Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

Save me.

Save me.

My fingers find Finn’s necklace, buried under my shirt. I grasp it in my fingers, as I pray to the archangel.

St. Michael, protect me.

Protect me from the snares of the devil, because somehow I know the devil is here.

He’s here and I’m in danger.

I just don’t know what the danger is.

But you do.

Protect me til I know.

Protect me.

Protect me.

Protect me.

Chapter 6

There is a whispering in the hall, and I pull on my clothes, eager to leave this room behind. I throw open my doors to find Sabine in the hall, speaking with Jones.

They both look up at me, surprised at my abrupt appearance.

“Can we help you, Miss Price?” Jones asks, his tone so formal and stiff.

He belongs here, I think. Here in this stiff, stiff house.

“No, thank you,” I say. “I’m just restless.”

Sabine notices the book beneath my arm.

“We have a magnificent library here,” she tells me. “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

We pass through the quiet halls and the silent rooms, and always, always, always, I feel watched. Invisible eyes stare through me, into me, and I hate it.

There is something here.

Something.

“Do you feel safe here?” I ask her abruptly as she pushes open the library doors. She turns to me, surprised.

“Of course, Miss Price,” she says throatily. “You don’t?”

“Please, call me Calla,” I tell her, avoiding the question as she leads me into the room.

Shelves of books surround me, lining the room, ceiling to floor.

“I’ll light the fireplace to get rid of the morning chill,” she says, crossing the room and kneeling in front of the beautiful stone.

I leave her as quickly as I can, to get away from her question, and I go from book to book, but of course she doesn’t forget and when I turn back around, she’s there.

“Let’s sit by the fire, child.”