A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 91

10:27 Sat, Aug 1

Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Soon after, Caelum climbed in and pulled a flashlight out of his jacket pocket.

“What the hell are we..”

“Shh!” he cut me off, placing a finger against his lips.

“Sorry,” I winced, lowering my voice, “what the hell are we doing here?” I hissed.

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He didn’t reply, Instead, he slowly scanned the darkness around us, his eyes moving carefully over every corner before he nodded his head forward.

“Come on, and watch where you step,” this was probably how I died, death by trespassing into a mysterious artifact chamber.

Okay, maybe this was a pretty ironic way to go, but still..

Following closely behind him, I moved carefully so as not to make much noise as possible, and with every second, I going myself glancing lever my shoulder, probably half expecting that some ancient cursed status would come to life and chase us down.

I mean, you never know

When we finally came to a stop, Caelum reaches behind me, flickering on a small lamp, and the room slowly filled with soft golden light.

My step halts, freezing in place as I take in the sight of artifacts surrounding us, hundreds and hundreds of artifact.

All of which were displayed in towering glass cases, carefully arranged shelves with each holing something that looked like it belonged in a history book than to be hidden in a forgotten corner of an gallery.

Again, how in the heck does a art gallery have this much space

My eyes wandered round the insanly large space, catching sight of ancient jewelry, handcrafted weapon, paintings, old manuscripts and the likes. All this felt like I had stepped into another world, a world that unfortunately looked like it had been frozen in time.

“Okay..this is insane..” I let out softly in a low whisper as Caelum makes his way to were I stood, his lips curved up to the side as he watches Mr reaction.

“Come,” he said softly, “I want to show you something,” he says as he walks further into the chamber, moving between the displays and I followed behind him, not being able to pull my eyes away from everything around

Caelum stops in front of one of the larger glass cases, unlocking it carefully before reaching inside, he pulls out a small wooden box covered in dust.

My eyebrows furrowed as he wiped the surface clean, “What is that?”

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Chapter 91

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He didn’t answer, Instead, he opened the box and my heart nearly stopped. Inside was an old beautifully crafted necklace resting on faded velvet. The design was intricate,, the kind of craftsmanship you didn’t see

anymore.

“Is that..” I whispered.

He looked at me and smiled. “Yeah,” I stepped closer, staring at the piece in disbelief, “this belonged to a royal family from the eighteenth century,” he explained, carefully lifting it, “It was passed down through generations before ending up here.”

I gulped. “Caelum…”

He looked amused by my reaction. “You should see the rest,” I followed him deeper into the chamber, my mind struggling to process everything around me.

These weren’t just objects, they were pieces of history, pieces of people’s lives, and somehow, they had been left here, forgotten.

“Why is all of this here?” I asked, still staring at the displays surrounding us.

His expression shifted slightly as he looked around the room. “This used to be one of the gallery biggest collections,” he explained, “they had an entire exhibit dedicated to rare artifacts and historical pieces. People used to come here all the time.”

“Used to?”

He nodded, “when the museum first opened this section, barely anyone showed up. People were more interested in the newer exhibits, things they could take pictures of, things they already knew about.”

I looked around in disbelief. “But this is incredible.”

“I know,” there was something in his voice that made me look at him, “they eventually shut it down,” he continued, “most of the artifacts were moved into storage, but some of them were left here because they didn’t know what to do with them.”

My eyebrows pulled together, “What do you mean they didn’t know what to do with them?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “They see them as a problem, they take up space, and cost money to preserve, and there isn’t enough public interest for them to keep the exhibit open.”

“They see this as a problem?”

“Some of these pieces are worth more than most people will ever earn in their lifetime, Delilah.”

My eyes moved back to the glass cases, It didn’t make sense. How could something so valuable be forgotten? How could something that carried so much history just sit in a dark room collecting dust?

“What happens to them?” I asked quietly.

“Most likely? Auctions,” he looked down at one of the artifacts, “they’ll sell them to collectors, people who’ll put them inside private rooms, behind glass, where nobody will ever see them again.” He turns to look at me

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“Don’t you think the people who created these would rather someone appreciate them? Learn their stories? Actually experience them?”

His words made me pause, because he was right. People didn’t spend years creating things just for them to become decorations for someone’s mansion.

Every brushstroke, every carving, every detail had been made with purpose. Someone had poured their heart into these things, they were meant to be seen, to be admired and mean something.

“So why did you bring me here?” I asked.

Caelum looked down at me, then he smiled. “Take them.”

My brows creased together. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Take them.” My mouth fell open, there was absolutely no way I heard him correctly.

“Caelum..” he shrugged, as if he hadn’t just told me to steal priceless historical artifacts.

“If I created something that meant everything to me, I wouldn’t want it sitting somewhere forgotten or want people looking at it just because it was expensive or rare,” he stepped closer, “I would want someone to love it, someone who actually understands what it means.”

My heart tightened. “But..” I looked around nervously, “we could get into so much trouble.”

A small laugh escaped him. “Please.”

I frowned at him. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not saying it is,” he smiled slightly, “I’m saying that this entire place has been abandoned for years, nobody comes here or even remembers it exists.”

Looking away, I bite at the wall of my mouth. Still, it felt wrong, these were not ordinary things but priceless that belonged to history.

“If there’s one person in this world who would actually cherish these things, it would be you, Delilah.”

My heart skipped as my brain argued with itself, this was wrong and reckless..but another part of me, the part that had been staring at these artifacts with wonder since I walked in, wanted to protect them.

Wanted them to be loved

“Do you have a bag?” I finally whispered.

Caelum’s smile widened and I immediately regretted how easily he had convinced me. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded material bag.

I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you already have one?”

He looked away. “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed quietly before opening it. Inside were soft pieces of cloth, clearly prepared to protect whatever we placed inside.

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Of course he had thought this through

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He carefully wrapped the first artifact before placing it into the bag, I stood there for a moment, still unable to believe what I was doing. Then I started looking and couldn’t stop.

A jeweled pocket watch that belonged to a famous inventor, along with handwritten letter from a historical figure, and a small painted portrait with a story behind it. Each item felt impossible, each one felt like holding a piece of someone’s life.

My fingers brushed over the edge of an old manuscript, when the voice of a security guard echoed through the artifact chamber.

“Hello? Who’s in here?.” My stomach dropped straight to the bottom of the earth.

Shit

“Shit.” Caelum whispered under his breath.

“Come out! Whoever you are!” the security guard shouted angrily.

My heart was pounding so hard I was convinced it was loud enough for him to hear, within ithin seconds, Caelum grabbed my hand and bolted.

“Fuck, we get to go.” he exclaimed and before I could even process what was happening, I was being dragged through the artifact chamber, my feet moving faster than my brain could keep up with.

The shouts of the security guard grew louder behind us.

“Fuck..hell,” I cursed as we rushed through the rows of displays.

“Stop right there.”

Okay..hell to the freaking ass no. I wasn’t about to spent the rest of my evening, getting the hell caught

Absolutely not

My shoes slams against the floor as we ran, my hand tightly help onto his, refusing to let go and at the same time terrified that one wrong step would send me falling behind.

Fuck shit, this was actually happening

“Where are we going,” I called out breathlessly, Caelum didn’t answer as he was too busy running, his grip on my hand never loosening as he pulled me along.

We suddenly turned sharply, and he kicked open a small door hidden between the displays. He pushed me inside before following right behind, darkness swallowed us and for a second, I couldn’t see anything.

Then he switched on his flashlight, the small beam cutting through the darkness. “This way,” he grabbed my hand again and pulled me forward.

I could hear the sound of footsteps echoing behind us, as the security guard chases after us, but thankfully,

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