Excerpt from The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Oh fuck," said Carolyn. This was startled out of her—she hadn't expected Nobununga quite so soon. But she had the presence of mind to speak softly, and in English. No one noticed.

"When will he arrive?"

Michael's brow furrowed. "He . . . he will arrive, um . . . when he gets here?"

David gritted his teeth. "Do we have any idea when that might be?"

"It will be later."

"Like, when, exactly?" His hand curled into a fist.

"He doesn't understand, David," Jennifer said softly. "He doesn't see time the way people do. Not anymore. Hitting him won't change that."

Michael, panicky now, flitted his eyes from Jennifer to David. "The mice have seen him! He approaches!"

David unclenched his fist. He rubbed his temples. "Never mind," he said. "It doesn't matter. He's even right. Nobununga will arrive when he arrives. All we can do is make him welcome. Peter, Richard—collect the totems." The twins bounced up, scrambling to obey.

"Carolyn—I need you to go back into America. We need an innocent heart. We will offer it to Nobununga when he arrives. Do you think you can handle that?"

"An innocent heart? In America?" She hesitated. "Possibly."

Misunderstanding, he said, "It's easy. Just cut through the ribs." He scissored his fingers through the air. "Like so. If you can't get it out yourself, send for me."

"Yes, David."

"That will be all for tonight. Carolyn, you can go whenever you're ready. The rest of you stay close." He glanced at the bull, uneasy. "Richard, Peter, be quick about it. I want to, um, get back to Mrs. McGillicutty's," he said, winking at Margaret. "Dinner will be ready soon."

Rachel sat down on the ground. Her children crowded around her. In a moment she was entirely hidden behind them. Carolyn wanted to speak with Michael, but he and his cougars had faded into the woods. Jennifer unrolled her sleeping skins and lay back on them with a groan. Margaret drifted into orbit around David.

David rummaged around in his knapsack for a moment. "Here you go, Margaret," he said. "I brought you a gift." He pulled out the severed head of an old man, hoisting him by his long, wispy beard. He swung the head back and forth a couple of times, then tossed it to her.

Margaret caught it with both hands, grunting a bit at the weight. She grinned, delighted. Her teeth were black. "Thank you."

David sat down beside her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "How long will it be?" he called over his shoulder.

"An hour," Richard said, running his fingers through the bowl of totems—Michael's hair of the Forest God, the black candle, the scrap of Carolyn's dress, stiff with blood, a drop of wax from the black candle. These would be used as nodes of an n-dimensional tracking tool that they were quite sure—well . . . fairly sure, at least—would point them toward Father. Well . . . probably. Carolyn had her doubts.

"No more than that," Peter agreed.

Margaret took the head into her lap and began fussing over it—caressing its cheeks, cooing at it, smoothing its bushy eyebrows. After a moment of her attentions the dead man's eyelids fluttered, then opened.

"Blue eyes!" Margaret exclaimed. "Oh, David, thank you!"

David shrugged.

Carolyn snuck a peek. Perhaps the man's eyes had been blue once, but now mostly what they were was sunken and filmed over. But she recognized him. He had been a minor courtier in one of Father's cabinets and, once, the prime minister of Japan. Normally such a man would be protected. David must be feeling bold. The head blinked again and fastened his eyes upon Margaret. His tongue stirred and his lips began to move, though of course without lungs he could make no sound.

"What is he saying?" David asked. After six weeks of banishment, most of them had picked up at least a smattering of American, but Carolyn was the only one who spoke Japanese.

Excerpted from The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Copyright © 2015 by Scott Hawkins. Excerpted by permission of Crown. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.