Welcome to stories from Among the Stars.

You're listening to The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, narrated by Katie Eric. Chapter 20

House of Saints

Present day

Though I find the collector story to be wholly absurd

I struggle to conjure a better theory

Aside from the teeth,

eaters do look identical to humans, yet they cannot interbreed with us and have

strange organs, extreme strength and dark vision. They also consume either books or minds,

processing that information in ways that defile known biology, and they decompose in a manner suggestive

of, dare I say, magic. In truth, to the naked eye,

they are profoundly a magical species, and if I must choose between believing in the collector

or believing in magic, then I am reluctantly inclined to go with the former.

Amarinda Patel, Paper and Flesh, a secret history.

Their little grey car crested the heather hills of Scotland, and began needling its way through winding paths to the valley town of Inaliven below.

Devon, looking at the window, was mesmerised. Moors undulated for miles

toward the north. Snags of cloud tumbled low across the silver blue sky. Twisted trees populated

gnarly slopes, snow blanketing the small stone houses. Wide banks by a sweeping river dotted with optimistic fishes,

even in this weather, wearing waders.

Picture perfect, like one of those charity shop postcards done to capture British nostalgia.

She rested her head against the cool glass.

Do the residents of this town, no?

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