LUCY
The crate is heavier than it looks, decades of dust settled into the wood grain, but I manage to drag it out from between two shelves and into the open space at the center of the room, where the torchlight reaches best.
Tavric crouches across from me without being asked, already lifting books out two and three at a time, stacking them by size rather than subject, which makes me want to laugh despite everything.
"There's a system to this," I tell him.
"There's a system to everything, if you look hard enough." He doesn't glance up. "Doesn't mean it's a good one."
Amara and Jaxl drag over two of the low desks, positioning them so we have somewhere to actually spread things out rather than crouching over a crate like scavengers. Jaxl produces a second torch from somewhere and wedges it into an empty sconce near the desks, doubling our light, and for a moment the four of us just stand there, surveying the small mountain of books now piled in front of us.
