Page 76 of Diamond in the Rough

“It done?”

Gavin placed his hand on top of the book and smiled. “Yeah.”

“The Art of War?” Maddox asked, lifting his eyebrow.

“Thought it was fitting.”

Frank joined them. “Why notRomeo and Juliet? It’s like the greatest love story.”

“They both die,” Gavin said.

“Oh, but they loved each other, right. It’s a love story, and so is this.”

Maddox raised his hand. “Please stop.”

Frank pouted. “It is, though. If this was for revenge or violence, I’d be taking no part in it, and neither would Keiron.”

“It’s for both,” Maddox hissed.

Frank smiled, then frowned. “Both?”

Maddox sneered and turned away. Keiron walked towards them pushing the cart of books. His complexion was so pale Maddox thought he might pass out.

“Are we all set?” Maddox asked.

Keiron licked his lips. “I don’t understand why Gavin can’t do it?”

“They’ll suspect me. All you gotta do is take the book back to the library. That’s it.”

“I can’t believe we’re gonna destroy all those books.”

Maddox eyed the guard closest to them. “You wanna say that any louder?”

“I’m just saying, surely there’s another way.”

“We’ve been over this. Burning a mattress isn’t going to cut it. We need to go big. We need flames, and more importantly, we need smoke.”

“Listen carefully,” Gavin said, leaning in. “The second bookcase, there’s a gap between two dictionaries.”

“Right.”

“All you gotta do is putThe Art of Warbetween them and walk away.”

“Are you sure it’ll work?”

Gavin looked down at his hand on the book. “It’s already heating up…”

“What?”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “It’s heating up. It’ll burn through the book, then hit the air, and voilà. Fire.”

“How long does it have?” Maddox asked.

“It’s a thick cover…it’ll take a while to burn, probably twenty minutes or so.”

Maddox glanced back. “We need to get going. Where the hell is Ernie?”

“Still in the infirmary, I think,” Frank whispered.

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