Chapter Ten
"Where are we going?" I ask Thomas as he strides down the corridor.
"To the library."
"That's the other way." I point over my shoulder. I spend enough time researching various things in there, I know where it is.
"Not that library. The other one."
"There's another library?" I keep pace with him easily. This is one of the times I'm grateful for being on the tall side, it means I have legs long enough to keep up with his brisk pace.
And those legs look great in a skirt. Not that I'm wearing one today. I don't want a repeat of last time.
"Grimalkin has six libraries."
I blink a couple of times. "Six?" I'm tempted to pull up the digital map of campus they send to all first years, but refrain from it. I've studied the thing enough to know there's only one library marked on it.
"Yes. The one everyone uses, the advanced library, the restricted one, and the one that only the upper-level staff are supposed to know exists." Which raises the question of how he knows about it himself.
"That's only four."
"There's two in the vampire part of the academy. I've never been to those ones."
"And which one are we going to now?" I ask, already knowing the answer deep down.
"The one we're not supposed to go to." He turns his head as he speaks, revealing a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
"I'm a first year, I've only been told about one of them anyway," I point out.
I swallow down my nerves. As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm apprehensive about breaking the rules quite as much as that. Though I'm not sure what will happen if we're found. In all likelihood, we'll just be thrown out of whatever room we're found in and nothing else will happen, but I don't want to risk it. My parents would be so disappointed if I get thrown out of Grimalkin, even if they'll pretend they won't be.
"How do you even know where it is?" I ask as we turn another corner. We're in a part of the academy I've never been to before, but that doesn't mean anything. I've not been at the academy long enough to have explored much, and this corridor appears to be empty. Not high on the priority list at all.
"I may have accidentally overheard some teachers talking about it while I was in my second year."
"And you just found it from what they said? That either makes you incredibly smart or them incredibly stupid."
"Or both." He grins devilishly.
"What are you hoping to find in the secret library?"
He comes to a stop even as I'm asking the question.
"Answers."
I roll my eyes. Why are men so literal sometimes? I know he wants answers, that's why anyone goes to a library. Unless it's to make out in the back of it, but really, there are better places to go. Like a dorm room for one.
"Why are we standing in front of a suit of armour?" Though really, I want to know why it's here in the first place. I haven't seen any more about the place. I imagine so that they don't get drunk students stealing weapons and accidentally hurting someone with them.
"What better way to hide the entrance to a secret library."
"You mean what more cliché way," I mutter, examining the suit for anything I can pull down. If we're going for clichés, then that's the way to open the door and get inside.
There's something off about the suit. It doesn't look like I expect one to. After a brief pause, I realise it has a tail. Slipping to the side, I reach out and tug on it.
For a moment, nothing happens, and I worry I'm making a fool out of myself by trying to pretend I know what I'm doing. Just as I'm about to ask Thomas what I did wrong, the grating screech of stone against stone fills the air.
"Tot