Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,24

at all, that is, having spent hours berating himself for being so foolish as to agree to help Sebastian.

The smart thing to do would be to put O’Neil’s disappearance out of his mind. Maybe Fagerlie had disposed of the man—what then? It wasn’t as though Ves was stupid enough to believe his employer wanted a floor plan of the museum library for the sake of scholarship. Fagerlie was a sorcerer; the Ladysmith had the finest collection of occult tomes in America. It wasn’t difficult to deduce why he’d want access.

Theft was one thing. But murder…

“You cannot be weak,” his mother had said on a long-ago spring morning. Despite the warm air, drapes hung over every window, blocking the view of the interior should anyone happen past. No one had ever casually trespassed on their remote homestead so far as Ves knew, but Mother had been paranoid about taking chances.

Her eyes gleamed in the dim light of the kerosene lantern. “Do you understand me, Vesper? You were created for one thing and one thing only: to kill the enemies of our masters. Are you going to fail them? Are you going to fail me?”

He swallowed, desperate to please her. “I understand,” he said, even though the thought of killing anything made him sick. But if he argued, she’d punish him.

Sometimes, she punished him even when he gave her the answers she wanted. So he simply stood in silence, ramrod straight, waiting for her to decide. He’d been able to hold the pose for hours, ever since he was old enough to walk.

“I’m not sure you do,” she said at last. “Fetch me the cane. And wake up Nocturn—I want him to see this.”

Ves sighed as he settled behind the desk that had belonged to his predecessor. Maybe he was weak, in mind if not in body. He hadn’t precisely fooled himself into believing Fagerlie wouldn’t do anything criminal with the map. He’d just ignored that part, preferring to focus on his dreams of escape. The curse would be lifted, he and Noct would be on a train headed west no later than the twentieth of May. No need to worry about the consequences of his actions, because he wouldn’t be around to see them.

Would Sebastian be disappointed when he realized what Ves had done?

What a stupid thought. He’d had one drink with the man. They weren’t even friends.

Sebastian could look after himself. Noct needed Ves. There was no question as to where his duty lay.

A soft knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts. “Come inside,” he called.

Sebastian stuck his head in. “Do you have a moment?”

He’d just finished reassembling the signatures of the diary and put them in the book press, intending to work on the cover next. “Of course.”

Sebastian shut the door and leaned one hip against the table with the book press on it. “Arthur Fairchild—have you met him yet? Anyway, he found a book missing from his collection. He’s certain Kelly took it.”

The dejected sound in his voice pricked Ves uncomfortably. “How can he be sure Mr. O’Neil is the thief?”

“I’m not certain how anyone not a librarian could get around the curses.”

“Right. The curses,” Ves said. Gods of the wood, these people were a superstitious lot.

Sebastian frowned. “You can’t tell me the Boston Public Library doesn’t use curses to prevent theft.”

“They do not.”

“How on earth do they keep the books secure, then?” Sebastian asked, sounding honestly baffled.

Ves blinked. “Um, a combination of watchful eyes in the reading room, limited access to parts of the stacks, and security guards.”

Sebastian shook his head in wonder. “That sounds both inefficient and ineffective.”

Ves let the matter drop. “What did he steal?”

“An unsuppressed copy of Historia Coelestis Britannica by John Flamsteed, the Royal Astronomer. Edmund Halley was his apprentice.”

The book would be valuable on its own, and likely even more valuable than usual now with Halley’s Comet in the sky. But could it have held some shred of knowledge, some esoteric fact, that Fagerlie would find useful or even necessary? Could it even have something to do with the ritual Fagerlie intended to use to cure himself and Noct?

Hopefully not, since the book appeared to have vanished along with O’Neil. Then again, the fact Fagerlie wanted a map of the library suggested he might want a great deal more than a single book.

“That doesn’t explain the threatening note I received,” Ves said slowly. “Though I suppose that could be unrelated.” Perhaps some sensitive soul had unconsciously sensed that Ves