“But you've been teaching here for thirty years. You must have heard more than that.”
“Miss Calloway.” He stood, and I realized I was being dismissed. “I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. But as I said, I don't have any special knowledge about that... organization.”
I stood too, anger and disappointment warring in my chest. This had been a total waste of time. Dean Weiss had probably told him to shut me down.
I was halfway to the door when Piermont spoke again.
“Oh, Miss Calloway. You mentioned in one of your emails that you're very interested in architecture. Especially historical architecture.”
I turned back, confused. I’d never said anything like that in my emails. I was about to say so, but then I saw Piermont’s face. The way his eyes held mine with deliberate intensity. The way his gray brows had risen. The slight tilt of his head toward the window.
He was trying to tell me something without actually telling me anything.
If the Dionysus Club ever questioned him about his meeting with me, if they made him talk, he could truthfully say he'd never told me anything about them.Plausible deniability strikes yet again.
I cleared my throat. “Yes, that’s right,” I said slowly. “I love architecture. Especially historical buildings. They’re just so beautiful.”
Relief flickered across his features, so brief I almost missed it.
“You should go and look at the Special Collections section of the library when you have a spare moment. Fourth floor, east wing.” He sat back down, reaching for a stack of papers. “Lots of documents and records there. The kind of thing someone interested in historical buildings would find most illuminating.”
“Thank you, Professor. I’ll check it out.”
He didn't look up. “Good luck with your studies, Miss Calloway.”
I left, my mind racing.Special Collections. Fourth floor, east wing.
Whatever Piermont couldn't say out loud, whatever he was too afraid to tell me directly, he'd just pointed me toward. And I was going to find out exactly what it was.
10
Violet
“This is hopeless,”Jeremiah muttered, pulling another dusty volume from the shelf. “We've been at this for an hour, and I still have no idea what we're even looking for.”
“Historical documents about the university buildings,” I said for the third time, scanning the spines in front of me. “Anything that might mention the Dionysus Club, or—”
“Or literally anything useful,” Ginny finished from the next aisle over. “Which so far is a big fat nothing.”
We were tucked into the far corner of the Special Collections section, surrounded by boxes of archived materials and shelves of mostly-forgotten university history. The air smelled like old paper and dust, and the fluorescent lights overhead buzzed faintly.
I pulled down another leather-bound volume. Meeting minutes from 1847.Nothing.
“By the way,” Jeremiah said, slightly lowering his voice even though we were alone, “did you notice Julian Valcourt staring at us when we met up outside?”
My stomach tightened. For once, I actually hadn’t noticed his presence. “Was he?”
“Oh, yeah. Full-on death glare.” Jeremiah raised his eyebrows. “He’s probably still mad at me for confronting him about Daniel. I guess I should expect to wake up with a horse’s head in my bed soon, Godfather style.”
Or several gallons of blood and a creepy note on the wall,I thought bitterly.
Before I could say anything, Ginny poked her head around the corner. “Wait, are we talking about Julian Valcourt again?”
“Yup, pretty sure he’s mega-pissed at me,” Jeremiah said, rolling his eyes. “And before you say ‘I told you so’… trust me, Iknow.I never should’ve said anything to him.”
“Yeah.” She sighed dramatically. “It’s a real shame he’s such an ass, isn’t it?”
“Why?”
