Curse the Dark (The Harstone Legacy Book 1)

Chapter 18

"She really does not want me in this library, does she?" I said after getting in the car with Tilda. Isobel had insisted on separate cars and, at this point, I wasn't willing to argue with her.

Tilda grimaced. "It isn't anything against you so much. Isobel has been the coven librarian for pretty much her whole life. Letting a non-coven member into our library is just not done. It was bad enough that you attended the meeting last night. Isobel's a stickler for the rules, and ever since you walked into town, the rules seem to have gone out the window."

Considering I'd been kidnapped, I was pretty sure the rules went out the window before I'd been dragged into this town.

"Why did Isobel say that it was bad enough that you were being allowed into the library?"

Tilda smiled tightly. "Oh, I've never been in there. Only certain witches may enter the library. Isobel has complete control, and she requires extensive testing of a witch before they are permitted to access that information. It takes a lot of study, and I still have a way to go before I'm qualified."

I sighed as I looked out of the window and watched the buildings of Walker Bay passing by. I'd always thought that governing bodies that limited information to the masses were a bad thing. Seems I was having my world view challenged in more than one way.

I was surprised when we left the town and then turned down a dirt track that headed straight through the middle of a large overgrown forest. "I thought we were going to the library."

"We are," said Tilda.

"Wouldn't it be more useful for the library to be in the town, where the people are?"

Tilda smiled. "The public library with normal books is in town, but the coven library is different. Witch magic works best in nature. Too many buildings and the trappings of modern life can sometimes cause a distraction which can lead to unintended consequences, so the coven library is in a cave in the forest."

"Wait a minute, I just spent all morning hearing how dangerous these books can be and how burning some of them was considered an acceptable practice. Now you're telling me that the coven is fine with leaving them in a cave in the forest, completely unprotected."

"I wouldn't say they're unprotected," Tilda said with a smug smile as she parked the car next to Isobel.

I looked around as I got out of the car. "Okay, I can't see it."

Tilda pointed behind me. I saw a large timber door with words and symbols burnt into it. Isobel put her hand on the door and pushed. The symbols seemed to flare, and the heavy wooden door swung open to a massive room that looked like it had been carved out of rock. Okay, that was impressive. Tilda and I followed Isobel and Margot through the door.

"I can't believe there is such a large cave here."

Tilda grinned. "This forest is riddled with caves and they seem to hold some power. We used to have a couple of hermits who lived up in some of the smaller caves, and they swore that their magic was amplified out here."

I could believe that.

As we walked further into the cave, the first thing we saw were walls of shelves lining the two sides of the room, laden with books. They looked old and worn. I had never seen a collection quite like this. I walked along the shelves peering up at the hundreds of books, my fingers itching to touch them. They were all different sizes and shapes. Their binding varied from one book to the next. There was no mass production happening here. Each of these books looked like they had been created by hand.

"This is amazing," I gasped.

Margot laughed. "I forgot, you're a librarian, aren't you? This must be like striking the mother lode."