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Silence.
“Tell me why you jumped.” My efforts are fruitless, but as Shante is getting nowhere, it appears I’ll need to take matters into my own hands. One of these times, Maggie is going to respond. I have to believe that.
Until then, I need to search for more information. More journals or correspondence have to be around here somewhere. I jump from the settee and start looking shelf by shelf for anything that talks about vampire myths and legends or even personal journals from Julian’s father’s collection. I’ve only managed to peruse a small portion of this enormous library. It could take days, if not weeks, to search the whole place.I don’t have that kind of time.
I remove books to peek behind them for hidden articles but come up short. Climbing a ladder, I search the top shelves and find myself exactly where I started. Empty-handed. And still, I’ve only scratched the surface. How am I going to do this alone?
The frustration mounts as I pace back and forth along the window side of the library. The lights from the house reflect down on the fog-covered ground, casting an eerie glow across the expanse. My hands land on the window ledge as I peer out into mist, lost in thought and growing tired. From the corner of my eye, movement draws my attention to the dimly lit wing. A woman peers back at me.Maggie?
She gestures for me to come to her. The sensation I feel at her beckoning is similar to a tug-of-war, and she’s winning. I’m transfixed, moving closer to the glass, trying to determine if my eyes are playing tricks on me. The woman slams her hands against the window, pressing her face to the windowpane.
I jump back, startled.
A smile forms on her lips as though she’s happy with herself for garnering my attention. She turns slowly, moving down the hallway. Her figure disappears and reappears as she walks past each window. The pull to go to her intensifies.
Before I know what’s happening, I’m up and moving. Twisting down familiar hallways and trying my best to remain unseen. I’ve long since lost the view of the girl—Maggie—but my feet continue, knowing exactly where to go. I allow the ghostly energy to transport me like it did the last time I found myself in this exact place.
I’m standing at the threshold of the former Crown’s bedroom. An overwhelming sense of urgency pushes me forward.
You need to hide the box.
I’m unsure, in my current fog, if it’s my own subconscious calling the shots or Maggie infiltrating my mind. My feet move toward the wall of stone quickly, not wanting to take chances being in here for too long. I locate the brick and unlock the hidden room, grabbing the wooden chest from the shelf. I tuck it under my arm protectively and make haste putting everything back the way it belongs.
Julian has visited this wing before, and if anything is suspicious, he might notice. Until I have answers, I want to go at this alone. He’s got too much on his plate already. I need to prove to him—and more importantly, to myself—that I can be useful. I can solve some of the mysteries surrounding my family. Maybe I’ll even find something that can help him with his war efforts.
Something deep within me says this box holds answers to some—if not all—of my questions. I need to protect it at all costs until I can break the damn thing apart.
Everything is as it should be. I turn to leave and gasp at the figure standing in the doorway, eyes narrowed, arms crossed over his chest.
Law.
Chapter Ten
“Law.” His name comes out raspy. “W-what are you doing here?”
“Funny, I was just about to ask you that,” he says, raising one eyebrow. “What are you doing in my father’s room, Marina?”
I shrug before lapsing into a tirade of word vomit. “I got lost. Stumbled in here. Wow, this room. Really? It was your dad’s? Crazy.” I purse my lips, looking around as though this were my first time here.
Law pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, trying—and failing—to smother his obvious amusement at having caught me and my subsequent botched attempt at avoidance. “What’s in the box, Marina?”
My head snaps down at the chest. “Oh, this?” I smack my dry lips together, growing more frantic by the second. How in the hell am I going to get out of this? “It’s just some old box I found. It’s nothing, really.”
He pushes away from the door frame, coming toward me. I take a giant step back. He extends his arm, holding out his hand. “Let me see it.”
I shake my head.
“Marina,” he warns, taking another step toward me. “Give me the box.”
“I can’t,” I say through clenched teeth. “It’s not yours.”
He laughs. “If the way you’re acting is any indication, it’s not yours either.”
“Finders keepers?” I say, wincing at how lame I sound.
His head falls back and he laughs boisterously. “You never fail to amuse me, Marina.”
I blow out a breath, growing indignant. “I’m not trying to be amusing,” I hiss. “And could you be quiet? You’re going to alert someone we’re in here.”
