Kael stared at the image of the door for far too long.
Not because he expected it to disappear. After everything that had happened with the previous eight projects, he had learned not to count on that kind of mercy. The problem was much simpler: he knew that door. During his earlier visits to the First Archive's domain, he had passed it at least three times. Always closed, perfectly white, without a handle, inscription, or any sign distinguishing it from the infinite walls around it. Kael had assumed it was simply part of the architecture.
Now it was open.
And there was shadow behind it.
Umbra was the first to approach the page.
"It isn't mine."
"I figured."
"It also isn't an ordinary absence of light."
Kael looked at her.
"You can feel it through the page?"
"A little."
Her shadow advanced across the floor of the Courtyard of Statues, climbed the side of the table, and touched the edge of the paper. The instant it reached the image of the door, it recoiled.
