The Chorus Price

Elena's fingers closed around the brass pen — and every clock in the library stopped at once.

Silence fell like the bottom of the sea. The golden wave hung frozen mid-crest above the great ledger. Dust motes hung motionless in the lamplight, each one a tiny paused star.

Then Theo laughed — a short, disbelieving sound. "Okay. Okay, so the haunted library just declared a group project. That's — that's fine."

"Theo—" Elena said.