Hours must go by. I look for a glimpse of the sky, but this room doesn’t have a single window.

“There has to be a way to restore magic once lost,” I say, setting aside the last stack of books I’ve still yet to open. I grab the next one from the pile, which looks oddly familiar. “I think it takes magic to access magic. That makes sense, right?” I glance at Bri, but she’s about to chew her lip off, screwing one side of her Reflecto-whatever she calls it.

“Are you listening?”

A spring bounces from her fingers and she slaps the ground. “Ugh!”

“Bri?”

“I’m listening.”

“What’s the last thing I said?”

“Last thing you said was ‘Bri.’ ”

I toss a pillow at her head. “Seriously, there has to be something here. Help me.”

She sighs and lugs a book onto her lap. I’m almost sure it’s one I looked through before, but having her do something makes me feel like we’re getting somewhere. I read another few pages, careful to sit with each word. Maybe there’s something I’m missing? Some underlying meaning or interpretation that’s flying over my head? Bri’s red frames are pressed to her face and she squints, flipping a page, scanning, then flipping another.

“Are you seriously reading that fast or just looking at the pictures?”

“Is that a joke?”

“I’m just saying, like… look carefully… you know?”

She folds the cover closed with a huge sigh. “Rue, I’ve looked through all of these books at least twice.” She reaches for her gadget, but I narrow my eyes and she turns her attention back to the book.

“Look, the only helpful thing I’ve found is there.” She points at the pages parted in front of me.

I’ve flipped through this one ten times at least and keep coming back to the section on Magical Malfunction. That’s the closest section on any sort of magic loss.

“This doesn’t say anything about losing magic. It’s only if it doesn’t work.”

“Exactly.” She smooths down her flyaways and tugs her gadget back in front of her. “I hate to say it, but this looks like a dead end. Best we can hope for is…” She grunts. “Me getting this stupid thing to…” Another grunt and a blue light flickers on. “YES! Would you look at that?” She holds in my face a metal something that looks like a banana and an iPad had a baby.

“You don’t look impressed. Rue, be impressed.”

I sigh.

“Rue, this Refractor can trace magic from miles away. Not only that, it works underground and it can source where the magic came from like… magical fingerprints.” Her expression is as bright as the sun. “This is going to help us!”