He curled his lips up and stroked his face as if he wore a mustache that was most obviously not there. “The three smalls? Let’s say twenty. There are many of them out there, nothing special about them.”

Fair enough. “Okay, that’s doable.” I paused in handing over the twenty. “What about that one, there? The one with the red leather?”

He turned to look at it. “That big one, that one is expensive. One of a kind, written by a great woman. I bought it when she died. Mind you, you’d never need another book.”

Shortly after Himself had forged his way to the deed of her house, he’d sold everything he could right out from under me. You see, I wasn’t making up the bit about him being like a demon. The bastard was all about greed and selfishness.

“That one . . . fifteen hundred.” He put his hand on it. “One of a kind, I can only sell it once.”

I rocked back on my heels. “It’s special to you? Did you know her?”

His face was thoughtful before he answered. “She was a friend. Much knowledge is in there.” His pudgy fingers gripped it a little tighter and for just a second he narrowed his eyes at me, but it happened so fast, I’m not sure if I was seeing things or not.

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said. “Half the price, and I’ll let you come and read it if you’re stuck on something. I’ll lend it to you.”

“Half price? That is not a deal for me.”

I shrugged. “How many people are going to let you have a look at it when you need it?”

His eyes narrowed and I could see the wheels turning with what I’d said. “Twelve-fifty.”

I grimaced and turned partially away, paused and looked over my shoulder. “Eight-fifty.”

His hand stroked the cover. “My bottom would be eleven hundred.”

My guts twisted up because that was a lot of money still, but I knew it would be worth it for Gran’s book. That was the book she’d trained me from, in which she’d taken notes, journaled . . . everything. Everything she knew about the shadow world was in there.

It was the closest I’d come to getting her back.

I made another face and tried to think of something I could offer him besides money. “What about . . . eight hundred”—I held up a hand as he spluttered, understandable seeing as I’d gone down with the amount— “and a favor once I’m all trained up.”

His eyes lit up. “A favor?”

I nodded. “Once I’m trained. One job that falls under my training, free of charge.”

“Eight hundred and one favor,” he said. “That’s still a deal for you.”