In the derelict former Macintosh Hotel on West Twenty-Seventh Street, Izzy waits on a mezzanine bar level as book hunters arrive for the Bookseller’s midnight auction. The grand street entrance is sealed with plywood, and guests enter through a cut-out door, where armed security pats them down and directs them toward the ballroom.

Izzy watches the first notable arrivals with the Bookseller: Pastor Merlin Gillette from a wealthy South Carolina Pentecostal church and two of his adult children, who want special books destroyed as devil work. The Bookseller explains the auction setup and points out her bookkeeper, Elias, who collects any special books at the door to prevent bidders from using them inside.

As Izzy stays despite the Bookseller’s irritation, the Bookseller sends Izzy to fetch vodka from behind the bar. While they drink and observe, Izzy wrestles with the morality of selling the Book of Pain to people who might weaponize it, still shaken by her own recent torture. The Bookseller admits she cannot choose winners in an honest auction, and claims she uses the profits to improve what she can, even if the buyer is unsavory.

More bidders enter, and only a few surrender special books to Elias: Okoro, described as a dangerous mercenary/assassin, gives up the Book of Matter; Elizabeth Fraser, an Englishwoman over 120 kept youthful by the Book of Health, surrenders hers; and Diego, an espionage-minded killer, turns in the Book of Faces, which can change his appearance. The Bookseller notes that most people in this world will never even see a special book, making them perfect auction commodities.

As midnight nears, the Bookseller orders Izzy to return to the upstairs room and have Lund bring the Book of Pain to the ballroom so she can keep both of them under watch for safety and control. Izzy finds Lund studying the Book of Illusion and failing to activate it; she briefly handles it herself and pockets it when a security guard arrives. The guard summons them to the Bookseller, and Lund produces the Book of Pain as they prepare to go downstairs for the auction.