If there was a “top ten places to have an existential crisis,” the Everfrost library was quickly climbing the list.
I slipped in after breakfast, still smelling faintly like whatever flower Soren had tucked behind my ear, and made a beeline for the stone bowl near the entrance. The water inside flickered with tiny lights like constellations.
“Okay,” I told it. “Round two. This time we’re asking the big question: am I ever going home, or do I need to start forwarding my mail here?”
The bowl did not respond, because of course it didn’t. Magical artifacts never cooperate with sarcasm.
I tapped the surface and thought, Solstice Door. Return. Home.
Lights sparked and shot off between the shelves. I followed, dodging ladders and feeling like I was in a very niche escape room.
The lights st
