Margaret chuckled. “It must not have been a very good story if you fell asleep during it.”
Morton laughed too. “Well, that part checks out.”
I remembered Wolfe telling me about Lor, how close they’d been, and it made so much sense why losing his brother affected him so deeply, so much more than the rest of his family.
“No,” I said softly. “It wasn’t boring at all. I guess I felt safe and warm, so I drifted off.”
Silence settled over the library.
“Interesting,” Morton said.
“Very,” Margaret said back.
I shot a gaze between them. “Are you two done?” I straightened and stood, bustling behind the counter to make sure we had plenty of parchment and ink for tonight. “There is nothing interesting about it.”
“You’re going to have to tell him, you know,” Morton said.
I glanced at him as I straightened the pieces of parchment on the desk. “Who am I telling what?”
“Cillian,” Morton said gently. “You’re going to have to tell him you have feelings for his brother.”
My mouth dropped open. “No, no I don’t. I-I—don’t, well”—I fiddled with my hands—“I maybe do, have some feelings, but I can hide them. Wolfe doesn’t return them, and it’s a stupid little crush. I’ll get over it.”
“Are you sure about that?” Margaret asked, tilting her head. “I’ve never heard him say more than a few words at a time. No one has. He told you an entire story? Not to mention fell asleep next to you? I didn’t think he had a warm bone in his body.”
“Because he owed me,” I said, exasperated. “He didn’t do it because he wanted to.”
“Niamh.” Morton slithered up the desk, settling right in front of the parchment. “I know you, and I know this will eat you up. You’re already getting all squeaky and restless.”
“I’m not squeaky.” I bristled.
“You’re a little squeaky.” Margaret pinched her fingers together.
“You have to tell Cillian,” Morton said again, and I bit my lip, knowing he was right.
We had less than a week left to earn our keys, and part of me was hoping this big party tonight would be it. That the castle would see how I restored its library, how I had brought people here to read and learn, and it would appreciate all my hard work so much I’d get my key.
And then Cillian would propose. My stomach sank at that part of it all.
“What if I tell him and the castle decides to throw us out?”
“What if it does?” Morton asked. “We’ve survived this long. We’ll keep surviving. Like we always have. And don’t you think it might be worth it?”
“What?” I asked.
“Finding out whether Wolfe returns your feelings?”
A heavy stone settled in my stomach at the thought of admitting all of this to Wolfe, of him looking at me with a stone-cold expression, no emotion, of how much it would hurt. I’d already lost so much in my life, and I wasn’t sure I could lose him too.
“I think you’re right,” I said. “I’ll tell Cillian. Tonight. But I’m not ready to tell Wolfe. It would just make him uncomfortable.”
Morton patted my hand with his tail. “Well, you know what’s best.”
I clearly didn’t. I was fumbling my way through all of this, but tonight, I would tell Cillian the truth and hope that I didn’t lose everything that mattered to me in the process.
CHAPTER 28
Wolfe
