Cassie struggles to use the Book of Doors to reach Drummond Fox’s hidden home, following his instructions to find it “in the shadows.” When Cassie finally opens her bedroom door, she and Drummond pass into a silent, monochrome in-between space where movement feels like swimming and speech is impossible. Drummond exits the shadow-state by opening the library’s front door and discarding the shadow fragment, letting color and solidity flood back in.

Outside, Cassie discovers Drummond’s “Fox Library” is a large sandstone country house in a secluded Scottish Highland glen, far from any public road. Drummond explains that time passes differently while traveling through the shadows, which is why morning has arrived. He walks Cassie through the house, quietly checking rooms and savoring his return; Cassie senses the place’s warmth and realizes how much he has missed it.

Upstairs, Drummond answers Cassie’s questions by showing her the Book of Shadows and explaining how he hid the entire house: he tore out a full page and left it inside the front door, slipping the building into the shadows where it could not be reached without the Book of Doors. Drummond reveals he has been unable to return for ten years, calling it the price of keeping the books safe, and Cassie recognizes he has sacrificed as well.

Drummond leads Cassie into his personal library with a view of Loch Ailda, then opens a concealed, tower-bound room behind a hinged bookcase. Inside, Cassie sees twenty numbered cupboards, though not all are filled; Drummond says the Fox Library holds seventeen special books, the largest collection he knows of. He briefly shows Cassie the Book of Joy, which strips away pain and doubt to produce true joy, and the Book of Flame, whose purpose is self-evident; some other books have never revealed what they do.

Drummond insists the books must be protected and studied, not used as weapons, tying their existence to centuries of human history. He says this responsibility is why he hid the library and why he believes the Book of Doors must be destroyed, though he postpones explaining the specific threat. As he settles Cassie into a bedroom to sleep, Drummond promises that tomorrow he will show her what the Book of Doors is truly capable of—and shocks her by revealing its deeper danger: it can open doors not only across the world, but into the past.