Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“What is this?” Nelson leaned over the glass case. He tensed before stepping even closer, looking down in disbelief. His angry flush turned into pale, incredulous shock. He rounded on them. “Tell no one! Do you hear me? Tell no one about this.”
“But sir, they’re going to know.” John gave a hesitant shrug. “She came in with stuff, but she didn’t leave with anything. I mean…see? There’s her bag…thing.” He pointed at the item on the floor.
“Tell no one,” Nelson fumed, spit flying. He snapped his finger toward the door. “Get out!”
Peter and John wasted no time. When they heard footsteps running down the corridor, the guardians probably rushing to see what was taken, the two ducked out of the way and hid until the coast was clear.
“You didn’t tell him about the pictures,” Peter whispered as they hurried up the steps.
“No, are you kidding? I don’t want to have an accident, know what I’m saying? Nelson didn’t seem to be in his right mind.” John swallowed. “I think…” He licked his lips. “I think it might be time to get out of here. I’m tired of this detail, anyway. One of the smaller cairns will take me, I bet. I bet a garhette will even be interested. We hardly raid anymore. I need fresh blood.”
Or someone who hadn’t heard all his stories and jokes ten times over, Peter mused.
“Or maybe…” Peter scratched his head. “What about that female gargoyle? I heard once that she treats her cairn like a safe haven. I didn’t believe it, but…well, some of the other stuff seems true. She is really powerful, and she clearly does have a bunch of money. Maybe she’ll take us.”
“Us?”
“Well…yeah. I saw the whole thing. He can claim those pictures are manipulated or whatever and get rid of the evidence.” He paused. “I’m part of the evidence. We are.”
“Come on!” John tugged at his arm. “If we hurry, we can catch the fliers, or at least see where they land. There are only a few places they can set up a camp within the allowed distance.”
Peter started to jog with him. “What about the pictures?”
“I’ll tell everyone in this cairn to keep their mouths shut.”
“This cairn?”
“Yeah, bro. They don’t want to be silenced any more than we do. If they don’t say anything, no one will know about them knowing, follow me?”
“What other cairns did you send it to?”
“I gotta group of guys I see every year from a few different cairns. Look, who cares? It doesn’t matter. Nelson can’t mess with them, and we’re gonna be gone. Hurry up, we gotta get out of here.”
Nelson didn’t used to be like this. He didn’t used to be so…dirty in his dealings. The older he got, the more extremely he seemed to react. It probably was a good time to go. Besides, Peter liked the way that female worked. This was a pretty funny stunt. It surely flung dirt in ol’ Nelson’s eye. And she had Tristan. Everyone always said that gargoyle was the best they’d ever had. Nelson was dumb for letting him go. They seemed like the better team, if he had to choose, and it seemed he did.
Except, when they got out of the fortress, it quickly became apparent that containing the story would be impossible. People were already looking at their phones, pointing, smiling, and laughing.
“I told you she went in with a bag and came out empty-handed,” someone was saying.
“Did you see it?” a garhette who usually never gave John or Peter the time of day asked as they passed by.
John slowed, stars in his eyes.
“Did you see what she left?” the garhette repeated. She showed the picture on her phone. It must’ve already been forwarded. Damage control was nonexistent.
“Yes!” John opened his mouth, spread his hands, and made an oh my God expression. “The necklace? The earrings?” He half spun around. A group of people hurried over to hear. “Out. Of. This. World! I about fell over, didn’t I, Pete? It made that bracelet look like nothing.”
“So, it was real?” she pushed.
“Come on, man.” Peter yanked at John. “We don’t want to get caught having sent the pictures.”
“Yeah, it was real, all right. I’ve guarded that bracelet for years. It was definitely our bracelet. The other jewelry, though? I’m no expert, but it was fine workmanship, and it was worth a lot. Even if it was fake—which it definitely wasn’t—she didn’t have to bring anything at all. Usually, people take things, not give them.”
“Come on!” Peter yanked at him again.
“I gotta go,” John told the group, looking back at the fortress. “Nelson’s going to try to cover it up, bet you anything. He told us to get out. He meant business. I don’t need an accident, know what I’m saying? I know people who’ve gotten those in the past. They didn’t move on to other cairns—they moved into unmarked graves. Not for me, thank you very much!”