Chapter 52
I haven’t parsed out the contents of the documents yet, but they are all stored inside my complex gryphon mind.
Shifting back to human, I nod to Willow. “Good, now we just need to…”
Click.
The sound comes from the far corner of the room. A bookshelf begins to swing open. A hidden door that wasn't on the map Cosmo provided.
Swinging around, I throw Bloomhower behind a long oak desk, then freeze as two guards step through, hands already on weapons.
“Who the fuck are you?” Guard one instantly has his gun aimed at my chest.
I raise my hands slightly, aiming to look like a bumbling, confused professor. “My apologies, gentlemen.” I gesture vaguely around the room, trying to look sheepish. “The door was slightly ajar, and I’m afraid my curiosity got the better of me. This collection is legendary in academic circles.”
Guard two steps forward, his gaze not leaving my face. “He asked for your name.”
I give a Kormovian bow. “Alexis Feniks, professor at Validus Vale. I have the pleasure of young Mr. Drakeward and Ms. Singleton-Smith in my classes.”
In reply, he gives a derisive snort. “Likey story. Check him over for weapons, Mallory.”
Mallory reaches for my arm, and for a heartbeat, I think they’ll buy my story. But then Guard two pauses, his focus on the open vitrine.
“Wait, all this shit is supposed to be magically sealed. No way a school teacher could open it. Radio for backup.”
Vittu.
I have a split second to decide, but in the end, there is only one possibility. I shift.
With two swipes from my lion paws, both men lay dead at my feet before they even knew what was happening. My animal spine prickles. Danger is still close.
One more shift. “Willow, get out of here, I’ll hide the bodies. Go!”
She doesn’t need telling twice.
As soon as the door clicks shut behind her, I make a quick decision.
I’ll move the bodies into the secret passageway that they came from.
Undoubtedly they’ll be discovered, but not as quickly as leaving them in the library.
Guard Two is leaking blood onto the Persian carpet.
I’d meant to just break their necks, but a claw had struck a vein.
I heft him up, and place him in the narrow dark corridor.
I must be a little rattled, because it only now occurs to me I can place a repulsion spell on the hiding place. Grabbing ‘Mallory’ by the ankles, I drag him across the room, preparing the repulsion casts in my head.
But I never get to cast them.
I’m hit from behind, hard.
And though I fight it, darkness takes me.