For his entire life, Oliver had been cloistered of his own volition with the Paranormal Society as his whole world for ten years. He knew the nooks and crannies of the building intimately. Before Felipe came into his life, he would lie awake in the quiet of the basement and listen to the ebb and flow of energy through the building as if it breathed like a living thing. What did any of that matter when he had so little experience in the real world? Gwen and Felipe would be best equipped to be the new anchorites, but he didn’t even know if someone who wasalready dead could be granted a second life. Oliver ran his thumb over his ring.Don’t go where I can’t follow. If only the three of them could do it together.
“Ol?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do it,” he said, keeping his eyes on the beaker. “And before you say anything to the contrary, I asked Mr. Turpin what would happen to Felipe if I became an anchorite, and he said that taking on the magic running through the society might cut Felipe loose. I couldn’t bear it if I killed him again, Gwen.”
Oliver hated how distraught he sounded, but the thought hurt more than Gwen could know. Felipe finally seemed to be reaching for some unknown future with hope, and Oliver couldn’t risk taking that away from him. When he turned back to Gwen, she looked crestfallen but resigned. He couldn’t let that look linger. Taking her hand in his, Oliver gave it a loving squeeze.
“I don’t know what your decision is, Gwen, but my opinion, for what it’s worth, is that you would be an excellent anchorite. You’re smart, thoughtful, kind, and driven to do better. I can’t think of anyone better suited to take Mr. Turpin’s place than you. No matter what I choose, I hope you decide to do it.” At the blush rising on her cheeks, he asked slowly, “Have you come to a decision?”
“I don’t know yet. The idea of being able to see a future no other person of our age will get to live through is tempting. I keep thinking about all the books I could read or the things I could see. Think of all the advances we’ve made in such a short time. Things we never even dreamed of, we would get to see.”
Oliver’s heart clenched.We. “Imagine how many volumes your vampire book would be if you had a hundred years to work on it.”
“I could have appendices for every year I am old. And I could learn so much more magic. Mr. Turpin said that before I take his place, he plans to teach me everything he knows, like how to work in the special collections, how to break residual magic, how to do types of magic that have fallen out of favor, everything.” Her lips curled into a bright smile. “It sounds so trivial to be excited about books and seeing things progress, but I can’t think of a better way to spend any extra lifetime than learning all I can and sharing that with others.”
“If you did become an anchorite, would you want to build a school?”
“I don’t know if I would want it to be a formal school. That comes with its own issues, but wouldn’t it be something if the society could become a center for learning instead of just a repository for knowledge? While the library is great and all, people have to know what they’re looking for when they come to us. If we did apprenticeships or lecture series or something more hands-on, we could teach so many more people.”
“Felipe was discussing something similar with Theo Bisclavret the other day that would fit nicely with your idea. You should talk to him about it.” Bumping his arm against Gwen’s, Oliver replied, “So if you have a vision for the future, why not say yes?”
Gwen sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m not pressuring you when I say this, Ol, but if the other anchorite isn’t you, then I’m not sure I want to do it. From what Mr. Turpin said to me, it sounds like he and Mrs. Van Husen don’t get along. I don’t want to be stuck for a small eternity with someone I don’t like or who only vaguely tolerates me.”
Oliver opened his mouth to protest, but Gwen held up a hand for silence.
“A man can make a woman’s life miserable in ways you can’t even conceive of, Oliver Barlow. For a woman like me, it wouldbe even worse. I don’t have the privilege of not being fussy about who I’m stuck with for a hundred years. With you, I have a decade of knowing what’s in your head and heart, and I trust you. I trust Felipe, too. You’re like a pair of socks at this point; you can’t have one without the other.”
Oliver laughed despite himself. For days, he had built up talking to Gwen about this so much that he nearly avoided her, yet it was all so easy. He should have known. He should have trusted that once they spoke, things would be fine. There was just one question remaining.
“Gwen, last Saturday, when you were asking me about the future after you met with Turpin, why didn’t you warn me that he wanted to talk to me about becoming one of the anchorites?”
“He told me not to say anything. I know, we always tell each other everything, but I didn’t know if it would ruin your chances or mine if I told you. Besides, even if it didn’t, how was I supposed to begin to explain that conversation? You would have thought I was delirious if I started talking about Mr. Turpin being a hundred and fifty years old.”
“That’s fair.” As he marked down the results from the test, the hurt on Mr. Turpin’s face when he stormed out of the room flickered across Oliver’s mind in time with a pang of anger-tinged guilt. “I don’t like the position Mr. Turpin has put us in. I don’t know if he meant for us to pressure each other into taking the position, but it feels like he did.”
“I’m not excusing what Mr. Turpin’s done, but I think he was trying to do something nice by having us be anchorites together. I just don’t think he thought it through.”
“He did mention that being an issue for him.”
“You know, the worst part is that after all this, I still don’t feel like I fully understand what the anchorites do or how it would work if we agreed to do it. Mr. Turpin isn’t a bad boss by a longshot, but he’s horrible about getting so hung up ondetails that you end up wasting time figuring out what the actual important parts are. Giving straightforward information has never been his strong suit, and I don’t know about you, but I could really use that right now.”
Nodding, Oliver sighed. Whatever Mr. Turpin had said about being an anchorite had been completely overshadowed by the realization Felipe could get hurt, and now, he wished he had taken notes. It might not have been so bad, but the crying fit after he left followed by passing out at the bazaar had really torn the memory to tatters. He could ask him or Gwen to recount everything, but he didn’t want to leave equally confused again. As Oliver set down his pencil, it dawned on him.
“What about Mrs. Van Husen? She is the other anchorite, and she’s a woman. She’s certain to have useful insights Mr. Turpin wouldn’t. I haven’t met her, but Felipe did and he liked her a lot, even if she scared him a little.”
“I thought about reaching out to her. The problem is, I’ve only met her a handful of times. I don’t even know where to look for her. She just turns up.”
“Tell Mr. Turpin you want him to arrange a meeting with her or both of them to discuss being an anchorite. He seemed desperate for us to agree, so I’m sure he’ll do it.” Swallowing against the knot in his throat, Oliver added, “I’ll come as well. I have some questions of my own I would like to ask her.”
“Who are we interrogating?”
Oliver turned to find Felipe shouldering open the door while balancing two loaded trays.
“Mrs. Van Husen, and we’re asking, not interrogating,” Gwen said as she levitated the trays out of his hands and placed them on the bench.
A grin spread across Felipe’s cheeks as Oliver crossed the room and caught him in a tight hug. Felipe hadn’t seemeddistressed while talking to the reporter, but Oliver was relieved to have him back at his side all the same.
“How did your meeting with the reporter go?” Oliver asked when he released him with a kiss and herded him toward his lunch.
