Chapter 11
ELEVEN
My legs are burning by the time I get to the top of the library stairs, and I take a moment to catch my breath.
As much as I enjoy the fact that we get relative privacy on the third floor of the library, it's a long way up.
And apparently being a vampire hasn't made me immune to being out of breath.
That would be something.
There's no evidence of Linc being at our table, which isn't a surprise now we've moved to the private room. But when I turn to go down there, I'm surprised not to spot Eric. I frown and push on the door, but find it locked.
I stand in front of it for a moment, wondering what's happening. I've never arrived before Linc, and I don't really know what to do with myself. I don't think he'd just not show up without telling me, that wouldn't be like him at all.
With nothing else for it, I make my way back to our old spot, intending to browse the shelves until he arrives. Maybe I'll find the next subject I want to research.
I run my finger down the wood of the shelf in front of the books, sounding out the titles under my breath and seeing if one of them catches my attention.
Not that it helps when the lettering is so fancy that I can't tell if something is an s or an f.
Whoever created these books didn't give a thought to the fact that some of us aren't as literate as others.
Nothing pulls me to it, and I make my way to the next set of shelves, only to stop in my tracks. A dark-haired man in a dark suit is leaning over another, their faces so close that they could be touching. And from the disarray of their suits, I'd have to guess that they have been touching.
"I'm so sorry," I blurt out, when really I should just have stayed silent and left the two men to what they're doing. It doesn't take much imagination to figure it out.
The man closest to me turns and my shock deepens when I recognise Marcus.
"Bea..."
"I'm sorry, I should go." I turn around.
"Beatrice, wait!" he calls, fumbling with his shirt buttons as he hurries after me. He reaches out and catches my arm.
I turn around. "I'm really sorry, Marcus, I didn't realise anyone was here. I'm going now."
"About what you saw..."
"I didn't see anything that was any of my business," I say softly. "I'm not going to tell anyone, Marcus."
"My father doesn't know."
"I've never met the King," I remind him. "And I promise, I have no intention of telling him anything. What you do with your time, and who you do it with, are completely your business."
The other man appears behind Marcus.
"This is my cousin, Lady Beatrice Fallmartin," Marcus says, introducing me.
"It's a pleasure," I say.
"And this is Lord Luca Vermatchi, have you met?" The nerves in his voice make it clear that he's not completely sure about introducing the two of us, but considering what I just walked in on, I'm not sure he feels like I have a choice.
I study the man in front of me, looking for signs of his relation to Violetta, but not finding many. "I don't think we have."
Marcus nods. "We've been study partners for a few years now."
I raise an eyebrow.
"Please don't tell anyone."
"Of course not," I say gently. "Not to a soul."
Marcus lets out a sigh of relief, only to go tense when he hears the clang of someone heading up the steps. I'm about to suggest we do something that makes the situation seem a little less like we're conspiring, even though we are.
Marcus visibly relaxes when he sees Linc approach. "Linc."
To my surprise, Linc smiles at the prince, seeming as if he knows him well. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I was showing Lord Luca the history section," Marcus says, seeming a little better at the lie than he did with me.
"Ah, yes. I see you've met Beatrice." Linc says, turning his attention to me.
"We had the pleasure of meeting at the Golden Moon ball," Marcus says. "I didn't realise the two of you had been spending time together."
"Linc's been showing me the history section," I say, realising after a moment how that sounds. "I mean, the actual books. He's been teaching me history." I throw a desperate look at Linc to help me.
He chuckles. "It's about the books," he promises. "Until the blood charts come back, anyway. Then we'll have a look at those."
Marcus clears his throat. "The books, right. Well, now I've shown Lord Luca what I intended to, I'm going to get going. I've got a kingdom to kind of run." He hurries away, with Lord Luca in tow.
"I made such a mess of that," I murmur as I watch them go. I can't help the horror building within me.
"You didn't," Linc assures me, reaching out to pull me to him. "Marcus probably barely noticed."
"Probably?"
"He'll be too worried about the fact you caught him up here with Lord Luca."
"Ah, so you know what they were doing?"
"I can make a good guess," he responds. "It's not the first time I've caught him up here showing Lord Luca something in the history section."
I put my hand on his chest. "So what you're saying is that the third floor of the library is where people come to have clandestine meetings with secret lovers?"
"Are we lovers, Beatrice?" he murmurs.
Embarrassment flares to my cheeks. "Is there an official definition?"
He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me. "I think it's fairly safe to assume we've done less than Marcus and Lord Luca up here."
"So far," I murmur.
Linc raises an eyebrow.
"I shouldn't have said that."
"I'm not complaining." He leans in, bringing his face closer to mine.
I reach up and touch his cheek, not caring that we're in full view of the staircase and anyone who might be coming up it. Hopefully, Linc's bodyguard will keep anyone away.
My eyes flutter closed as his lips brush against mine. The kiss ignites something within me, and there's certainly a part of me that wants to pull him back into the history section and find out why people decide to come up here, even if I know it's a bad decision.
We break apart but don't move away from one another.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he murmurs. "I realised I never said that."
"It's all right, I found...I'm not going to say something to entertain myself with, because that would be weird." Especially because Marcus is my cousin, and I clearly intruded on a private moment.
"It would be a little. Perhaps we should go somewhere more private in case they want to come back," he says.
I laugh. "Will they actually?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure. But I did bring this for you. I went to get the spare when I realised I was going to be late and you'd just be standing around." He fishes in his pocket and pulls out a key on a satin ribbon.
"Are you sure?" I ask, reaching out for it.
"Of course."
"But it's your private reading room."
"It's a much brighter place with you in it." He lays the key in my palm and closes my hand around it. "You can use it any time you want some peace and quiet."
"Linc..." My voice cracks as I say his name, and I realise how much the gesture means to me. I know that this is a big deal. He didn't even show it to me until last week, and now he's sharing it with me as a place I can use as freely as he does.
"Come on, you should use your key for the first time."
"Is it really that big of a deal?" I ask.
He shrugs. "It's kind of fun."
I smile and let him pull me along to the door, feeling all kinds of pleased that he's given me a key to this place when I know what it means to him, and hoping that I can prove that his trust in me is well-placed.