“I won’t call you that, then,” I said.
She glanced up, warmth blazing in her eyes. “Thank you.”
We continued toward the car.
The Carnegie building fell away behind us in heavy stone and shadow. Its wide steps and heavy bronze door told me it was a place that believed knowledge should weigh something. I understood that instinct, and I found myself slowing without meaning to, taking in the details of the unfamiliar territory.
Beside us, Schenley Plaza bustled. People laughed somewhere near the food vendors.
The smell of frying oil and sugar drifted from the carts. Music played from somewhere. Younger people crossed the plaza in loose groups, bags slung carelessly over the shoulders, all talking at once. No hierarchy I could see. No obvious leader. The disorder should have bothered me, but it felt strangely functional. I resented how easily it worked.
The Cathedral of Learning towered in the distance like an old sentinel.
I risked another glance at Artemis, and that pull inside me became heavier, more persistent.
Something ancient was waking up inside my bones.
And that scared me more than anything waiting at the address on that card.
11
ARTEMIS
The storage building looked less like a place to meet a librarian and more like a place where someone hid government secrets or a large collection of construction equipment. It stretched the length of half the block with metal siding and a roll-up door. Above the entrance, a single floodlight provided the only illumination.
I stopped beside Arthur and stared at it. “If this is where he stores his dead bodies, I want you to know I blame you for this entire situation.”
Arthur didn’t react the way I hoped he would. No smile, not even a hint of amusement. Just a deep look at the building like he was reconsidering every decision that had brought him to this moment.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here,” he said. “But since youarehere, you must stay next to me. No matter what.”
My heart gave a giddy, yet alarming, thump. I nodded. “Of course.” Then, quieter, “What have I gotten myself into?”
Arthur looked at the building again with quiet intensity. His hand hovered near mine, not quite touching, but close enough that I could feel the heat of him. We waited in silence until footsteps scraped across the pavement. Percy hurried toward us, scanning every direction as if expecting snipers to drop from the rooftops. He wore a hat now. A large one. I had no explanation for it.
“Sorry for the precautions.” He unlocked the padlock with trembling fingers. “I have received death threats about the information I’ve been uncovering. It has been a stressful few years.”
“That explains the speed walking,” I muttered.
Percy nodded as if I had complimented him. “Exactly.”
Arthur moved a little closer to me as Percy rolled up the door. The inside of the building brightened as overhead lights clicked on one at a time.
I stepped in and froze.
The inside of the storage building was not at all what I’d expected. Floor-to-ceiling shelves lined every wall. Stacks of documents sat in uneven piles. Papers with notes scrawled in tight handwriting were pinned to corkboards. Red circles had been drawn on a myriad of maps. One table held nothing but catalog cards sorted into careful groups.
It looked like the inside of someone’s mind. A frantic, brilliant mind. A mind that probably hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in years.
“You have your own research bunker,” I said.
Percy straightened with obviouspride. “I have been compiling records for thirteen years. I always wondered when you would appear, Arthur Vantross.”
Arthur stiffened beside me.
Percy approached and extended a hand. “Percy Caballero. For real this time.”
Arthur’s gaze sharpened, and he shook Percy’s hand. “Caballero. From the line of Cristóbal Caballero. The historian and author ofRecopilación de Linajes de Dragones Notables de este Milenio.”
