Page 12 of Bloodlines and Birthright

Beside me, Brother Eduardo gasped. His fingers closed around the simple wooden cross hanging around his neck.

“Signore Scala is greedy, depraved,” the abbot went on, his accent more pronounced than ever. “I did not tell you they were gone, Signore Barratt, because I thought you might find the book you want in what remains of our collection.”

“You mean you hoped we’d root out any volumes about magic that you missed.” Oscar shook his head in disappointment. “We weren’t lying when we wrote saying we didn’t know its title.”

“We?” I echoed.

Oscar put a hand up to tell me to wait until later for that conversation. “Finding the book mentioning the spell among the abbey’s collection would be like finding a needle in a haystack. You accepted my donation under false pretenses, Father Abbot.”

A donation, too! What else had Oscar done behind my back?

“The money was not for the book,” the abbot said. “It was for informing you about your friends’ visit. As I wrote in my letter, they are expected tomorrow. I did what you asked.”

Friends!

It all began to make sense. The delayed departure for Italy, the sighting of Miss Wheeler and Mr. Defoe on the lake…Oscar had timed our visit with theirs, based on the information supplied by the abbot. Information Oscar had paid for.

A light touch to my elbow took me by surprise. I wasn’t aware I was almost on Oscar’s heels until Brother Eduardo urged me to slow down. He lowered his voice. “Father Abbot does not like Signore Scala.”

“So I gathered.”

“He is not evil, despite what the abbot says.” He lowered his voice further. “He is an aesthete, as you English say.”

“Depraved, the abbot called him. Is that because Signore Scala is interested in magic?”

Brother Eduardo didn’t answer. We’d caught up to Oscar and the abbot, waiting at the top of the staircase for us. The abbot gave Brother Eduardo instructions in Italian then switched to English to speak to us.

“Goodbye, Signore Barratt, Professor Nash. May God be with you.”

I thanked him while Oscar merely gave a stiff nod. The abbot returned to his office, leaving us with the librarian.

Brother Eduardo indicated we should go ahead of him down the stairs. “You two are very good friends,” he said, pitching his voice higher at the end, almost but not quite, asking a question.

Oscar’s only response was an indecipherable humph.

I, however, was still rather cross with him for writing to the abbot without telling me, and my response was curt. “I thought we were.”

Oscar tilted his head to regard me. “Gavin,” he began. He didn’t continue, but I suspected it was a conversation we’d pick up again on the walk back to the village.

Brother Eduardo escorted us across the forecourt to the gatehouse and shook our hands in farewell. “Be careful, I beg you. Dusk is here.”

We should have heeded his advice more closely, but Oscar and I were distracted by our argument.

Chapter 5

“Before you get cross with me,” Oscar said as we left the abbey behind, “there’s a reason I didn’t tell you I wrote to the abbot.”

“I am already cross,” I said.

Oscar studied me with arched brows.

“And may I point out that you didn’t just write to the abbot without telling me, you bribed him.”

“It was a donation, not a bribe.”

“I beg to differ.”

He blew out an exasperated breath. “Gavin, I didn’t confide in you because I knew you would object.”