Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

When he reached the room above he could hear voices coming from the front of the shop. Unable to make out what they were saying, he headed in that direction, keeping one hand resting on the bookshelves. At the end of the aisle he hesitantly stepped out into the room, no longer having anything solid to hold on to, and as he did, the voices fell silent. Pau was sitting in the armchair behind the counter with his arms crossed. Katherina was sitting on top of the counter dangling her legs and Iversen was standing in front of the cash register with his back turned.

Iversen turned to face Jon and said something to him. His concerned voice followed Jon as he went over to the door and yanked it open with a violent tug.

Outside he greedily breathed in the cold evening air, but he didn't stop until he reached a street light that he could hold on to. The cold metal felt particularly reassuring.

'Jon, can you hear me?'

Iversen's voice finally reached Jon, who nodded slowly, as if in a trance.

'Are you okay?'

'Dizzy,' Jon managed to stammer.

'Come back inside,' Iversen said earnestly. 'You can sit down.'

Jon shook his head violently.

'Thanks,' Jon groaned.

'How about some water?' said Katherina, handing him a cup.

Reluctantly Jon removed one hand from the street light and reached for the cup, emptying it in one gulp.

'Thanks.'

'I'll get some more,' said Katherina, taking the cup from him and disappearing.

Iversen placed his hand on Jon's shoulder. 'What happened in there, Jon?' he asked with concern.

Jon took in a couple of deep breaths. The water and the fresh air had done their job and he was already feeling better.

'Stress,' he replied, looking at the ground. 'It's just stress.'

Iversen studied him. 'As if that makes it any better,' he said, annoyed. 'Come back inside where you can rest.'

'No,' exclaimed Jon. 'I mean, no thanks, Iversen.' He raised his head and looked into the old man's eyes. They were shining with both worry and suspicion. 'The only thing I need right now is to go home and get some sleep.'

Katherina returned with more water, and he drank half of it under the scrutiny of the two others. With a nod of thanks he handed the cup back.

'I think I left my jacket inside,' said Jon, patting his pockets.

'You're not thinking of driving in this condition, are you?' asked Iversen.

'It's okay. I'm already feeling a lot better,' replied Jon, mustering a smile. 'But if one of you wouldn't mind fetching my jacket?'

Katherina left them and a moment later returned with his jacket.

'We still have a lot to talk about,' said Iversen as Jon got into his car.

Jon nodded. 'I'll be back in a couple of days. You've given me something to think about, that's for sure.'

'Take care of yourself, Jon.'

He started the car and waved goodbye as he drove off. The dizziness was gone, but he was overcome with an exhaustion he'd never felt before. He was used to long work-days, but this fatigue seemed to have settled in all the cells of his body.

He had tossed his jacket onto the passenger seat, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed a bulge in one of the pockets. At the first red light, he pulled out what was inside the pocket.

It was a book.Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Katherina fixed her eyes on the car, watching it disappear. Iversen, who was standing next to her, did the same with a worried expression on his face. She rarely saw him look like that, but lately, on several occasions, his otherwise amiable face had been marred by deep furrows on his brow.

When they could no longer see Jon's Mercedes, they went back inside the bookshop, where Pau was waiting. He hadn't moved from his spot in the armchair, sitting there with his arms ostentatiously crossed.

'What got into that guy?' he asked as soon as Iversen had closed the door behind him.

'After everything we've told him today, it's not so strange that he would feel a little dizzy,' replied Iversen.

'Why couldn't he just stay away from here?'

'You're forgetting, Pau, that we're the ones who are the intruders here,' said Iversen, throwing out his arms. 'This shop we're in, the books all around us, even the chair you're sitting on, they all belong to him.'

'But that's a mistake,' Pau insisted. 'Luca would never betray us like that. There must be some way to get the will annulled, changed or whatever it is they do.'

'I don't think there's much chance of that happening,' said Iversen benignly. 'For one thing, there's no will to invalidate, and besides, I rejected Jon's offer to let him take over the bookshop.'

'You did what?' exclaimed Pau, jumping up from his chair. 'Are you out of your mind?'

Even Katherina gave Iversen an astonished look.

'I think that deep inside, it was what Luca wanted,' Iversen replied, without raising his voice. 'What father doesn't wish to have his life's work carried on within the family? Would Luca want the Campelli collection to fall into the hands of outsiders? I don't think so.' He paused for a moment before he added with a sigh, 'Besides, we need him.'

'If only he doesn't think we've poisoned him,' said Katherina quietly.

The other two looked at her.

Iversen nodded in agreement. 'It would be disastrous to alienate him now.'

'What if he does take over? And what if he decides to sell the whole shitload?' Pau asked.

Iversen smiled uneasily.

'He really has no choice in what will happen. The Council has already approved a reading.'

No one said a word. Pau slowly sat back down in the chair without shifting his glance from Iversen. Katherina stared in disbelief at the elderly man, but Iversen's gaze didn't waver.

A reading was a drastic measure, and she'd never heard of the Council pre-approving one. It was strictly forbidden for anyone to use his Lector powers in any way except to enhance reading experiences. That was the Society's code. Any violation of this rule was a very serious matter and would result in grave consequences for anyone who did so, although Katherina had never heard what those consequences might be. The survival of the Society depended on its members keeping its existence secret, and any misuse of powers would invariably attract attention.

But in very rare circumstances it might be necessary to use their powers for purposes other than enriching a text. This was especially true in situations when the Society, or its powers, were directly threatened with disclosure, and on these occasions the Council would approve a reading for the parties involved, who would then be made to reconsider. The process for authorizing a reading was a lengthy one. Precise plans had to be made for how things would proceed, who would be present, what the result would be and what pretext would be planted. The latter was important, because if the subject did not give a plausible explanation for why he had suddenly changed his mind regarding a particular matter, the whole thing could fail.

After the approval, the Lectors who were to carry out the reading would arrange for an opportunity to read to, or to be in the vicinity of, those individuals who were to be influenced. As a rule, this wasn't a problem. The targets were often public figures such as politicians, government officials or journalists, who all moved about without a large security force.

For the reading, a suitable text was chosen that would touch on areas associated with the sensitive topic. During the reading important passages were charged in such a way that the subject either lost all interest in the topic or rejected it completely. This required skilled and strong Lectors, but it had never failed to produce the desired result, which had secured the anonymity of the Society.

Katherina didn't know how many readings had been approved, but in the ten years she'd had contact with Luca, she knew of only one. She herself was directly involved in it, 'but only to provide reinforcement', as Luca had assured her.