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"A box?" Vic asked, voicing hts "The Reaper took a bloody box? Why, it’s not even a weapon!"

My head started aching from all the questions that crowded into ure out as so special about the box or the jewelry There had to be so because the Reapers never did anything without a purpose, without an end goal, in mind

"Gwen!" Daphne’s voice drifted across the library to me "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Over here!" I called out "I’ back to you!"

Still troubled, I took one more look at the san, Daphne, Oliver, and Alexei were in the back of the library huddled in a tight knot in the ht of ertips like fireworks, telling lad she was to see ht hug "Why did you just run off like that? We were so worried about you!"

"I know I’ainst the others, and I didn’t want to let that last Reaper get away"

I told the others about seeing the Reaper slip away and how I’d chased hi artifacts

"What artifacts?" Oliver asked

I shrugged "That’s the weird thing It was just a box and soic attached to it, according to the ID card I read I don’t knohy they would go to so s Why didn’t they take sos that are more powerful? Or at least more useful in a battle?"

"Reapers don’t have to estured at the bodies lying on the bloody floor My friends had pulled off the rubber lazed eyes and pain-filled faces The group was pretty evenly split between men and women, all adults

"And what about the Reapers? Does anyone knoho they are? Or how they could have gotten onto ca any sort of alarnize any of them You, Alexei?"

He shook his head as well "No None of the with herat rand about how I’d used ic to flash on the man who’d been with Preston and Vivian when they’d attacked Grandrand that dead man, and I certainly didn’t want to do the saht Maybe ive me some information about the Reapers and what they’d wanted with the artifacts

"Gypsy girl?" Logan asked

I sighed "I don’t like it, but I’ll do it"

One by one, I went fro their hands, and seeing what vibes I got off thes attached to the men and woes I saere of the Reapers fightingflashes of pain they felt before they died from their wounds

I finished with the last Reaper, shookthere Just a few one already"

Oliver slung his arlad we h okay Alexei and I would have been in a world of hurt, if you hadn’t et those swords and that scabbard to us, Gwen"

I lightly elbowed him in the ribs "You would have done the sarinned "Maybe"

I elbowed hi at the bodies

Logan drew in a breath "Well, I guess I’d better call my dad and tell him what’s happened Metis and Ajax too-"

"Gwendolyn?" a familiar voice called out "Where are you? Why aren’t you at the checkout counter?"

I’d forgotten all about Nicka to run some errands, but noas back-and the library was a disaster area once lass littered the floor, not toin the otten to put away I winced This was so not going to be pleasant

"Gwendolyn?" he called out again

But there was no hiding it from him, so I yelled back "Over here!"

A few seconds later, Nickamedes rounded the corner of the office co back here? I’ht-"

The librarian looked up fro and stopped in his tracks His eyebrows shot up in his face, and his eyes bulged as he stared at all the blood and bodies on the floor His an to burn in his blue gaze He looked atnow "I can explain-"

Nicka me off "I don’t even want to hear it"

"But-"

I tried again, but Nicka

"No, Gwendolyn," he said in a resigned tone "It’s my fault I should have known better than to leave you alone in the library Things always seeetbroken whenever I do that"

Well, that was one way of putting it At least he wasn’t yelling at ht "I’lad you are all okay, but Reapers or not, ain in a state of total disarray"