The Prof Croft Series: Books 0-4 (Prof Croft Box Sets Book 1) by Brad Magnarella (best business books of all time txt) ๐
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- Author: Brad Magnarella
Read book online ยซThe Prof Croft Series: Books 0-4 (Prof Croft Box Sets Book 1) by Brad Magnarella (best business books of all time txt) ๐ยป. Author - Brad Magnarella
โNo. There is bedding for four upstairs,โ she said. โAnd there are still four bags.โ
James stood and shone his light around. โSuggesting there must be a fourth body somewhere.โ
โOr the fourth person fled,โ I suggested.
โFled what?โ Flor snapped.
I was thinking of the scrawled message outside the front doorโcursedโalmost certain now the fourth looter had left it after fleeing whatever had killed his companions. But I didnโt say anything.
โWell, weโre here,โ James pointed out with a smile. โWhat say we have a look about?โ
The library was just large enough for us to spread apart while keeping an eye on one another, which we all seemed to be doing. Though whether for each otherโs safety or from suspicion, I couldnโt tell. Probably both. Pillars and empty shelves loomed in and out of view. I toed through the dust on the floor, turning up small brass nails and, in a far corner, a leather cover.
The three of us met in the rear of the room where an archway stood over another stairwell. James was leaning toward a stone in the wall beside the opening, running a finger over a faint engraving.
โVault of forbidden texts,โ I translated from Latin.
โThis is it,โ Flor declared. She started down, James and I following closely.
โItโs funny, mate,โ James whispered to me. โIf the texts are forbidden, I would have expected a thick door, a hidden wall, something to keep people from nosing about. But there were no signs the stairwell had been broken into.โ
I nodded. That was bothering me too. We arrived in a lower chamber, passing through what felt like a chilly curtain of energy. Our lights sliced around a cylindrical room the size of a gazebo. Deep shelves had been cut into the stone wallโall of them empty.
โMierda,โ Flor cursed.
โThis is a disappointment,โ James agreed.
Disappointment? My heart felt as though it had been pulled from my chest and set adrift. With no living family to speak of, the Book of Souls was to have been my line to Grandpa, to who he was. Not the bull about him working in insurance, but who he had really been. Why he spoke in unusual tongues. Why strange forces held his door closed. Why things in his room talked and changed. And why, on the night he had caught me in his study, he had spoken with such gravity about the responsibilities of โthose of our blood.โ
โDo you hear that?โ Flor asked.
James and I followed her dark gaze to the ceiling. A moment later, I heard it too. Clunking footsteps, crossing the floor of the main library. Too heavy to be Bertrandโs.
I swallowed dryly. โWere either of you expecting company?โ
10
Flor signaled for us to kill our lights. When we did, a coal-black darkness collapsed against us. In the absence of sight, my hearing sharpened. I could make out Florโs and Jamesโs shallow breaths, and one floor up, those heavy footfalls, coming nearer.
Two sets of them.
Fabric whisperedโFlor sliding her rifle around to her front. โWe are too vulnerable down here,โ she whispered. โWe need to go up, see who it is.โ
I felt Flor edge past me, her foot scuffing lightly onto the bottom step. I swam an arm after her until my hand met the stairwellโs cold wall. I ascended slowly, aware of Florโs progress ahead and Jamesโs behind, glad as hell we had all come together.
But who were we dealing with? Fellow researchers? More looters?
Not realizing the stairs had ended, I stepped awkwardly and stumbled against Florโs back. Holding her taut shoulders, I stared around the darkness as James bumped up beside me. I had expected to see flashlight beams or candles out ahead of us, but I couldnโt even hear the footsteps anymore.
โOne oโclock,โ Flor whispered.
I released her shoulders and listened. โI donโt hear anything.โ
โFingers on your light switches.โ Florโs quiet voice hummed with tension. โNow!โ
Our lights blew open the darkness at the same time. And there they wereโthe frigging gargoyles from upstairs. With the sound of grinding stone, their heads swiveled toward us.
โMother fโโ
Explosions from Florโs rifle obliterated the rest of my mind-blown expletive. Sparks flew from the charging monstrosities and bullets caromed, one whining past my head. But I couldnโt move.
โSpread out!โ Flor called.
With the gargoyles almost on top of us, something kick-started in my brain. I took off to the left, weaving around pillars, my headlamp jostling madly. Okay, this makes no sense. No flipping sense whatsoever. When I turned to check on the others, one of the gargoyles rose over me.
I threw myself from the path of its descending fist and landed in an awkward roll, clunking several times over my backpack. The gargoyleโs fist cracked into stone behind me, shaking the libraryโs foundation.
Perhaps for my academic background, I had a bad habit of trying to make sense of situations that required a pure fight-or-flight response. But as I scrabbled to my feet, my mind was connecting the curtain of energy in the vault to the cursed warning to the bludgeoned looters. Had our presence downstairs triggered some sort of alarm? One that animated the gargoyles? I had seen some strange stuff in Grandpaโs study, but this was taking it to a whole new level.
I stumbled backwards, my light swimming over the advancing gargoyle. Beyond the creature, Florโs and Jamesโs own lights lashed around. Rifle bursts collided with shouting, but I couldnโt tell how my travel companions were faring.
Something rammed my back hard enough to rattle my teeth. I pawed to both sides to find I had not only backed into a wall, but a corner. The gargoyle stalked toward me, spreading its arms to prevent my escape.
โHey, can we talk about this?โ I stammered.
The gargoyle
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