It was exactly the way Link had described the creature that attacked him the night Obidias Trueblood died. But what Link had encountered wasn’t an animal. It was a man, or something that had been a man once—driven crazy as his body was mutated and tortured.

I felt sick.

The walls of the Far Keep were hiding more than The Caster Chronicles.

“I don’t have a choice. If I don’t destroy the page, I can’t get back home.” I could almost see his mind spinning. “There has to be a Cast—something in The Book of Stars or one of your books that could help me.”

Xavier whipped around, pointing a broken finger inches from my face. “I would never let anyone touch one of my books or use them to Cast! Have you learned nothing here?”

I backed up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll find another way, but I still have to get inside.”

Everything about his demeanor had changed when I suggested using a Cast. “You still have nothing to offer. I can’t show you the Gates unless you give me something in return.”

“Are you serious?” But I could tell from his expression that he was. “What the hell do you want?”

“The Book of Moons,” he said without hesitation. “You know where it is. That’s my price.”

“It’s in the Mortal realm. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m dead. And by the way, Abraham Ravenwood has it. He’s not what you’d call a nice guy.” I was beginning to think that getting past the Gates was going to be the hardest part of finding my way home, if it was even possible.

Xavier started moving toward the slit in the rock that led back to the outside. “I think we both know there are ways around that. If you want to get through the Gates, bring me The Book of Moons.”

“Even if I could get it, why would I give you the most powerful book in the Caster world?” I practically shouted. “How do I know you won’t use it to do something terrible?”

His unnaturally large eyes widened. “What could be more terrible than how I am standing before you now? Is there something worse than watching your body betray you? Feeling your bones break as you move? Do you think I can risk the trade the Book might choose to make?”

He was right. You couldn’t get something from The Book of Moons without giving something in return. We’d all learned that, the hard way. The other Ethan Wate. Genevieve. Macon and Amma and Lena and me. The Book made the choice.

“You could change your mind. People get desperate.” I couldn’t believe I was lecturing a desperate man about desperation.

Xavier turned to face me, his body already partially hidden in shadow. “Because I know what it is capable of—what it could do in the hands of men like Angelus—I would never speak a word from that book. And I would be sure it never left this room, so no one else could either.”

He was telling the truth.

Xavier was terrified of magic, Light or Dark.

It had destroyed him in the worst possible way. He didn’t want to Cast or wield supernatural power. If anything, he wanted to protect himself and others from that kind of power. If there was anywhere The Book of Moons would be safe, it was here—safer than in the Lunae Libri or some other faraway Caster library. Safer than hidden in the depths of Ravenwood or buried in Genevieve’s grave. No one would ever find it here.

That was when I decided I was going to give it to him.

There was only one problem.

I had to figure out how to get it away from Abraham Ravenwood first.

I looked at Xavier.

“How many powerful objects would you say you’ve got in this room, Xavier?”

“It doesn’t matter. I told you—they’re not to be used.”

I smiled. “What if I were to tell you I could get you The Book of Moons, but I’d need your help? Your help, and the help of a few of your treasures?”

He made a strange expression, twisting his uneven mouth from one side to the other. I really, really hoped it was a smile.

CHAPTER 18

Shadows

How I get there isn’t as important as getting there.” I said it for the fifth time.

“To this Land of the Stars and Stripes?” he asked.

“Yeah. Well, kinda. The office anyway. On Main.”

He nodded. “Ah, the Mainlands. Is that past the Swamp of the Coolers?”

“The swamp coolers? Yeah. More or less.” I sighed.

I tried to explain my plan to Xavier. I wasn’t sure when he had been in the Mortal world last, but whenever it was, it was way before swamp coolers and newspapers. Which was kind of funny, given how much he liked lunch boxes, vinyl records, and sweets.

I picked up another ancient book, opening it to a cloud of dust and possibility—and uncertainty. I was frustrated, and sitting on the floor surrounded by Caster Scrolls in the middle of this strange creature’s cave made me feel as if I was back working in the Gatlin County Library on the first day of my summer break.

I tried to think. There had to be something we could do. “What about Traveling? Can Waywards use Casts that pertain to an Incubus?”

Xavier shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

I leaned back against a stack of books. I was close to giving up. Once again, if Link was here, he’d lecture me about being the Aquaman of the Caster world.

“A dead Aquaman,” I said to myself.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing,” I muttered.

“A dead man?” he asked.