We know Euna is a night owl, so we decide to check her office first. It’s a small room on the third level, walled off by glass from the rest of the library, where she keeps special artifacts and manuscripts and her current research. But she isn’t there when we arrive, and no candle burns inside. The room doesn’t look like it’s been used for hours.

Instead, we hurry to the head librarian’s living quarters. We knock on Euna’s heavy door, but no one answers.

Do you think she’s sleeping? Sebastian thinks.

Doubtful. I haven’t seen her retire early once since we’ve been here.

Maybe her research took her to a different part of the stacks than usual tonight?

I consider. Maybe. Let’s try once more first.

We knock again, louder this time. Two minutes pass and still no answer.

I’ve done my best to keep my talent to myself while we’ve been here. I know most people don’t appreciate it when someone else glimpses their innermost thoughts. But a sudden fear grabs me, and I must know. Something seems odd about the situation.

I let my talent loose, sending it under the door and searching the room for Euna’s thoughts or dreams if she’s asleep.

Instead, I find nothing at all.

My talent searches the other sleeping quarters nearby; again no Euna, only her fellow librarians.

I grab Sebastian’s shoulder, my fingers digging into his skin. “She isn’t here. Something isn’t right.”

Sebastian tries to stay positive. “Maybe she went to the kitchens for a snack? We were headed there anyway after here. Might as well check.”

I breathe deeply. “Yes, you’re right. There’s probably a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

But uneasiness coils in my gut, twisting my innards into disarray. The awful feeling tiptoes behind us, all the way down the stairs to the lower levels of the great building where the kitchen sits. Sebastian opens the door, the warm smells of roasted chicken and freshly baked bread enveloping us.

The cook waves when we enter. “I was wondering if you two would come by.” This isn’t the first night we have ventured down here late like this, though usually it’s also with Maeve. The cook pushes a couple of plates toward us and gestures to the chairs by the fire. “Come, eat. Too many researchers get faint from spending all day in the stacks and forgetting to eat a crumb.”

We gladly do as she says. The food is delicious, but I barely taste it. All I can think about is the head librarian.

“Have you seen Euna this evening?” I ask the cook while she finishes cleaning up.

“Not since dinner, no. She retired to her chambers, I imagine.”

My leg bounces up and down, sending stray bits of chicken from my plate into the fire.

I don’t like this, I think to Sebastian.

He manages to keep his composure. Me neither.

We have to find her.

We finish our food and quickly head out. Too often, it’s difficult for me to focus on a single thought for long, yet fear seems to be the one thing that keeps my focus sharp and all-consuming. My breath is ragged as we snake through the halls of the library fortress. Sebastian grabs my hand and squeezes. That makes me feel a little better, and I know it comforts him too.