Alex had gotten used to being the tall one in the Philippines. He was still taller than Cassie—barely—but he had to look up at Baird and Flynn as he walked past them into the hall. A pang of homesickness hit him, and he snorted and wondered what Kai would say if she knew he was missing her because she was short.

"What?" Cassie asked. She still clung to his arm, which surprised him a little. They'd just met, after all. Or did she feel more comfortable because he looked like Jake?

"Nothing," he said. "Just thinking about home."

"Oklahoma?"

"No... the Philippines. Oklahoma hasn't really been home in a while."

She tugged him closer to the wall as a man in a suit ducked past them into the auction room. "Jake said you left when you were kids. Where did you go?"

"All over the place," Alex said. "My Uncle Danny took me in, but he wasn't really the type to stay in one place. We went wherever he could find... uh, work."

"I met your dad once," Cassie said. She looked ahead, like she wasn't sure what kind of expression to show him. "He seemed... strict."

"Yeah, strict. That's one way to put it." Alex lifted his eyebrows suggestively. "So Jake brought you home to meet the family?"

"No, not like that. We went for the Library. You know... ancient trickster shapeshifting monsters, lots of awkward truth-telling, dark creepy caves with abnormal dimensional pockets... that kind of thing."

All Alex could do was blink at her. "Sorry," she said. "Maybe Jake hasn't filled you in on everything we do? There's a lot of monsters. And strangely a lot of weird dimensional pockets. But not so much awkward truth-telling... unless you count now."

"No, I—that's not it," Alex said. "I just... It's hard to picture Jake doing things like that. Fighting... monsters. Shapeshifters."

"The shapeshifter morphed into him at one point," Cassie said. "So he ended up having to fight himself."

Alex snorted. "Well it's not like he's never punched anyone with his face before."

They turned a corner and came face to face with tall man in a a black suit. He stood in the middle of the hallway, arms crossed, staring at them as they approached and making no move to get out of their way.

"This hall is off-limits," he said in a gruff voice. "You'll have to find somewhere else to hold your tryst."

Cassie pulled her hand free of Alex's arm. "We're not—that's not why we're—I mean, not that I haven't—that I wouldn't—but not with—"

"We're looking for the Curator," Alex interrupted.

The man in the suit didn't move. "Then set up a meeting through proper channels."

"That'll take too long." Alex crossed his own arms, sizing the man up and searching for potential weak spots. He was muscular beneath the suit and his stance was solid, but nothing else about him spoke to an experience with fighting. "We have something the Curator will be interested in. Kinda time sensitive."

"And why would she want anything from you?" the man asked.

"Because I'm a Librarian," Cassie said.

A tug of something pleasant and persuasive touched the edge of Alex's awareness, like the hint of a secure memory. Of course she was a Librarian, and of course it made sense for her to be there—but what about him?

The suited man's thoughts seemed to run in the same direction. His eyes fell on Alex as if waiting for an explanation, and he scrambled for something that would make as much sense. "I'm a..."

"An art expert," Cassie supplied. "He's the one who found the artifact we think the Curator will want to see. And she will want to see it, believe me."

"Art expert, huh?" the man said. "What's your name? And I warn you now, I'm in charge the Curator's collection. I know every expert worth knowing, so if you try to—"

Cassie clapped a hand on Alex's arm. "This is Dr. Jacob Stone. Heard of him?"

No—she should have used an alias, one of the names Jake published under—he hadn't used his real name as often, so it wouldn't be as recognizable. But the man was looking at Alex with renewed interest, even a little guarded admiration.

"Dr. Stone," he said in a flat, careful voice. "He was rumored to be behind three or four other aliases. Name two and I won't call security."

"Oliver Thompson and James McKelvie," Alex said immediately. "And Griffin Griffould, and—"

"Alright," the man said. He gave Alex another critical glare and muttered, "I thought you'd be older."

"Go ahead and look up a picture if you're unsure," Cassie suggested.

Still suspicious, the man pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped at the screen. A moment later his expression relaxed, and he turned the screen to show them an article featuring Jake in a suit jacket. "Well!" he exclaimed, a smile brightening his features. "I'm sorry for the mistrust, but you understand we can't just let anybody see the Curator. My name is Gregory Downey, and as I said, I'm in charge of the Curator's collection. If you've got an artifact for her, I'm the one you talk to."

"Well..." Cassie sent a long look at Alex, who cleared his throat and took over.

"It's sort of a delicate matter," Alex said. "One I'm sure the Curator would appreciate us discussing in private."

Gregory shook his head. "I'm afraid that's impossible. I do not pass on any information to the Curator until I've vetted it myself. It's her rule."

Great. He didn't know of any artifacts the Curator might be interested in—what she already had, what she'd consider impressive—what was even real. And they certainly didn't have any with them that they could show off. The only artifacts he even knew existed were...

"It's about the artifacts she lost," Alex said impulsively. "Or rather, ones that were taken from her."

Gregory's eyes flashed. "What would you know about those?"

"When new artifacts come to light, I hear about them," Alex said.

Gregory rubbed his chin, lips pursed together. "I suppose I can try to set up a meeting..." he said. "The Curator was rather upset about the matter. I'm sure she would want to hear about any new information you could offer. But I warn you, it's a touchy subject. Whatever news you have for her had better be good."

"It will be," Cassie said. "When can we meet her?"

"The Curator will be free after the auction," Gregory said.

"So will we," Alex said.

Gregory nodded. "Then I will add you to her planner. Someone will fetch you after the auction."

"Perfect!" Cassie bubbled.

"Can I escort you back to the auction?" Gregory asked.

"No need," Alex said, offering his arm back to Cassie. "We'll find our own way back."

Gregory let them go, and Alex steered Cassie back down the hallway until they turned a corner out of the suited man's sight. Then he groaned and leaned against the wall, shoving a hand through his hair.

"What?" Cassie said. "I thought that went pretty well, considering."

Alex closed his against against a threatening headache. "Last time I had to pretend to be Eliot, now I have to pretend to be Jake... why can't we ever just have a nice reunion?"

Cassie patted his arm sympathetically. "Come on, it won't be so bad. You just have to pretend to be an expert in art. And architecture. And languages. And—"

"You're not helping," Alex muttered.

"I'll start your lessons," Cassie offered. "I know what was missing from the Curator's collection. I can explain it all to you."

Alex sighed, closing his eyes and conjuring up the memory of his relaxation tapes. I am one with my breath. "Okay. Let's get this over with."