Securing the Lever

I moved across the shelf toward the rear corner. Half-shadowed behind a stack of magazines lay a piece of angled metal—a black steel hex wrench, bent at a clean ninety degrees. I crouched, resting one knee against the polished timber, and closed my left gauntlet around the cold steel. The tool was dense, rigid, with sharp hexagonal edges intact. I tested its leverage by lifting the long arm off the wood. Solid. It will serve as an anchor or pry bar if the need arises. I wedged it firmly into the crevice between the shelf leg and the wall trim. Prepared.