The storm raged, causing the building to creak and groan.

  Flashlight in hand, Casey descended into the dark basement. There, he discovered his staff had cleaned the mess from the day before while he’d been with Avery at the hospital. The upended table of toy trains had been righted, and they were all neatly sorted into boxes. The blood on the floor was gone. The book had been moved to the desk in the cage. Shana had probably assumed, correctly, that it was valuable.

  Casey stepped outside to fire up the generator and flip the transfer switch. The snow was easily knee-deep and coming down so heavily that he couldn’t see more than a few dozen feet. It was dry, fluffy stuff, but it stung his cheeks and stuck to the legs of his jeans.

  Then, after hurrying back inside and stomping the powder off his shoes, he unlocked the cage, grabbed the book, and quickly retreated upstairs, where he’d left Simon eating his third plate of pancakes.

  Simon was licking the syrup off his plate when he re-entered the apartment. He paused, mouth open, peered at Casey over the top of the dish, then set it primly down on the table. “I haven’t had enough to eat for six months, and I fear my manners have suffered.”

  “No worries. You just made it easier to wash.” Casey set the book down on the table and said, “We’ll get a pack together for you in a bit, but I wanted to have a proper look at the book first. I’d like to ensure our plan to send you home will work."

  "May I?” Simon said, cautiously extending a hand toward the leatherbound cover before suddenly hesitating.

  “You know more than I.”

  "Yes, though I know little of the magic of your world." The elf opened the cover, peering at the first page, which was blank. He leaned forward, giving the fine parchment a closer look. Then, Simon’s entire demeanor changed, becoming tenser. His lips pressed together, his eyes narrowed, and his face grew pale.

  He gave the cover another examination, running one finger over the soft leather while his nose was only inches from the material. Then, he hissed.

  The sharp sound of air whistling between Simon's teeth made Casey jump. "What?"

  "is the book you summoned me with?" Simon recoiled from it.

  "... yes?"

  "Bound in the skin of my kind." Simon stood up so fast that the chair he’d been sitting in slid backward. He retreated several steps and sketched a gesture in the air that Casey guessed was either rude or religious.

  "—wait, the what of your kind?"

  "That cover is not animal hide, nor are those pages parchment." Simon made the sign with his hand again, a quick circle sketched in the air with his middle and ring fingers, while his thumb held down his pinky and index fingers. "God help us. I have heard of such evil but never hoped to see it."

  "It's human skin?" Nausea rose. He swallowed hard.

  "It's skin," Simon said with absolute certainty. “Traditionally, the skin of a powerful elven mage was used for the cover of a Book of Needs, and the hides of our children for the pages. It's, it's ..." Words seemed to fail him. He ground to a halt, fists balling, and his eyes narrowed into a furious glare aimed at nothing in particular.

  "That is an abomination." Casey swallowed hard and willed himself not to vomit.

  "Yes."

  They shared a look of complete and total agreement.

  Simon folded his arms, then ran his hands over his own scrawny biceps as if he were cold. "It is believed that the life experiences and knowledge of the soul of the primary mage influence the technical skills of the Book, then the latent gifts of the children influence the range of magic it can perform. However, it only has as much actual Power as the human mage who wields it, as they must channel the actual energy used for spells. Magic, of varying degrees, is nearly a universal trait among my people, and that is why dai’sheea skin is always used for these books. True magic, the kind I suspect you have, is exceedingly rare among humans unless they have elven blood. More commonly, blood magic is used by humans to fuel a Book such this; it’s a more common gift.

  “The Book have bindings that require the spirits within to act in the wielder's best interest. That is why it is called a Book of Needs. However, Books are notorious for twisting requests into what think you need, which is not necessarily what you ." Simon's brief expression bared teeth, but it wasn't a smile.

  "Ah. So, the souls create the program, and I’m the battery that powers everything? With a side order of malicious compliance?”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “I’m not sure what a program is, though I saw reference to the word a few times in my readings -- is it like a clockwork mechanism?”

  “Something like that, but virtual, I guess.”

  “What is virtual... nevermind. You being an ‘electrical line’ rather than a battery might be a better analogy. Most mages have a reserve of personal Power, but anyone with any significant strength will have the ability to pull Power from the local leys for big spells. Given how little opening a portal casting a geas in one go affected you, I suspect you have a quite strong Gift for tapping the leys. You may, in fact, be a leymaster, that is, someone with the ability to manipulate leys beyond just skimming a little Power.”

  Simon then gave him a sideways look, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. "I have never heard the term before, and that is a phrase I must remember for future use. To answer your question, they may comply with a request in ways that are literal, but aren't desirable. However, just as commonly, Books take completely unexpected actions because they believe the bearer needs help. Especially in the case of older Books, they may have a limited perspective on the world, and their priorities may not be yours."

  “So what now?"

  "Now," Simon said, "we ask the book if it will send me home. With practice, training, and the right set of Gifts, you could coerce it to do as you wish and bend its power to your will, but that is certainly beyond your ability now.”

  "Uh. Just ask it?"

  "It may respond to direct questions. What did you request before you summoned me?"

  He remembered a discussion about a love spell. "You don’t even want to know.”

  “It may be relevant to determining the motivation of the primary spirit in the Book, which could explain why it brought me here." Simon’s eyes were narrow slits. He’d gone nearly as pale as the parchment pages. His hands were shaking. Casey realized the geas was trying to prevent him from repeating the question after Casey had declined to answer.

  Casey had a whole new reason to feel guilty when he admitted, "A boyfriend. But it was a bad joke. How could anyone think that I deserve a lover enslaved to my wishes? I’m uh, sorry the Book took me literally."

  "I believe you, and normally, it is quite difficult to convince the souls captured within a Book of Needs to act against elves,” Simon said, touching the leather with the tip of one finger. Then, he wiped his hand on his pants leg. “This is purely speculation, but they may have thought to save me while fulfilling the literal terms of your request.”

  “Maybe we can just ask it to lift the geas. Book souls, if you’re listening, I’ll make sure Simon’s safe even if we decide that we hate each other. You can just free him. That sound like a fair deal?”

  Talking to a book felt weird, but he’d dealt with stranger things over the last few days.

  Simon opened it to a random page. Letters spiraled, then formed into prose.

  Casey asked, “Can you read that? Avery couldn’t.”

  “No.” Simon shook his head. “It is communication from the dead. I would wager the spirits make themselves heard by even those without a Gift, but they won’t go to the effort without real need. They have minimal power of their own, since they’re blocked from being able to tap the leys directly, and wouldn’t want to waste it. However, being able to communicate with spirits is one of the more common human Gifts, and I would assume you are, in fact, a medium, given what else I’ve seen of your Power.”

  “If I read the words aloud, will it cause a problem?" He stared at the letters. How could Simon read them? They were clear as day. And, a ? He wasn’t walking around seeing ghosts everywhere!

  “Paraphrase it, and, for extra safety, focus your intent on it being a spell." Simon’s response was accompanied by another nervous step backward. That wasn’t reassuring at all. “They shouldn’t be able to act without your cooperation.”

  “I didn’t exactly mean for the first spell to happen."

  “But you wished?" Simon asked.

  “Yes, but only a little ...” Had that been all it took? Terrifying. “It just says you’re of two worlds, angry and fearful of trusting, and you’re bound to me.”

  The elven man glared at the book. “I know you can give a straight answer if you choose."

  The book displayed a woodcut image of an elven woman shrugging.

  Casey snorted. “Oh, great, it memes."

  "Yes, I can see ,” Simon stared in what looked like a mixture of fascination and disapproval at the book. “It’s decided to include me in the conversation.”

  The book added, below the picture,

  “That’s a no?" Casey asked.

  Yes.

  The direct answer felt different from the others. The hair rose on the back of his neck when he abruptly realized the thing was listening to him, aware and haunted by the souls of Simon’s people. He asked, “How aware is it, really?”

  “Oh, it knows what we’re saying, and given it was able to find me, bind me, and bring me here, I’d say the souls within have some remarkable Gifts.” Simon was now standing a full two strides back from it. “Again, I wonder what connection is to a Book of Needs from this world?”

  Casey snapped, voice rising, "Will you at least send Simon home? Neither of us consented to this. This is

  "I want you to open a portal to Simon’s world!” Casey said, and put into his words. The Book listen to him!

  It was still for a very long moment, then finally printed:

  “Halfling beast?” Casey objected.

  Simon’s response was too calm. “Not the worst thing I’ve ever been called. I’m an elf living among humans, and belonging fully to neither world.”

  Casey squeezed Simon’s shoulder. Simon didn't flinch, though he didn't smile at Casey's touch either. Casey quickly removed his hand and said, “Let’s go get you some more stuff to take back home before we do this.”