“Yes, this seems to be it. I’m not sure why it was released to the academy, but I’ll need to take it back.” Wyatt reached into his jacket pocket and flashed something at Professor East, whonodded.
I assumed it was a DBI badge or whatever kind of identifier they used.
“Of course,” Professor East said. “Perhaps we’ll be able to host it on display here another time.”
“Glad you got what you came for. See you around,” Callan said, turning to go.
Wyatt looked at his brother, and I thought I caught a flash of tenderness there, but then his business face was back on. “See you around.” He nodded to me. “I’m glad we finally met, Briar Whelan.”
Wyatt nodded at Callan then marched out of the library, Professor East shadowing him. As they passed us, I thought I heard Wyatt murmur, “I won’t be able to keep this under wraps.”
But before I could be sure, Wyatt and Professor East disappeared down the stairs. My heart was still beating so wildly that I wondered if I should have my health checked.
Before I could gather my thoughts to process what had happened, Callan surprised me by taking my hand and tugging me aside instead of heading down the stairs.
“What—” I began.
He reached toward a lantern on the wall that had metal flames shaped like leaves creating its sconces and pressed his peridot stone against a recess at its base. The light flickered, then a hidden door swung backward into the wall.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Ilet out a soft gasp.
Callan ushered me through the slender entrance he had just revealed, and we began to climb the narrow, curving stairs inside the wall. The door slid closed behind us.
“What is this?” I asked, the words barely more than a whisper.
“An old hideaway of the founders.” We climbed a dozen more steps and emerged in a small wooden room with leaf-shaped stained glass windows the size of my hand running along the top of the wall. Sunlight streamed through, casting rainbows all around us.
“We’re in the roof of the academy?”
“Basically. A small corner of it.” Callan pushed open a large, oval window, and I saw that thick tree branches reached right to the window.
“Wait. Do you get to the treehouses this way sometimes?”
Callan nodded. “It’s a shortcut.”
I turned my attention back to the room, which had a few wooden seats with deep-green cushions, three or four small, rounded tables, elegant gold lamps, and a few dusty bookshelvesfilled with thick books. A large skylight porthole window above provided all the light the room needed at this time of day.
“Are there more of these?” I asked, but when I twirled around toward Callan, he was watching me intently.
“What happened back there?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. Do you know why Professor East helped us?”
Callan’s jaw flexed. “I believe I do. Let’s just say that his goals align with ours. Unfortunately, I think he just fell on his sword for us. And now that Wyatt has the quill… our plans are going to have to change.” He ran a hand through his hair, his brain already roving through the options.
I didn’t let him rove for long before I took his hands in mine. His words about Professor East chilled me, but I had one sliver of hope to offer. “Wyatt doesn’t have the quill,” I said softly.
“What do you mean? Professor East let him take it.”
“Professor East let him takeaquill. The quill I gave him.”
Callan’s eyes narrowed then widened. “What did you do, local?”
“I did what any member of the Root and Vine Society worth their salt would do. What are the tenets? Detect, distract, decoy…” My lips twisted into a smile.
Callan tilted his head. “Decoy?”
