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encouragement to say what was on her mind. 
    “There’s something I need you to do for me. I’m sorry I haven’t done it sooner. It’s probably going to be a little awkward for you, considering how you feel about things. Well, I guess it will be. I really don’t know how you feel because you never really talk to me.”
    “Kalista,” Rhane gently interrupted. “What is it?”
    She lifted a very large book out of her messenger bag. “Could you return this to the library for me? I sorta got Max and Orrin to make a scene sneaking it out, so it would probably be better if someone else took it back.” She bit her lip. The gesture made Rhane want to give her a real kiss goodbye.
    He held his hand out to receive the large volume. For a moment, he simply stared at the cover. It was a record of every nefarious figure throughout history renowned for cruelties against humanity. “ Темные Лорды ,” he read to himself and then translated aloud, “ Dark Lords .”
    “So, you speak Chinese and Russian.”
    “I’ve been around for a while.” Rhane ran a finger across the worn leather. “It leaves plenty of time to learn new things.”
    The book smelled of age and secrets. Rhane recognized many faces that leapt out from the yellowed pages as he flipped through. Few of them were truly human. He stopped on the reproduction of a crude painting that was meant to be him, the green-eyed warrior of the plains, sitting astride Megiddo. An awesome sight to behold and even better to ride, the horse had been one of his most faithful soldiers. Rhane’s eyes flicked over the print quickly. History saw him as a traitor and a murderer. It was true.
    Kalista cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.” 
    “It’s alright.” He remembered her mentioning the book some time ago. “Tell me again how you knew what was written here.”
    “I-I took it to a bookstore. There was someone there who knew the language.”
    Dread nipped at his gut. “Someone there could read this?”
    “Yes.”
    “What was his name?”
    “It was a she. Her name was Lara. Red hair. Oddly pretty. Way creepy.”
    “Where’s this store, Kalista? What’s it called?”
    “Clever Dust Booksellers. Is something wrong?” A shadow of fear crossed her face.
    Rhane shook his head and told himself to lighten up. “Sorry. Nothing’s wrong. I can take care of this for you.” When her expression didn’t change, he mustered up his most reassuring smile. “Really, it is nothing.”
    Accepting that, she turned and hurried off to class. He watched her until she disappeared into the building. Why had he just lied? It was far from nothing. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Chapter 8
     
    Rhane flipped the book over. The stamped signature was definitely less than a hundred years old, probably put there within the last decade. He squinted and took a closer look. The ink was much fresher. “Property of Aiken County.” Huh.
    Stopping at a red light, Rhane turned right onto a one way street that led to the county library and found a space. Swinging his long legs out of the truck, he grabbed the book from the seat but stopped when a slip of paper fluttered from the worn pages. He caught the slip mid-air. It was a receipt for the Wok and Roll restaurant, the place where he and Kali had their first date. An address and phone number were scrawled on the back. Rhane pocketed the piece of paper. He wasn’t a fan of coincidences.
    He climbed back inside the pickup to reexamine the volume. Opening the front cover, he ran his fingers down the hinge and across the endsheets. Then he flipped to the back and repeated the process. Something was amiss. The feel against the pastedown was slightly different. He bent the covers backward until the old joints gave in. They seemed more than ready to do so, tired of guarding their secret after so many years. Peeling away the endsheet revealed a piece of parchment bound in the same leather as the quarter-million