In Cassie’s old apartment, Barbary holds Drummond Fox suspended with the glowing Book of Control and mocks Cassie’s changed appearance. Cassie demands the return of the Book of Doors, but Barbary yanks her forward by magic and assaults her, expecting to hurt and dominate her.

Cassie realizes the Book of Safety is protecting her completely: throws and impacts don’t cause pain or injury. Using the moment when Barbary grabs her close, Cassie steals his gun from his holster, shoots him in the shoulder, and forces a standoff—Barbary can fling her around, but cannot stop bullets.

While Barbary hesitates, Drummond tackles him, knocking the Book of Control from Barbary’s hand. Cassie presses the pistol to Barbary’s neck, and Drummond retrieves the Book of Control, proving he can use it by making the couch move. Under threat of the Book of Control and Cassie’s gun, Barbary surrenders the books in his pockets: the Book of Luck, the Book of Memories, the Book of Shadows, and finally the Book of Doors.

Barbary promises he will keep coming for them if they let him live. Cassie, unwilling to kill but unwilling to be hunted, uses the Book of Doors to open a doorway to a street in New York in the 1970s. With Drummond controlling him, Barbary is thrown through the door, and Cassie slams it shut, trapping him in the past.

Afterward, Drummond and Cassie catch their breath. Cassie reveals it has been ten years for her since Barbary stranded her, and she confirms she sent Barbary into the past as payback, expecting the decades to neutralize him. Cassie insists they must find Izzy, then admits she already struck a deal with the Bookseller: in exchange for the Book of Safety and Izzy’s protection, Cassie promised the Book of Doors to the Bookseller, meaning Drummond will have to buy it back if he wants it.