“Ran away?” Silas barks back. “That’s the wording we are going with? Are you serious?”
Larkin’s tone is challenging, and I can’t believe he’s standing up for me right now, even thoughbabysittingdoesn’t sit well with me. His eyes narrow, and he leans toward Silas, not away.
“Am I wrong?”
“I left you to do nothing, Spiridon,” Silas rages.
“Stop it,” I say, trying to get their attention.
“And, had I done nothing,” Larkin tries to push past Silas, but his shoulders hold firm, “she would have been in an entirely different situation—no thanks to you.”
Silas tightens his brow, wrapping his hand around Larkin’s throat. “You have three seconds to continue speaking, or those will be the last words you speak—in this house or otherwise.”
“Then release your hand… from my fucking throat,” Larkin mumbles.
Silas’s grip tightens.
Larkin coughs under his hold. “Hard…to speak…with you choking me.”
“Silas!” I shout, “He did nothing wrong.”
“What were you thinking?” He peels his eyes away from Larkin—dropping his hand—and turns his rage on me. “You are going to get yourself fucking killed, make me kill someone, or both.”
“I was thinking that I had just screamed at you, you had left, and I needed to clear my head. I am trying to figure out what’s happening here and what I can do to save you all.” I walk to Silas and grab his hand, forcing his gaze to mine. “I was thinking that if I can stop all of this, it will save your life—all of your lives—and I will happily risk my own to ensure that happens.”
His eyes soften, but his tone doesn’t. “You don’t have to carry this burden alone.”
“I know.”
“But how did you know she was missing?” Silas returns his gaze to Larkin.
“I went to ask him if he knew where you went. He told me your house, so Maines and Oak came to speak with you first,” I interject. “That’s it.”
I glance at Larkin, who mouths, “Thank you.” I chose to keep the part about him slamming the door in my face and leaving me alone in a dark, haunted castle to myself.
“Very well.” Silas returns to the table and sits down with a new weight pressing down upon him. “Larkin, sit.”
“Is someone going to explain this library?” Maines cuts in, hesitant to speak. “It sounds like it could have the answers we need.”
Silas nods. “It’s likely, but we can’t go inside. The library doesn’t welcome just anyone. It has to invite you in.” He sighs, letting memories flood his mind. “Many have searchedfor the Forgotten Archives for centuries and never found it. My grandfather nearly drove himself mad searching for it.”
“Well, Briar found it.” Larkin joins Oak, Maines, and Silas around the table.
“She’s great at creepy, ancient things finding her,” Oak says, chuckling.
Silas flashes a warning look.
I pull my chair out and sit down next to him.
“Silas is right. We can’t go into the library.”
They wait for me to keep going, but Silas’s expression reveals that he knows more than he’s letting on.
“I was led to the library by the creature that’s been haunting me, and as I entered the room, I had no idea what I was about to discover. Something dark lives in the depths of the shadows. I’ve never experienced such a negative darkness oozing from anything in my life.” I glance at each of them. “We can’t go back in there, because we don’t know what we’re up against.”
They all stare at me, and Silas gives me a soft smile. “And, who knows if it will ever appear again.”
“So, that’s it?” Maines stands, planting her hands on the hard wooden table. “Once again, we won’t even try. At this point, we should pack up and fucking leave. Since we got here, all you have done is act defeated.”
