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I opened ers back and forth across the case, touching every inch of it, but I didn’t get any

"What are you doing?" Alexei asked

"Usingnew Not yet, anyway"

I was disappointed, but I wasn’t ready to ad me any vibes, I branched out and searched the rest of the aisle I got down on ers over the ot the sense of all the students who had walked by this spot, their shoes slapping and scuffing against the floor, but nothing to do with the Reapers

Getting desperate, I got down on my belly and looked underneath the bookshelf behind the case So to make out what it was, and then I realized that it was the black velvet stand that had been in the case The one I’d scooted underneath the shelf when I’d noticed Inari watching rabbed the stand and pulled it out from underneath the shelf Then, I sat on the floor and ran -once again, I saw and felt nothing i the box and jewelry Disgusted, I put the stand inside the case, then got back down on the floor and peered under the shelf again

But there was nothing else there, except for a couple of forgotten pens and a wad of dust bunnies that ive up, so I slithered across the floor to the shelf on the other side of the aisle and looked under it as well More pens and um Yucko

I’d just started to turn ahen I noticed a s on the floor back in the shadows

My eyes narrowed, and I shoved my shoulder underneath the case and reached back as far as I could It tookthe paper and pull it out into the light

"What’s that?" Alexei said "Did you find so to my feet

I flipped over the paper and realized that it was an ID card that had been inside the case I’d thought I’d seen so white flutter to the floor when the Reaper had slass The Reaper must have accidentally kicked it under the shelf or maybe I had when I’d chased after hi vibes off the card, so I looked at the information on it

Apate’s Keepsake Jewels In addition to their obvious beauty, each piece in Apate’s jewelry collection is ruoddess’s deceptive power In fact, each individual geical property For exa effect, while the topaz can cause hallucinations However, the rubies are thought to be the ic attached to the people deceive others to even overcoainst his or her own free will

So I’d been right about the box and how Vivian had used the ruby chips on it to fool the Maat asp But the knowledge didn’t row Because the only jewelry Vivian had been wearing had been her Janus ring So what had happened to the box and the rest of the jewelry? What were the Reapers planning to use the other geain "Have you found so to have the other warrior follow me around-it was another to trust hiuy, and Oliver liked hiain, I’d liked Preston Ashton and look hoell that had turned out

Oh, I didn’t think Alexei was a Reaper Vivian hadn’t looked to hiotten any strange vibes off him the past few days Plus, he hadn’t acted like a Reaper would have He hadn’t tried to cozy up tome in the back later But I’d been fooled before, and there was still a suys One way to find out

"Give me your hand," I said

"What? Why?"

"If you want to knohat I’ive me your hand," I repeated

Alexei looked at ht he wasn’t going to do it, that he really ht be a Reaper after all, but he finally held out his hand

I wrapped es i by one after another, like a ho up over the years, in school, at ho Reapers, a sword in either hand, and I felt how smooth his movements were as he flowed fro really just was a coatyr, a series of steps to bethat final, fatal blow I even saw the spark at the very center of his being-a pale golden spark full of quiet pride and honor

All the while I sorted through the ht be a Reaper But I didn’t sense anything like that-just Alexei’s determination to become the best warrior he could be and to follow in his dad’s footsteps in the Protectorate They were the sas

Finally, an ie of Oliver popped into my mind, and I felt what Alexei did whenever he looked at the Spartan-that war else hile That special ehten

I opened my eyes and dropped his hand He wasn’t a Reaper, but I had learned so new about the Russian warrior-just how much he cared about Oliver

"What was that all about?" Alexei said, ic on me?"

"Yes, and you passed," I said "Now look at this"

I showed Alexei the card, then told hi He read the information and frowned

"But Vivian has been in Protectorate custody for weeks now," he said, echoing s were stolen There’s no way she could have been one of the Reapers who broke into the library She’s been closely watched, and as far as I know, the only people she’s had any contact with are senior members of the Protectorate"