20
We repaired to Judith’s flat, and though it was crowded the mood was joyful. Bee and Sage sat beside each other near the fire while Caius hovered over where I sat at the table like a mother hen over her chick. Judith was in the kitchen while Gina sat near me, her brow furrowed in thought.
“You don’t look too happy,” I told her.
She shook her head. “I was just thinking about your plan to go to the library and find the checkout cards. That may not be possible, nor even practical.”
I tilted my head to one side. “Why not?”
“The library experienced a fire some five hundred years ago that destroyed many of the records, and the checkout cards weren’t spared,” she explained. “And then there is the matter of timing you’ve overlooked.”
“The book being published and the poison being gi
