Read Online A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton - Free Book Online Page A

uses the Dewey decimal system.”
    “Funny. No, the Keeper will help you. He’ll explain the rules. Make sure you follow them.”
    “Just so you know—I mean, I know this is New 2, the place for all things bizarre and everything, but this . . . this is way out there.”
    He gave a soft laugh. “When my dad brought me here, this thing scared me to death.”
    “Is that your way of saying boy Sebastian was braver than me?”
    “You’ll be fine. There’s no danger inside as long as you follow the rules. You can leave whenever you want.”
    I drew in a deep breath and stepped up to the jar, trying to shake off the creep factor. It was just so . . . strange, the idea that I was supposed to go inside the jar. I squared my shoulders. I could do this. How hard could it be? Sebastian had gone with his dad when he was little, and nothing as little as a crack in a vase was going to stop me from finding Violet or my father.
    I reached out, braced my thumbs on the outside of the jar, and slipped my fingers into the cold, jagged crack.

 
Nine
    A ND ONCE AGAIN A RI FALLS DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE , I thought as the edges of the clay jar peeled back, splintering with a blinding light that crept up my fingers, hands, and arms like electrified sparks.
    The hard edges of the jar buckled, collapsing back. My heart pounded hard as I ducked inside, into the bright light ringed with blackness.
    I released the crack as I went, stepping fully into the jar and then straightening. The energy humming through me was already fading with the light. White dots danced in my vision. I didn’t move, didn’t take a single step forward.
    Music came like a leaf riding a gentle breeze. Italian opera mingled with the telltale skip and scratch of a record spinning, the music distant and echoing and brassy like it came from a horn. The white dots in my vision began to fade, and a vast room washed in orange candlelight came into focus, its walls and edges hidden in darkness. There were no boundaries; there was no way to mark the size of the room. It was like an island library in the blackness of space.
    Several feet in front of me stretched a marble counter, and behind it was a large area with long tables, chairs, and lamps for study. Beyond that were row upon row of tall shelves and narrow aisles that went so far back, they disappeared into the darkness. The scope was beyond what I could’ve imagined, and I knew there was no way in hell I could ever go through this place without help.
    I swallowed, reminding myself of my purpose, and stepped toward the counter. I glanced over my shoulder to see the massive crack dimly lit in the blackness. Either I had shrunk, or the crack had grown to twice the size it was on the outside of the jar. A tremor—the kind that comes when you suddenly realize how small and insignificant you are, how quickly you might become lost—ran through me. This wasn’t just the inside of the jar—this was another dimension.
    I approached the marble counter, each end so long that they, too, disappeared into the black space surrounding the library. The top of the counter came to just below my chest. It was smooth and white, and I knew it would be cold to the touch, though I kept my hands down at my sides.
    “Study topic?”
    I jumped at the words, spinning around at the strange male voice. Jesus! I grabbed my chest, making sure my heart was still there and beating because it sure as hell felt like it had just been scared right out of me.
    A figure stood behind the counter to my right. And it wasn’t human.
    I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this . . . thing. “What are you?” I blurted out.
    Bronze eyelids blinked over eyes made of white stone inset with round brown disks for irises. “Automaton. The Keeper. Study topic, please.”
    Its outer “skin” was made of tiny plates of bronze that allowed movement. It wore a Greek-style toga, which was odd, seeing as it was made of metal—unless it was anatomically