From just inside the hidden grating that led into the Lunae Libri, I could see all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. Marian sat behind the circular reception desk, exactly where I knew she would be. Liv was pacing at the far end of the room, where the stacks began.
As we came down into the Lunae Libri, Liv’s neck snapped up. She bolted across the room the moment she saw John.
But he was faster. John ripped, materializing in Liv’s path and gathering her up in his arms. My heart broke a little as I watched the relief spread across her face. I tried not to feel envious.
“You’re all right!” Liv threw her arms around John’s neck. She pulled back, her expression changing. “What were you thinking? How many times are you going to sneak off to do something completely insane?” Liv turned her scowl on Link and me. “And how many times are you going to let him?”
Link raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, we weren’t even there the last time.”
John leaned his forehead against hers. “He’s right. I’m the one you should be angry with.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know what I would have done—”
“I’m okay.”
Link puffed his chest out. “Thanks to me.”
“It’s true,” John said. “My protégée saved our asses.”
Link raised an eyebrow. “That better mean somethin’ good.”
Uncle Macon cleared his throat and adjusted a cuff of his crisp white shirt. “It does indeed, Mr. Lincoln. It does indeed.”
Arms crossed, Marian stepped out from behind the desk. “Would someone like to tell me exactly what happened tonight?” She stared at my uncle expectantly. “Liv and I have been worried sick.”
He glared at me. “As you can imagine, their little showdown with my brother and Abraham did not go according to plan. And Mr. Breed almost met an untimely end.”
“But Uncle M saved the day.” Ridley didn’t even try to hide her sarcasm. “He gave Hunting a sunburn where the sun don’t shine. Now let’s get on with the part where you give us a big lecture and we all get grounded.”
Marian turned to my uncle. “Is she implying—?”
Uncle Macon nodded. “Hunting is no longer with us.”
“Abraham’s dead, too,” John added.
Marian stared at Uncle Macon as if he had just parted the Red Sea. “You killed Abraham Ravenwood?”
Link cleared his throat loudly, grinning. “No, ma’am. I did.”
For a moment Marian was speechless. “I think I need to sit down,” she said, her knees beginning to buckle. John rushed behind the desk to get her a chair.
Marian pressed her fingers against her temples. “You’re telling me that Hunting and Abraham are dead?”
“That would be correct,” Uncle Macon said.
Marian shook her head. “Anything else?”
“Just this, Aunt Marian.” Ethan’s nickname for her just slipped out before I realized it. I dropped The Book of Moons on the polished wood tabletop next to her.
Liv inhaled sharply. “Oh my God.”
I stared down at the worn black leather, embossed with a crescent moon, and the weight of the moment closed in on me. My hands shook, and my legs felt like they were about to give out, too.
“I can’t believe it.” Marian inspected the book suspiciously, as if I were returning a late library book into her system. She would never be anything less than 100 percent librarian.
“It’s the real deal.” Ridley leaned against one of the marble columns.
Marian stood up in front of her desk as if trying to position herself between Ridley and the most dangerous book in the Mortal and Caster worlds. “Ridley, I don’t think you belong in here.”