Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,55
storeroom?”
“It sounds as though there is more than one room that appears on the plans, but has no door into it in modern times. Kelly concealed himself until late at night in a different storeroom, then snuck into the room beside the hidden one. He chiseled his way through the wall, then used the clutter in the first room to hide the hole.” Ves looked up. “Does that seem likely? Surely someone would have noticed.”
“The museum has sixty years of accumulated artifacts and specimens from every part of the globe,” Sebastian said. “I’ve never been to the storerooms myself, but surely most of them aren’t routinely accessed. I imagine such damage might go unnoticed for years, or even decades, until some researcher needed to examine an obscure species of frog, or taxidermied bird skins, or underwhelming fossil fish.”
“Oh.” Ves looked somewhat taken aback. “I suppose the library is more organized than I thought.”
“You’d be surprised.”
A shadow materialized in the doorway, and Sebastian jumped. But it was only Irene. “Have you found anything, gentlemen?”
“A bit,” Sebastian said. “Nothing especially helpful, but we’re working toward it. I authenticated the letters and am trying to sort them into order by date. You?”
“Not a bloody thing,” she said with a scowl. “I tried a spell or two in the bindery that I thought might compel the entity to reveal itself, but no luck. At any rate, it’s five o’clock, and the rest of us are getting ready to leave for the night. I intend to look into the family’s records, or the ones we have left, anyway, and see if I can find any mention of these Books of the Bound. Unfortunately, our library was destroyed along with our estate in Cornwall, but we’ve managed to rebuild a small part in the intervening years.”
Ves stood up, glancing at the box of architectural drawings. “We should leave as well.”
“Agreed.” Sebastian rose to his feet as well. “I’ll find you in the morning, Irene.” He watched her depart, then turned to Ves. “Have you thought any more about dinner? Bonnie would love you to come.”
Ves wavered. “I…I have something to attend to, I’m afraid.”
“Stop in for a short while, after?” Sebastian suggested hopefully. “I’m not—that is, just for talk.”
Ves glanced away. “Perhaps.”
The man had things to do, Sebastian reminded himself. They’d repaired their budding friendship, but that didn’t mean Ves wanted to spend every evening together.
“You’re always welcome,” he only said. And tried not to feel sad when Ves nodded curtly and made for the door.
Ves stopped at Marsh’s rather than eating at the boarding house. He needed some time alone with his thoughts.
The evening rush of customers came in just behind him, most of them clerks or office workers, mixed in with a few skilled laborers. No doubt those who toiled in the fish cannery or on the docks had their own places to retreat to. A murmur of voices soon filled the air, but none of the tables seemed inclined to pay attention to any of their fellow diners, for which Ves was grateful.
Mortimer Waite had tried to poison him. And he couldn’t tell Sebastian, which meant trying to find some other proof.
Except he didn’t have time. The earth would begin its pass through the comet’s tail shortly before midnight tomorrow.
And Ves now had the means of giving Fagerlie exactly what he wanted. He didn’t even need to finish his map.
He could go back to the museum library as soon as he was finished eating dinner. See the bats, break into Sebastian’s office, and steal the architectural drawings of the Ladysmith. He’d be reunited with Noct by dawn.
It was still possible—not likely, but possible—that Fagerlie meant to keep his half of the bargain. He’d free the brothers of the curse that warped their blood, then head about his own business while they caught the first train out of Widdershins.
But that would leave Sebastian at the mercy of a murderer, someone who had already had him followed. It would leave the town—maybe the world—at the mercy of whatever the Book of Breath could do in the hands of a man like Fagerlie.
It sounded as though Ladysmith and Dromgoole had gone to great lengths to bind and trap the books. Which suggested either the two men had been caught up in some sort of folie à deux, or the books presented an urgent danger.
The bitter truth was, no matter what Ves decided, he would lose Sebastian. But if Fagerlie did indeed keep to his word, at