Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1)

by Rachel Caine

As Jess watched in numb horror, the man tore a page from the book and stuffed it into his mouth. “Stop!” Jess shrieked, and snatched for the book. “What are you doing?”

The death of people crushed under the paws of the Library’s lions had shocked him, but seeing that deliberate, horrifying destruction of a book—especially that book—it was far worse. St. Paul had said, Lives are short, but knowledge is eternal.

Such a great way to set up this world.

You have ink in your blood, boy, and no help for it. Books will never be just a business to you.”

It was the Burners’ motto: A life is worth more than a book.

It was Wolfe’s concern, Jess thought, that was the most unsettling part of this.