Alex stuffed one last pair of jeans into his duffel bag and zipped it closed, shouldering the strap and casting one last look around his bedroom. What was he forgetting? Clothes, hypertension journal (his doctor was thrilled to hear he might be able to resolve some family issues, but reminded him that he was still expected to fill out his journal over the holidays), gifts for the family... all secured in his bag. He'd arranged for Cory to keep an eye on the gift shop while he was gone, which she agreed to do only as long as he paid out the rest of the month's bills in advance.

"You go on vacation, but rest of us still have bills to pay!" she'd said. "You pay now!"

For once he had the money to comply—or most of it, anyway—and she'd been gracious enough after he handed her the envelop of cash. She even wished him a Merry Christmas and told him to say hello to his "handsome brothers" for her.

He chose to ignore that last part.

"Well," he said out loud. Everything seemed to be ready, so there was no sense in waiting around. He took out his phone and tapped the name waiting under "Favorite Contacts", then held the phone up to his ear.

It rang three times before there was an answer. "Hey. You here already?"

"Hi, Jake," Alex said. "Listen, I was thinking... Can you make me a door to Oklahoma?"

There was a pause. "What?"

"You know, like you did when you left here. Just open a closet door and walk into Oklahoma."

"That's not exactly how it works," Jake said. "The door comes to the Library."

"Okay, well can you open me a door to the Library and then to Oklahoma?"

"I mean... yeah, I could. I can."

"Cool. Then can I get a ride?"

There was another hesitant pause, followed by a soft laugh. "Okay, but you're gonna have to help us decorate."

"I don't—what? Okay, whatever, I can decorate." Alex waited for instructions, but when none came he prompted, "So what do I do?"

Jake didn't answer. Alex frowned and looked at his screen, which now displayed "Call Ended" across the bottom. He grumbled, but before he could say anything too scathing the door to his bathroom pushed open.

"Ready?" Jake said, leaning through the doorway.

Even though Alex had been expecting the magic door, it still took him a moment to register the fact that Jake had just appeared in his bathroom—which was not a bathroom anymore. Instead, the room behind Jake was filled with shelves and books, a winding staircase, and a table stacked with papers and a globe. Alex took it all in in a glance, matching the background with his memory of the brief glance he'd gotten the last time Jake opened his Library door.

"Ready?" Jake repeated.

Alex cleared his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I've got everything."

"It's not a big deal if you don't," Jake pointed out. "We can just come back to get it."

"Right." Alex hefted his bag and took a breath to steady himself, like he was about to do something more difficult than walking through a door. Jake stepped aside to give him room, and Alex tried to put on a confident, unconcerned expression as he strode through the doorway.

Something resisted, as if the air itself was solidifying around him, and there was a brief moment of panic where Alex wondered whether he had done it wrong. But then he broke through and stumbled into the room beside Jake, who laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That first step's a little misleading," Jake said. "Shoulda warned you. Sorry."

A denial was ready on Alex's lips, but he let it go unvoiced. He was too caught up in staring at the Library. The room seemed to be bathed in golden light, lending an ancient but welcoming feel to the stuffy stacks of books. He'd always liked the look and feel of old books (mostly because it reminded him of Jake), and being surrounded by them now felt... good. He felt like he had walked into a place he'd dreamed about his whole life.

"Oh my gosh," squeaked a voice behind him. Alex turned in surprise to find a red-haired woman at Jake's elbow, her eyes wide and bright. "Oh my gosh," she repeated, grabbing at Jake's arm. "You just said brother—you never said twin!"

"Not a twin," Jake said. He pulled his arm out of the woman's grasp and gestured to Alex. "Cassie, this is Alex. Alex, Cassandra."

Alex nodded to her, trying to keep his attention from wandering to the rest of the room.

Cassandra stuck out her hand. "I'm so happy to meet you! You have to tell me what Jake was like when he was a kid—was he always interested in art? Does he make any of his own art? What was the first language he learned? How did—"

"What do you—why do you have to ask him anything?" Jake said. "Have I ever not answered one of your questions?"

"It's different," Cassandra said. "I want an objective perspective."

"I'm objective!"

She made a face and turned to Alex. "Is he objective?" she asked in a stage whisper.

"I don't know," Alex confessed. "We're still kinda in the middle of getting to know each other again."

Though he wouldn't have thought it possible, her eyes got even brighter. She took Alex's arm and guided him into the room, smiling. "We'll talk later. I want to know everything."

"Leave him alone, Cass," Jake sighed. "Alex, you hungry?"

"I could eat."

"Great. Let me get my jacket and we'll get going. Did you bring something warm?"

Alex dropped his bag on a chair (the desk it was tucked under didn't have any empty space) and pulled out a jacket he'd only worn once in the Philippines.

"Cass?"

"I'll go get it!" she said, hurrying through the room and up a giant spiraling staircase decorated with glittering garland.

"Don't mind her," Jake said, moving to join Alex at the desk. "She gets a little excited, but she's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet."

"Smarter than you?" Alex asked.

"She's definitely better at math."

"Yeah, but how many languages does she speak?"

"I dunno, do you count calculus as a foreign language?"

"I mean... kind of."

"There you go," Jake said. He wandered to the other side of the table and absently picked an ornament from a box near the tree. "How've you been?"

"We talked yesterday," Alex said.

"Okay, how've you been since yesterday?"

Alex shrugged. "Fine." He peered at a large book displayed in the center of the table and tapped the open page. "You've been doing more research into the Curator?"

"What?" Jake was at his side in seconds, his brow furrowed.

Alex tapped the page. "The invitation here. Curator's Auction. It's tonight."

Jake pushed Alex out of the way and leaned over the book. "This wasn't here before. I was—I checked this two hours ago, and it wasn't here."

"Someone else put it there?" Alex asked.

Jake shook his head. "It's the Clippings Book. It shows us artifacts to chase down, magical problems to solve, that kind of thing."

"Oh, you mentioned that last time."

"Yeah. How did it—why now?" Jake stared at the invitation, his eyes scanning the page quickly. "Why you? I've been trying to find information on the Curator for weeks, and now you just show up and—"

"What's going on?" Cassandra asked. She'd come down the stairs while they were talking, and now went to stand on the other side of the table. A large green jacket was wrapped around her shoulders, along with a white scarf and matching hat and mittens. Alex glanced at his thin jacket and hoped he hadn't underestimated how cold an Oklahoma winter could be. It had been a long time since he'd been home for one.

"Clippings Book," Jake said, pointing to the invitation. "This just showed up. It's about the Curator."

Cassandra leaned over the table and read out loud. "Curator's Auction... Fort Washita, 7:00 PM... tonight?" She looked up, frowning. "That's it? No other information, nothing about what's being auctioned, just a location and a time?"

"That's how these things work," Alex said. "If you know, you know. If you don't, you're out in the cold."

"You've been to a magic artifact auction before?" Jake said flatly.

"I've been to other auctions." Alex's voice was dark, though he hadn't meant it to be. He'd seen all sorts of things auctioned off: drugs, weapons, people. He participated in some when he was undercover. He even ran one once in China, though he preferred not to dwell on that assignment. "You get a big name like the Curator who wants to move some goods and only has to rely on their reputation to do it for them. They send out the invitations to a select group, only people who already know what's going on, and only people who can afford what they're asking. They do it short notice to weed out anyone who isn't serious enough, and they sit back and wait for the market to come to them."

Cassandra's eyes were wide again, but this time she looked concerned. "Where's Fort Washita?"

Alex exchanged a glance with his brother. "Oklahoma," Jake said. "The fort was meant to keep the peace between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations. It's a historical site now."

"Why would the Curator host an auction there?" Cassandra asked.

Jake shook his head. "Maybe it has something to do with a Chickasaw or Choctaw artifact. Without more information, we can't know for sure."

"But then how do we know what the auction is for?" Cassandra pressed.

For a moment Jake just continued to stare at the book, frowning. Thinking. Alex knew that face, so well he could practically see the thoughts racing through his brother's head. It was the face that meant I know what to do and I don't want to do it, so I'm trying to come up with another way. Alex had seen it hundreds of times in their youth—mostly as a direct result of some trouble Alex had gotten them into.

At last, Jake sighed. "We fake it. And if we're going to fake our way into an auction, we're going to need the others."

"What others?" Alex asked.

"I'll call Baird and Flynn," Jake said. "Cassie, you call Jones. We're gonna go crash an auction."