Read Between the Lines (The Secret Collection #3)

Thursday, 1133 a.m.

Dane sifted through the shelves. The more often he went through them, the more he noticed the differences between the books.

Most of them looked like they had been read by many students before him—others already appeared dusty even though they were brand new.

In each case, there is a shared trait: the eight-digit code glued to their back, aiding in keeping them sorted.

They may appear cryptic to anyone who hadn’t spent a significant time here, but Dane knew he only had to check the last two numbers.

Sixty-eight was what he was searching for.

It should be in the third tier of the fifth shelf from the left.

His fingers slid over the covers. Sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven… sixty-nine.

“Damn it,” he whispered.

They were still all there, except for the one book he needed. He kept going. Chances were, it was still on that shelf, simply sorted incorrectly, and he overlooked it during his first two rummages.

Even when it was crucial to find that book, Dane didn’t care that he had already spent twenty minutes searching. For him, just being in the campus library was like heaven.

For one, he loved silence, and nowhere in the City of New York was it quieter than in the library of his University.

It was a nice change from the noise his roommates constantly made, not to mention the loud music at their weekly parties at their apartment, which still left him wondering why no one had ever filed a noise complaint against them.

Secondly, Dane loved books—how it felt to skim his fingers over the coarse surface of a hardcover, comparing it to the smooth touch of a softcover, and how each book smelled a little different due to the used glue, paper, and ink.

Lastly, and probably most crucially, the reason he loved this particular library stemmed from a secret he discovered seven months ago at the end of his second year—a place of pleasure hidden within the restroom on the third floor right behind the computer science section.

A spot he would never admit he’d visited, even though he frequented it more often than the nearby campus cafeteria, which everybody else loved for its cheap prizes.

So, of course, he agreed to the tedious task of looking up citations in a paper his professor wrote, even though it’s an ungrateful and tiring job that most of his fellow students refused to take despite the generous pay.

Even better, the paper was big, set to be published in one of the major science journals, offering him at least two weeks of work and, therefore, the perfect excuse to come here every day and sneak away to the third-floor restroom for some well-earned relaxation after a hard day of proofreading.

Dane glanced at his wristwatch. Still, about half an hour until he had a lunch date with his roommate Leon, enough time to hopefully locate the book so he could start going through it after his break.

It shouldn’t have been that difficult. Like always, Dane had looked it up in the digital library catalog.

It precisely tells you if the book is rented out and, if not, where it can be found.

It was the same procedure without exception, and he had already done it over twenty times for this job alone.

Still, even after spending so much time going through the entire aisle over and over again, it was nowhere to be found.

Dane straightened his back, pushing his hand into it to stretch after standing bent over for quite a while.

It’s no use. Third time wasn’t the charm.

If he wanted to find the book before noon, he had to ask a library employee for help, and that was precisely what Dane tried to avoid most, having already seen who was in charge of the biochemistry section today.

It was that insufferable prick of a new hire who had been interfering with his inner peace since he started working on that paper.

The first time he noticed him was on Monday last week. He was searching for the second book on his list, and, as he always did, after he pulled it out of the shelf, he brought it to his nose and took a whiff.

It was an unusual habit, for sure. Dane couldn’t remember when he developed it.

While others needed to read a book to enter different realms, he just had to smell them.

So whenever he picked one up, he held it close, took a deep breath, and for a moment, he was taken away to different worlds far beyond human reach.

Never before had anyone noticed or commented on it until that day.

Just as Dane inhaled deeply, a chuckle reached his ears. He searched for the source, only to find himself being laughed at by this guy.

He was slightly shorter than Dane, around his age, with short brown hair and a well-trimmed five-day beard.

He wore dark blue jeans, brown leather sneakers, a tight black shirt accentuating his well-trained biceps, and a name tag adorned his left chest. Typical jock—not someone you would expect to be working at a library.

(Though to be fair, Dane probably also didn’t fit the grid either.

Despite his nerdy nature, he lifted weights almost daily, giving him a toned appearance.

His long hair was tied back into a bun most of the time, and he only wore his glasses when his eyes got tired of the contact lenses.)

With a smug grin on his lips, the guy furrowed his eyebrows as if he thought Dane was about to kiss the book.

Never had Dane returned to his desk so quickly.

Since then, it seemed to Dane that this guy had set his goal to make Dane’s time in the library as miserable as possible.

Whenever Dane got up from a desk, the guy appeared out of nowhere, shushing at him as if Dane was reversing satanic verses at the top of his lungs.

Dane would’ve understood it if he constantly scratched the dark wooden chairs on the historic floor tiles, but that wasn’t what was happening.

He just stood up like anybody else but was treated as if he was disturbing everyone when, in reality, the only disturbing thing was that guy’s constant shushing.

So, of course, Dane wasn’t eager to ask him for help, but not seeing another option, he hurried down the aisle. As he turned around the corner, he collided with someone carrying a stack of books.

“I’m so sorry,” Dane apologized as the books got squished between them. Two fell on the ground, and without hesitation, Dane squatted down to pick them up.

“You have to be kidding me,” the guy scolded him.

Dane looked up, only to stare into the gloomy eyes of the person he was set to ask for help. What a great start.

“Everything okay?” Dane whispered.

The guy sighed and made a face as he scanned the books he was holding.

“Lucky for you, they look alright,” he whispered, glaring at Dane.

“You must find it fun to always make a commotion.” He eyed all the other people sitting at desks in the center of the library, probably hoping someone would take offense, but none of them even glanced their way.

Fun? Commotion? Me?

Heat flushed through Dane’s body as he couldn’t grasp why that guy seemed to take so much enjoyment out of provoking him.

He scanned the name tag on his chest. It didn’t have one on it and just said “Library Staff.” At least now Dane knew he wouldn’t have to deal with him forever because he had to be a temp.

All the full-time employees had their names imprinted.

Dane held the two books he had picked up before the temp's nose, and the guy snatched them out of his hands as if Dane had tried to steal them.

This was exactly why Dane was trying to avoid asking for help. He already knew that it would only cause him more problems. Yet here he was, out of other options.

“Are you in charge of this section?”

“What does it look like?”

“I need help locating a book.”

“Ever heard of the library catalog? Use that,” he replied, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling as if Dane was dumb.

“It said it should be in this aisle.”

“It’s probably lent out,” the temp shook his head and turned around.

“Not according to the library catalog,” Dane replied, hoping that if he made it clear to him that he knew how to use the equipment, he might get the temp to be helpful. “I also checked the neighboring shelves to see if it got misplaced, but nothing.”

The temp groaned, turned back to Dane, and rolled his eyes.

“Maybe someone else has taken it seconds before you. Every book appears within twenty-four hours. Just come back tomorrow.”

He passed Dane, and for a second, it seemed as if he was about to ram his shoulder into Dane when he turned around the corner.

“Stupid asshole,” Dane whispered to himself as soon as the guy was out of sight. What now? Maybe he could ask one of the regular staff members for help. Dane had a good rapport with some of the older ladies working here.

“What did you just say?”

Dane turned around. The temp waited right behind him, a scowl on his face.

Shit.

“Nothing.”

“I’m pretty sure I heard some words that would better fit your description.”

Dane has had it with him. What did he do to that guy that made him so damn hostile?

“I was just wondering,” Dane articulated, careful to keep his voice low, “if it’s not a big deal that a book is missing. I bet you know that others have been stolen, as these specialist books sell for a good dollar online. Don’t you think that’s something you should investigate and report?”

The temp quenched his eyes. “Are you implying I’m not doing my job? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No, just that some help would be appreciated,” Dane replied, his voice slightly louder because it seemed the guy didn’t get what Dane asked him for.

“Keep your voice down, or I’ll call security,” he scolded him with a stern voice that made Dane’s blood freeze inside his veins. Even though he whispered, his words cut the air and could’ve probably been understood from twenty feet away.