Bridges Burned (Going Down in Flames #2)(28)

Ivy reached across the table and squeezed Bryn’s hand. “Then he’s an idiot.”

The ache that had taken up a permanent place in her chest throbbed for a moment. “I wish I could erase him from my head.”

“Try thinking about something else,” Clint said.

Right. Like it was that easy.

After dinner, back in her room, she searched for something to distract her from the sucky state of her love life. Jaxon’s question from the dance popped into her mind. How had Alec known the layout of her grandparents’ estate? Blueprints must be available somewhere. Either that or someone familiar with the layout had fed Alec information.

If Alec had murdered Jaxon, Lillith, and her, who would benefit? Alec would achieve his revenge, but who else would profit from his actions? The Directorate would crack down on the entire dragon community. Some dragons would rebel. If the Directorate went too far, it might lead to mutiny or civil war.

The Black dragons who lived in the forest had little love for the Directorate. The Orange dragons believed their decrease in numbers was somehow the governing body’s fault. Had the Directorate done something to keep the Orange Clan’s population low? The sonic wave Octavius produced in class was impressive. If hundreds of Orange dragons worked together they could probably take out a building or an army.

This was a cheery line of thought. Maybe if she thought of it as a puzzle, she could figure something out. And since she was looking for blueprints, documents that she knew existed, this search should turn out better than her quest for hybrids. And she knew just who to ask for help.

…

The next afternoon, Miss Enid led Bryn down a hallway and into a small room lined with file cabinets. “Any building the Directorate approved for construction will be filed here under the owner’s name.”

Bryn flipped through the alphabetized folders. The folder with her grandparents’ surname, Sinclair, was empty. “Is there supposed to be something in here?”

“That is disturbing.” Miss Enid rifled through the surrounding files. “I don’t know how this could’ve happened. Blueprints are not to be removed from the library. They’re lent out on an hourly basis but must be kept in the building.”

“Is there any way to find out who looked at the blueprints last?”

“It should be listed in my computer.” Miss Enid exited the room and walked to the front desk. She pulled up a file on her computer and frowned. “The last person to look at the blueprints was Nola.”

Nola? Would Nola have given Alec the blueprints? He was her brother. Would she have known of her brother’s plans? Did she want Bryn out of the picture so she could have Zavien to herself?

“She knows better than to remove them.” The older woman frowned in disapproval.

“What do you mean?”

“Nola studies blueprints all the time. It helps her design the sets for Stagecraft.”

That poked a nice big hole in her conspiracy theory. “How long has Nola been doing that?”

Miss Enid’s fingers were a blur on the keyboard. “Let’s see. Here it is. She started about two years ago.”

Too bad. Nola in prison would make reconciling with Zavien much easier. Evil as the idea was, it made her smile. Back to the mystery at hand.

“Is there anyone who could take the blueprints from the library without checking them out?”

Miss Enid pursed her lips. “I suppose a Directorate member could.”

Fabulous. Someone on the Directorate might have given Alec the blueprints. Ferrin’s name came to mind first. As much as she despised him, he’d never do anything to endanger Jaxon.

“Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll let you know if the file turns up.”

Okay. Now what? Bryn scanned the area for a friendly, or at least not hostile, face. Rhianna studied at one of the long wooden rectangular tables. She’d probably know where Jaxon was. Why should she try to figure this puzzle out on her own?

Rhianna glanced up at Bryn’s approach and smiled. “Hello.”

“Hi. I wanted to ask Jaxon a question about the Directorate. Is he here with you?”

Rhianna pointed to the midnight-blue book bag hanging on the back of the chair next to her. “He went to look for a book.”

“Know which way he went?” Searching for someone in the monstrous library could take all night, and there was no guarantee of success.

“Up to the second floor, I believe.”

Which meant he could be anywhere. “I’ll ask him another time.”

“Thank you,” Rhianna said.

“For what?”

“You came to me rather than searching him out on your own. We just quashed those strange rumors about you two, and I’d hate for them to start again.”

“How can people be so stupid?” Bryn plopped down in Jaxon’s seat. “I’d never sneak around with Jaxon for two reasons: one, because I like you, and two, because he annoys the hell out of me on a regular basis.”

Rhianna covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. “I envy your ability to say what you’re feeling.”

“You should try it sometime.”

“This is a frightening development.” Jaxon came toward them carrying a thick leather-bound book.

“Afraid I’ll be a bad influence?” Bryn asked.