Half truth

Chapter Thirty-Six

Logan walked me around the castle, showing me the rooms that others had left unlocked before we took a stairwell. The walls were made of the same stone as the exterior of the castle. The same stone that lay the path to walk up. I touched it as we walked up, admiring the roughness of the rock beneath my hand. I looked up and focused on the arched window, the only thing providing us with enough light to see the steps we took in the winding stairwell. Standing in this spot, I could almost envision myself acting out a part in Beauty & The Beast. I let my hand fall from the wall and continued on.

“When was this built?”

“Late eighteen-hundreds.”

Late eighteen-hundreds. I wondered how many things these halls had seen. Logan said the first owner had killed her husbands here. They must have seen a whole lot of damage. Logan took a large step and started walking beside me, rather than behind, as we reached the top of the stairwell. I gasped as I took it in. I may not have known much art history, but I knew Gothic architecture when I saw it, and this was goth to the max, with a long wide hall made up of ivory arches and walls covered in the same material, that mimicked the arch windows on the other side. The windows were too high up for me to look out of, but the light they provided was enough to stare at the walls and ceilings all day. The floors weren’t anything spectacular, mismatched slabs of black and gold, and even still it was beautiful.

“This is crazy,” I whispered, looking around. I focused on the arched wooden doors up ahead. “Is that a room?”

“Nope.” He was walking faster now, more animated. I followed with the same enthusiasm. When he opened it, it gave way to a library. My jaw dropped.

“How is this place real?” I stepped inside and looked around.

It wasn’t very big, but it had two walls filled with books and a stepladder that glided across each. It was like a real-life Beauty and The Beast library. I walked around and looked at the books. All looked like they’d been here for over one hundred years, and they probably had been. I didn’t recognize the titles, but some of the authors were familiar.

“Does anyone come up here?”

“To study sometimes. Or for meetings,” Logan said. “All of the public areas like this one are fair game, so if there’s a party to plan with the current board members and alumni, they pick a few rooms and host in those.”

“Interesting,” I said. “What else is a public area?”

“Let’s go through here.” Logan gri

Instead of walking out the doors we just came in through, he walked forward and pulled a lever beside one of the bookcases. It revealed a doorknob. Taking a small part of the bookcase with him as he pulled, he signaled for me to walk through. I did, completely entranced.

“I told you the lady was crazy,” he said.

“What does that door in the entrance lead to?”

“A similar library, but that one is off-limits. It belongs to the current board. Only they have a key to it.”

“What’s Nolan’s major?”

“Art history. His family deals art.” Logan looked over at me. “Why?”

“I was trying to find a co

“Accounting, with a minor in art.”

“Another art dealer?”

“Yeah.”

“What about Nora?”

“Political science. I think she just got into grad school.”

“So politician, art dealers, and journalists?” I frowned. “My dad is a media mogul, as are my two older brothers, but they all studied business.”

“Business is our co

“In hockey?”

“Sports in general. I play hockey, but I’m not just a hockey player,” he said. “The same way Michael Jordan and Lebron James and Dwayne Wade aren’t just basketball players.”

“That makes sense.”

“You ready now?” he nodded towards the winding staircase in front of us.

“I’m ready.” I smiled, but as I walked down I thought about the secret passageway itself.

Had my father brought Lana in and out of here like this? What about the other girls she’d mentioned he’d been with? He told me he had only had a mentoring relationship with her. I needed to either believe him and back him up or not believe him and . . . and what? Lana was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. God. I wished my brother would wake up already. I needed him here. My stomach growled as we reached the end of the stairs.

“We’ll get breakfast soon, I swear,” Logan said, opening a door that led outside. “This is the garden.”

Unlike the grandiosity of the castle, this was the smallest garden I’d ever seen. The grass had been completely covered with bricks, as if to not let anything grow. There were a few tails of weeds that seeped through, but that was it. The magnificent thing about it was that it was outside, yet somehow tucked between the castle walls and those castle walls were covered in ivy. In the middle of it was a lamppost, which was currently turned off. It was an oddly charming secret garden. I turned to Logan, who was leaning against the only spot not yet covered in ivy. He was watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite understand. It wasn’t lust. It wasn’t amusement or curiosity. The potential of what it could be held me captive.

“I like it,” I said. “There’s minimal upkeep.”

“Which is why we like it.” He smiled. “Come on, let’s go have breakfast. I’m starving.”

He took my hand in his as we walked back inside the house, to one of the common areas that had long tables. There were pastries set up—donuts, bagels, croissants, and coffee boxes. Nolan was sitting in there, talking to Marcus and a pretty girl with beautiful pale skin and short, brown curly hair. She smiled as we walked in, her eyes on our held hands. I wondered if she’d been his partner last year. I didn’t know how partners worked exactly, but for some reason, I was dying to know. Maybe it was the blood oath that did it for me. Maybe it was the fact that my feelings for him were so big they threatened to take over everything else. Maybe it was because last night had been magical or because everything he said to me held promises I so desperately wanted.

We both served ourselves things in the plastic plates provided. I got one donut. Logan got five stacked up. We poured coffees into to-go cups and walked over to where they were sitting.

“I’m Nora,” she said as I sat down.

“Amelia.” I smiled. “But you already knew that.”

“I did. Not to say I’m not curious about the girl who finally made Logan take a blood oath.” She gri

“Nora.” It was a warning.

“He doesn’t even like the word blood,” Marcus said laughing.

“He’s having breakfast. Leave him the fuck alone,” Nolan said, scowling.

“You don’t like blood?” my attention whipped in his direction. He cringed. “But . . . you’re always bleeding. You play hockey, for God’s sake. Not to mention, get in a lot of fistfights.”

“Ironic, I know,” he mumbled.

“More than ironic. It’s plain weird.” I laughed, taking a bite of my donut and chewing. I licked my lips, looking at Nora again. “So he’d never done an oath? How is he here?”

“He had to scale the waterfall by the old Lab. Twice. They told him they’d give him until this year to participate in the oath, which is insane, if you ask me. We didn’t have a choice in the matter.” She rolled her eyes.