Brave Men Die: Part 3 Read Free Page A

order Rigel to actually kill his own uncle.
    A thin smile formed on Carina’s lips, judging what the older man was thinking. ‘If you feel obliged to try and stop us, I’ll make sure he only wounds you, so you can say you at least tried.’
    ‘Gods, you two will be the death of me,’ Finn said, shaking his head. ‘Can you leave some fake things in place of whatever you take?’
    ‘That could be possible, I’d need to acquire a few things …’
    ‘Make it bloody possible. I don’t need you thieving things, especially since I brought you in.’
    Rigel clasped his uncle on his shoulder, keeping him seated. ‘I’ll sort it out Finn. The diggers will know nothing.’
    Carina led Rigel to the dig site, moving with hurried expectation. Today was the day that she would walk away with untold secrets from centuries ago. Ara would never be able to keep up with her development now. Finally she might be able to leap ahead of her and join the Eighth Circle first.
    The diggers eyed them suspiciously as they neared. Finn had told them that they were coming to collect their fee and none were happy about it. They had argued that they hadn’t had the adequate time to study and catalogue all the material.
    Carina had scoffed at their request for another week with the two items that they’d selected. Once they had taken their two items, they were returning to the Academy where she was determined to study the wealth of new material.
    The diggers lined the walkway to the underground site, tools in hand as Finn stood at the entrance blocking their entry. He stood next to the lead archaeologist who had a clipboard in hand, ready to mark down what they had taken.
    ‘You have to leave your bag outside,’ the archaeologist stated.
    Carina glanced from her bag to Finn, who only nodded his head reluctantly. She propped her bag against the small wall beside the entry to be met with the smiles of the dig team that thought they had just stopped her from stealing more than she was entitled to.
    ‘We are not to be disturbed until we are ready to come out,’ Carina stated as she followed Rigel into the underground chamber.
    ‘You have an hour,’ the lead digger started, but was cut short when Carina cast and a barrier formed across the entrance.
    ‘Was that necessary?’ Rigel asked.
    ‘Yes, it put them in their place. I’ll not work to anyone’s deadline but my own.’
    Rigel continued down the hall in the dark, heading instinctively toward the chamber. In the darkness he let his injuries show, walking with a limp and clutching his side. Carina snapped her fingers and her orb of light appeared over her shoulder once they were out of the diggers’ vision, illuminating the hall and beyond. Rigel didn’t falter, his eyes adjusted immediately and he stepped confidently into the chamber.
    ‘So this is what all of you have been salivating over?’ he asked, looking around.
    The diggers had cleaned the room since Carina had first been in there. The dust had been removed and brackets had been mounted to the walls to carry torches. Every item had been carefully cleaned, moved and catalogued.
    ‘Do you know what you want?’ Rigel asked.
    ‘I’ve made a list. I’ll have to verify a few things but yeah, I know what I want.’
    Rigel leaned against the wall beside the entrance and indicated she should get on with it.
    ‘You know, if I’m stealing what I want, you probably can choose something that you actually want.’
    Carina moved quickly to the collection of books, scanning the titles for those she’d highlighted on the list she had been provided. The first she found was of no use, same name but instead of a mage, the book was collated by a cook. Of the other six, only three were the spellbooks of magi.
    Swanson’s was there, and she sighed in relief. He was one of the most creative and dangerous magi of his era and what would be contained within the pages of his own compendium would be exceptional. Carina planned to devour the spells