Page 48 of Dig Your Grave

He smirked, a rare glint of genuine amusement.“We’ll let them figure that out in the morning.Tonight, we’ll keep our eyes open for any watchers, see if Sophie tries cornering me again.Then we bail.”

My gaze swept over the row team members drunkenly splashing each other, the random clique of rich kids dancing around the bar, and the hush that lingered whenever Sophie passed by.This was the world Anubis was supposed to belong to, I reminded myself.And yet, here we were, co-conspirators, outcasts among the elites.I inhaled the pungent fumes of the whiskey, letting the warm jets of the tub swirl around me.

“All right,” I said softly.“But for now, let’s pretend we fit in, just for a minute.”

He gave a rare, genuine smile, sliding his arm across my shoulder.We both leaned back, ignoring the stares from half the party guests, ignoring Sophie’s calculating presence.We let ourselves float in the bizarre whiskey haze.Being at Anubis’ side steadied me, reminding me that whatever the Skulls demanded next, we still had a choice in how we faced it.

Chapter 18

When 9 p.m.rolled around, I slipped through the quiet campus paths again, an all-too-familiar routine.Darkness blanketed the autumn trees, lamp posts casting pale circles of light on the ground.Every rustle of leaves made me tense, scanning for watchers in hoods.

After we left the party, we separated to go back to our respective rooms and shower off the sticky whisky.I reached the caretaker’s cottage without incident.Inside, Anubis waited, a laptop open on the desk.He glanced up.“Hey.I got the software ready.”

I took off my jacket, stepping toward him.“Which software?”

He turned the laptop to show me lines of code.“I found a simple script that’ll set up a decoy system.The Skulls can poke around and think they have full admin access, but it’s only a sandbox environment.”

Relief coursed through me.“This could work.”

He nodded, then stood and placed both hands on my shoulders.“We have to be careful tonight.If someone sees us, it’ll raise too many questions.”

I rested my palms against his chest.“We’ll do it quickly.”

We left the cottage at half-past ten, winding through the deserted campus toward the library.Most students were out partying or cramming in their dorms on a Saturday night, so we didn’t see many people.The library itself closed at nine on weekends, so it should be empty except for security cameras and maybe an overnight cleaning crew.

My stomach twisted.I’m about to commit sabotage at my own workplace.

At the library’s grand entrance, I swiped my staff keycard.Anubis planned to delete the record of it.The heavy glass doors hissed open, revealing the darkened interior lit only by emergency lights.I flicked them on to a minimal setting, just enough for us to see.

“I think the cleaning crew finished hours ago,” I whispered, leading Anubis past the front desk.My voice echoed in the marble-floored lobby.

He nodded.“Okay, security station is on the second floor, right?”

I shook my head.“Actually, it’s in the staff area behind the main circulation desk.The second floor has the server room, but we might start with the main console near Margrett’s office.That’s the direct feed for cameras.”

We moved quietly, every footstep magnified in the hush.Past rows of shelves, up a short flight of stairs, and through a staff-only door.If a single camera was still operational, it would catch us.

“Let’s hope we’re out of range,” I muttered, ducking behind the half-open blinds of Margrett’s office.

The security console perched on a metal desk, a monitor showing a rotating feed from various library cameras.They were still active.I nearly yelped when I saw the feed toggling between angles, displaying time stamps.

Anubis cursed under his breath.“They’re definitely on.We need to kill them or loop them.”

I eased onto the office chair, tapping the keyboard.My staff login had limited privileges, but hopefully enough for a partial override.“Come on…”

Seconds ticked by.The console demanded an admin passcode to disable cameras.Meanwhile, the rotating feeds popped in and out, and I worried one would capture Anubis’ face at any second.

He crouched behind me, pulling the flash drive from his jacket pocket.“Let’s see if Sophie’s toy can help.”

I inserted the flash drive, eyes flicking to the overhead camera in the corner of the room.Hurry.

A command prompt auto-launched on the screen.Lines of text scrolled by:Executing infiltration script… bypass attempt… Trojan loaded.

My blood chilled.This was definitely more advanced than I imagined.The console beeped, and the monitor’s security feeds froze.A final line of text appeared:Installation complete.Rebooting.

Anubis tensed.“Are we sure we want to reboot?That might set off an alert.”

“We don’t have a choice,” I said, biting my lip.“We need to do the partial block, remember?”

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