Of course, that would mean leaving my friends behind. And Solantha itself, which I loved despite the city’s flaws. The shifter community was still in shambles after the war between the Mages Guild and the Resistance. Someone had to bridge the gap between mages and shifters if there were going to be any kind of peace between us. I was starting to think that the thankless job would fall on me, since I didn’t see anyone else stepping up. But not today. Today, I needed to finish putting together all the pieces of who I was. And that meant finding out the identity of my father.

“Good morning, Miss Baine.” Janta’s, dulcet tones drew me away from my thoughts. I turned to see her coming toward me, the front-desk librarian in tow. Unlike the last time I saw her, she wore the same grey robes with the book emblem as the other librarians. Hers were hemmed in silver at the throat, wrists and collar, marking her higher position. The outfit went very well with her silver hair, which she wore twisted into an elegant knot near the top of her head, and the silver spectacles perched on her straight nose. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Good morning, Miss Urama.” I smiled, genuinely happy to see her. I didn’t know her very well yet, but she was on the gradually expanding list of mages who treated me like a real person. “I was hoping you could help me with another research project.”

“Certainly.” A hint of worry entered her pale blue eyes. “Is it something to do with the Resistance?”

“No.” I hesitated, not sure it was wise to say more when I knew that at least some of the other mages were listening. “It’s regarding a personal matter. Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

“Of course. Right this way.”

Janta disappeared between the bookshelves, and I followed. She led me down several rows, to a glass-partitioned section of the library. A sign across the door said ‘restricted area’. She pulled a key from her belt and unlocked the door, then stepped back to let me through first.

“Why is this place restricted?” I asked as she guided me to one of the tables. Other than the partition, this part of the library looked exactly the same as the rest.

“Many of the books on these shelves are very old and rare. We keep them back here to protect them,” Janta said as she sat down across from me. “Besides, some texts contain forbidden or extremely dangerous spells, and they can only be checked out with special permission.”