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Mrs. Reid never left curtains open. Not after lunch. I crossed the room and pulled it closed. The fabric brushed softly through my fingers.

Nothing.

I smiled to myself.

You’re imagining things.

I turned away.

Stopped.

A single book lay in the center of the library floor.

My stomach tightened.

It shouldn’t have been there.

I looked around the room. Every shelf stood exactly as I remembered. Every chair. Every table. Every shadow.

Just…

One book.

I walked toward it slowly. My pulse had started climbing before I even reached it.

I crouched.

Turned it over.

Then froze…

Phantom of the Opera.

My fingers tightened around the cover.

No.

I opened the cover to the inscription.

This is where your attention belongs.

This wasn’t just any copy.

It was mine.

The one that Alaric had given me.

A cold shiver rolled through me.

The one I’d left on the dresser beside my bed before I walked out this morning.

I looked instinctively toward the study.

It was the nearest room.

The only place someone could’ve walked through before entering the library.

“Hello?”