the school should be able to take us there. What’s this book you mentioned?”

“My family’s grimoire. I don’t like giving it up but I’ve scanned and backed it up. It’s ancient but also one of a kind.”

“Are you sure you want to part with it?”

“I can’t think of another way to get into the Archive. Not unless you’ve got something around here . . .”

Jack fell for the bait and took a step back.

“Didn’t think so.”

“Let me ask this another way, are you sure you need this information that badly?”