The basement laboratory felt like a sacrament of confession.
Matt had avoided it since Stanley arrived—had told himself it was because he had better things to do, because the training yard demanded his attention, because the castle walls were thick enough to keep out whatever his father was working on down there. But the truth was simpler, and uglier.
He was afraid.
Afraid of what he might find. Afraid of what he might learn. Afraid that the answers he had been searching for would only lead to more questions, more pain, more of the weight that already pressed down on his chest like a stone.
But Stanley was leaving tomorrow.
And Matt had run out of time. He needs the answers
