Enter the library of an enigmatic collector, where occult books are guarded and researched at a fatal cost. In the winding, perilous corridors of Jurgen Leitner’s private library, you never know what you’ll find. A starving cookbook. An ancient scroll that casts cool, predatory breezes. Free, these books are more than simply unnerving—they’re deadly. But the library keeps their dangers in check and their would-be readers safe. Or so Leitner claims. For two of his employees, Hugh Franklin a research assistant and Sebastian Everett an acquisition specialist , the risks are worth it.

Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta.