Chapter 4Oliver Madding’s library was as daunting and overwhelming as when Jesse was a child. There were more books than space, and if the collection had belonged to anybody else, Jesse would have felt a deep and abiding sense of jealousy. But he didn’t want his father’s library, even if it contained dozens of rare texts, steeped in mysticism and history. He didn’t want anything that once belonged to Oliver Madding. He didn’t even want his name anymore.
Jesse shut the door behind him and ventured into the stacks. He knew what he was looking for, but not where to find it. There had once been an understood logic to the space, but now Jesse couldn’t remember it. So he browsed, his gaze bouncing from title to title. He didn’t pause until he reached a book he knew he wasn’t looking for, but hi
