Page 48 of The Silence of Hell

“He is your brother-in-law?”

“He’s married to Clio. We’re part of quads. Thalia and Clio are identical twins, and Polly and I are. And finally, Rain, he was a boy and wanted to be unique,” Callie said.

“And your quads!”

“Yeah. Let’s begin with, could I have coffee, please? Then let’s start talking about the history of this place,” Callie replied.

“Coffee I can do. History might be a bit difficult. Come on, I’ll explain.”

“Can my guys take base readings?” Callie asked.

“A security guard will accompany them as most of the rooms are locked, but sure, they can wander around. The second floor houses the bedrooms of the students. You’ll need permission to enter them. Right now, everybody’s in the kitchen with doughnuts for breakfast. Come along, and you can ask them,” I said.

Callie nodded, and we headed into the kitchen. Her eyes widened a little when she saw Sunny, and I caught a faint blush on her cheeks, which faded quickly.

“Everyone, this is—”

“O.M.G! It’s you! I’m a huge fan!” Harriet squealed as she rushed around the island to gape at Callie. Then she glanced at the team behind her. “All of you!” Harriet bounced like a bunny.

“Calm down, kid,” I teased, leading her to her breakfast. Harriet was about to burst.

“You didn’t tell me it was Calliope Dixon coming!” Emory said, beaming.

“You’re welcome,” I muttered and sought my coffee.

A male hand pushed a mug into mine, and I looked up to see Chatter staring at me. He smiled slightly and stepped back, and I frowned, confused.

We’d hardly spoken since the ride, and honestly, that rejection stung. I was an adult and had fully understood Chatter when he explained he did not want long-term. Fine. He didn’t need to drum it into my head during the bike ride. So yeah, that rankled a little still.

“Busy in here today,” Tatum announced as he entered.

“Shit happened! We saw ghosts!” Harriet exclaimed just as Phoe arrived with another woman.

“Sinclair!” Tatum said warmly and greeted with her a hug.

“Tatum. I had to come when I heard you were here. It is rare you travel nowadays. It’s good to see you!” Sinclair replied.

I leaned back in the corner of the worktops and sipped my coffee. I’d been sociable for all of ten minutes; I wanted my coffee.

“Someone explain what happened last night?” Tatum asked again. I snorted as Harriet, Emory, and Jinx all began telling those who’d just arrived what had occurred.

I slipped out as they were doing so and headed to the library, unlocked the door, and stopped. What the hell? Stacked haphazardly in the middle of the aisle was a stack of books. I blinked. That hadn’t been there yesterday. I sidled around it and discovered a second and third. And for thepièce de resistance, there were several chairs balanced on top of a table.

I avoided all of them, completely bewildered, and headed to the secret compartment. I checked to see if anyone was watching and then pulled out the Bloodsworth Journal and placed it on the book stand. Carefully, I unwrapped it and blinked as I saw a bookmark poking out of it.

I opened the journal to a page where I saw Aunt Aggie’s writing. A piece of paper that had been inserted inside.

“Exciting times, my darling. Don’t you think this ought to be recorded?” I gasped and stepped back.

“Lavender?” Chatter said softly, and I looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“A note from Aunt Aggie, but it can’t be. She’s dead,” I answered somewhat hysterically.

Chatter moved around and read the note. “Are you sure that is her handwriting?”

“Positive. It matches the page,” I replied as I put on gloves and showed Chatter Aunt Aggie’s writing.

“What is this?”

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