When you’ve seen one heart, you really haven’t seen them all.
The heart. Felipe checked the remaining specimens in the box before moving to the shelf of Oliver’s personal specimens. There was a model heart, but it wasn’t the same one. The one he had brought for Oliver was a real one, and it had looked crusty and in need of freshening up. What about that heart was worth killing for? Picking up Oliver’s bag and casting a sideways glance at where Jed lay, Felipe shut off the light and closed the laboratory door. He would enjoy a few more hours of peace with Oliver, and then, he would find Newman.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Closure
Oliver stood outsidethe library holding a box of pastries, ready to vibrate out of his skin. Felipe had convinced him not to wait at the front door for Gwen, but between worrying and nightmares, Oliver had scarcely slept. More than anything, he wanted to see with his own eyes that she was all right and apologize for dragging her into all this. The moment Oliver heard Gwen talking animatedly to Bennett Reynard, he resisted the urge to launch himself down the hallway and, instead, stood very, very still beside Felipe. When she rounded the corner with the redheaded librarian, her eyes lit up upon seeing them. Oliver swallowed against the knot of relief in his throat at seeing Gwen whole and seemingly herself in a bright orange and red gown. Gwen opened her arms, and in two steps, Oliver engulfed her in a tight hug.
“I am so, so sorry, Gwen. I never wanted you to get involved in all this, and I dragged you into it,” Oliver blurted without taking a breath. “And thank you for smashing him with the coffee pot, and—”
“You’re crushing me.” When Oliver released her with a sheepish grin, she waved Reynard into the library with the promise to follow soon, though Reynard seemed more interested in the box of pastries. “Apologies unnecessary but accepted. I appreciate that you were trying to keep me safe, but nearly getting yourself killed in the process is not the way to do that. Andyou,” she continued, pointing to Felipe, “you need to teach him how to protect himself. He had a whole tray of knives, and he grabbed a bone saw. I know you only have a few days, but you can at least teach him the basics.”
“About that, we have some news.”
“And pastries.”
“Let’s go to the tower and talk. Felipe, go around the shelves with the treats and meet us up there. If we split up, Turpin might not notice.”
With a mock salute, Felipe went off ahead of them as Gwen and Oliver fell into companionable silence. While the familiar smell and trappings of the library brought down his racing pulse, Oliver’s eyes kept traveling to the tense lines between Gwen’s eyebrows.
“Gwen,” Oliver stopped a few feet before the end of the hall and asked quietly, “are you sure you’re all right?Reallyall right?”
Gwen shook her head and let out a tired sigh. “Yes and no. I mean, I’ll probably have nightmares about this for a while. I don’t know who wouldn’t. But we’re both alive and not grievously injured, and Jed Monroe is dead. That’s what matters, right?”
“I guess. If you need a hug or to talk or just sit quietly, I’ll do it.”
“Thanks, Ol. Come on, let’s go find Felipe.”
Carefully avoiding Mr. Turpin at the front desk, Gwen and Oliver made their way to the uppermost floor and the spiral staircase leading into the ceiling. When Oliver threw back the hatch to let Gwen go before him, his jaw dropped. He blinked hard as if he might be seeing things, but no, the room was different. Where there had once been a tight space with two wingback chairs and a small table, the room had enlarged to include a sofa with a low table. The books that had been on the smaller table had migrated to the new one, and a painting of a tempest-tossed ship sat above the sofa where Felipe knelt admiring it. The Persian rug remained, though now it looked less gigantic in the space, and the two sconces that had once flanked the chairs had multiplied to four.
Oliver hadn’t realized he had stopped moving until Gwen and Felipe both stared at him expectantly and Felipe offered him a hand up. Something between panic, revulsion, and awe welled up inside him. This room had been his refuge, his safe space within one of his favorite places, and something had changed it without warning.
“Did you do this?” Oliver asked no one in particular.
“I somehow doubt anyone maliciously redecorated your room while you were sleeping. I think the building did it,” Felipe replied with a meaningful look. “I’m finding this place more and more unnerving, though the couch is a nice addition. Now, there’s room for all of us.”
