Her nose wrinkled in disgust, some kind of fat-looking worm had been crushed between the covers. The pressure of so many pages had caused it to burst, spraying stringy gore across the pages in a star-like pattern. This place is fucked. She closed the book and set it on the nearest shelf.

The shelf lowered slightly with an audible click and a section of the wall shifted open revealing a stairway. The noises resonated up from below.

"Oh come on!" Lorelei shook her head. She knew that this must be where Sandor Perth stored the most precious of his grimoires, but a secret passage? How utterly insipid; her mother used a simple fireproof safe encrusted with protective runes to store her precious documents. It was simple, portable and to the point. This, Lorelei thought as she peered into the tenebrous passageway, this is just showing off.

What was it Magwier had said? "There's nothing up there now but his widow and his library. I for one always found both fascinating . . ."

Maybe that was what he wanted all along, a crack at Sandor Perth's library. She wondered what was down there, an autographed copy of The Book of Two Ways? The long lost Memoirs of Aeternitas? A first edition of The King in Yellow? The Carella Manuscript? Or perhaps that hoary old standby The Necromonicon?

A quick look around is all I'll need, Lorelei decided. She edged her way down the steps, And then for once in this relationship I'll be the one that knows what's going on.

The wooden steps creaked underfoot. A cool, foul-smelling breeze chilled her. Clusters of mushrooms nested in the corners, strange graffiti covered the walls. Every step down brought her deeper into darkness. She supposed it was too much to hope for a well-lit secret passageway.

Lorelei wondered to herself how well-acquainted Magwier was with the Honorary Master and his family. Well-acquainted enough that he felt no discomfort at the thought of just dropping in for tea in the middle of the night, but not well-acquainted enough that they would inform him of a change of address? Something sudden and terrible had happened here; she did not need to be precognizant to know that. The sloshing was louder now, there a strange rhythmic quality to it she had not noticed before and there was something else too. A gentle cooing sound, like an animal in the throes of pleasure.

If this had been a movie, she would have been throwing popcorn at the screen, all the while criticizing the scantily clad starlet for her foolishness. But this was real and she was not some silicon enhanced B-grade actress; as a Squire of the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Besides, now that she was here she wanted to see, she wanted to understand. What was the point of coming this far if she was only going to give in to the voice caution? She continued to descend the steps. There were ways she could see in the blackest of nights if she had to, but for now she would make do with shadows and shapes. All the stories and rumors that she had heard about Sandor Perth were spinning through her head. Some said that Sandor Perth had suffered an eternity of torment in a single moment to defeat the Tharoc. Others whispered that he'd defeated them by making a pact with the Mad Gods. Magwier's weird friend Zeth had told her once that Perth had refused the chance to become a true Master because he didn't want to risk a cult of personality growing in his wake. Audra DiMico, her roommate, was of the opinion that Sandor Perth hadn't really done anything at all; his underlings had died fighting the invaders and the lucky Duke had survived to get the credit. When Lorelei asked, instructors told her that Sandor Perth was a good man and everything else was lies and conjecture.

I wonder what Jason- The fifth step down clicked beneath her heel and she had a moment to think Oh, I don't believe this!

Then the steps gave way beneath her and she was sent plunging into the shifting oblivion.