There was only one long shallow drawer, where Fairy had gotten the paper to copy the map. He slid it open, but inside there was nothing more than parchment, pens, and wax for sealing documents. No wonder it hadn’t been locked. Still, considering what had been in the captain’s quarters of Prince Gin’s ship—detailed warrior profiles and a list of the ryuu’s targets—Daemon had expected something less mundane than stationery here.

The truly important things were probably concealed. But after checking the drawer for a false bottom—there wasn’t one—Daemon abandoned the desk to search the rest of the study.

He turned his attention to the bookcase, because Prince Gin had mentioned research when he spoke to Zomuri. This could take a while, and that was time Daemon didn’t have. He would have to flip through the books quickly, checking for hidden compartments inside them, as well as in the bookcase itself. He began on the lowest shelf.

The first book felt heavy in his hands, and he eagerly opened it, thinking there might be something inside. But it turned out to be rather ordinary, albeit with very thick pages, which accounted for its weight.

He moved on to the next one, which also proved to be nothing special. As did the next and the next and the next.

Three shelves later, Daemon rubbed at a cramp in his neck. He glanced over at Fairy, who was halfway through her sketch. They’d need to leave as soon as she finished. Taiga training had taught them to get in and out as fast as possible, because every minute increased the risk of being caught. Daemon and Fairy had already been in the study for half an hour. They were courting disaster.

He needed to go about the books in a different way. Daemon shifted into wolf form and drifted upward, peering at each level of shelves, scanning the spines for titles that sounded significant or books that looked particularly worn, and poking at the back wall of the bookshelf in case there were hidden panels. But he found none.

The last shelf at the top of the bookcase was just the size of a cubbyhole, dark because of its size. Daemon flew a little closer.

Aha! Inside, flush against the wall, was a stack of three books. He hauled them into his paws and flew to the ground with them.

Once in boy form, Daemon inspected them, and his stomach flipped. These were books about old legends; Zomuri had taunted Prince Gin about needing to read them. One of the books was The Book of Sorrow, the third volume from the Kichonan Tales by Sora’s mother. The spine was creased to breaking, and the book fell open to the oft-read fable of the Evermore.