Status Updates From Alchemy of Secrets (Alchemy...

I can see you still have questions and doubts. But I assure you, I'm still the same person." The Professor walked closer to Holland so that both of them were standing in the center of the glittering office. "The stories I told you in 517 were all true. Nothing I taught in that class was a deception."
"You just left out the part about how you're one of the stories."

She wanted to believe there was a world where Adam could be January's partner and Gabe could be a good guy. But she couldn't see a way that worked. One man had been sent to protect her, and the other man was lying to her.

Holland gave herself one minute to think about the kiss. To wonder why Gabe had kissed her and why he had looked regretful and why she was feeling nervous about a kiss when her life literally depended on what would happen inside the Bank.
A kiss didn't matter. Except that kissing always mattered.
And that had been a very good kiss.
Holland let herself think about the kiss

It's said to exist outside of time. One hour in the Regal is one minute in the real world, making it the perfect place for those who never want to grow old, or those who wish to hide.
Holland wondered if this was a key to the Regal.

I don’t really know what’s going on but neither does the main character so I think that’s the point

"I'm guessing my sister doesn't really
collect rare books?"
"That's a question you need to ask her, not me."
"Can you give me a hint? Is she an assassin? Are you two in a kidnapping league?"
"We don't work together." Gabe said this as if it was important.

No one knows what the Alchemical Heart looks like, but it's said to be so powerful that any person it comes near gains an ability, and any object it touches fills with magic. The Sacred Order realized too late that once any form of magic was created, it could not be destroyed.
The magic or ability would simply be passed on to another person or object.

But Gabe didn't say any of those things. He looked as if this was not what he'd signed up for when January had asked for help.
"I'm just telling you the truth," he said. "The Watch Man is always right."
"Wait-how do you know about the Watch Man?"
"The better question is, how do you?"

I don't want to kill anyone," she managed.
"That's good to hear. The world does not need more murderers. And it wouldn't get you any extra time. The only way to live past tomorrow is to find the Alchemical Heart."

"He asked the time," the Watch Man said patiently, but the static on the line was growing thicker. "It is my job to tell him what he wanted to know. And now I must tell you that you will die tomorrow, Halloween, at u1:59 p.m."
Tomorrow. It was more time than Jake, but not by much.

Her family.
Jake was an actor—it wasn't just his name that was lie, the person she'd been dating wasn't real, he'd tricked her, used her—all to find out information about her family. Which meant it was very likely someone in Los Angeles knew who Holland really was.
Holland wondered who? How?

"It is. Your theory that some of the most famous deaths in Hollywood were actually murders committed by the devil is extremely enter-taining, for fiction."
The word fiction hit her like a slap. For the second time since meeting Adam, she could feel her cheeks turning red. She wasn't sure if he was doing it on purpose or if he was just a jerk, but she felt like he kept tricking her.

This was not how she had pictured Adam Bishop. Ripped jeans, plaid shirt, sexy smirk. Strike that. He was a professor. He didn't have a sexy smirk. Except he absolutely did, even if he was no longer wearing it.

Who are you?" she asked.
He flashed an absolutely perfect grin. "I'm Adam Bishop."
Holland laughed. "Oh really." She had a quick thought that being hot and funny was a fantastic combination. But he wasn't smiling. Instead, he was nodding, unnervingly serious. And she felt a sudden, painful flash of embarrassment.

Fast paced #win