"No, no, that's alright. We can get it." She made a point of answering every call. Otherwise, she may as well just waste away in isolation.
All at once her manner had switched from hostility to inquiry. "On strike, eh?" Rubbing her chin, Valkyrie stared off at distant bookshelves, spectral synapses racing to determine the cause. "I've dealt with other living books... quite clever really, some can recite any passage on demand..." Their sapient behaviour was surely an accident if they were so disorderly. Perhaps an exponential spread was responsible for this sordid mishap.
"Right, well." It was now officially an open case. Turning to the girl with a splayed hand, Val reaffirmed the situation. "There's your answer. The book burrowed itself. Let's go and track it down, then maybe we can convince it to lend itself to you for a while." She nodded to the library's exit. Unfamiliar with the school's layout, she expected Susie to lead the way to the courtyard.