Free Darkness Falls by Mia James Page A

about that,’ said Caro soothingly. ‘It’s probably just part of his plan to throw everyone off your scent. He’s not going to be interested in that fat cow, is he?’
    April giggled despite herself. ‘I suppose not.’
    ‘So come on, let’s see if we can find your Superman his anti-kryptonite spell.’
    It was still dark in the library, so they both used their phones to light up the shelves.
    ‘Bloody hell,’ said April, scanning the spines, ‘where do we start?’
    ‘I’ll go left, you go right. Look for something old and dusty.’
    ‘Why?’
    Caro tutted.
    ‘Old because it is old, dummy. And dusty because if the Suckers knew they had it, they wouldn’t have just left it on the shelf, would they? If it’s here, no one will have touched it for years.’
    April set to work, quickly scanning the shelves. Most of the books fitted into the ‘old’ category, being bound in leather or linen. There were a few shelves with more colourful books in modern dust jackets, but they all seemed to be about art or photography.
    ‘Hey, check this one out,’ whispered Caro, holding up a hardback with a slightly yellowed white cover. ‘Th e Joy of Sex . You wouldn’t have thought it to look at Ma and Pa Osbourne, would you?’
    ‘Put it back,’ hissed April, glancing towards the door. ‘We shouldn’t be taking books out unless we have to – we don’t want to leave fingerprints, do we?’
    ‘Ooh, hark at Miss Marple,’ muttered Caro, doing as she was told.
    April was beginning to despair of ever finding anything in the library. There were too many books and most of their titles were written in small or faded type. She was feeling both the fear of being discovered and the pressure to find a cure for Gabriel – while he was off canoodling with Chessy, for all she knew.
    ‘Why are we doing this?’ she snapped finally. ‘It’s not like Gabriel cares one way or the other.’
    ‘Hey, I know it’s hard for you, but think how he must be feeling. He has to pretend to be one of them, to be part of the conspiracy, otherwise he’s dead. Plus he’s trying to protect you. I’m sure he’d rather be in here making out with you, but we don’t live in that world any more.’
    April pulled a face.
    ‘Fine. Let’s just find the bloody thing and get out of here.’
    ‘Hello! Have a look at this,’ said Caro. She was standing in front of an ornate Oriental-looking cabinet. ‘Locked!’ she said with annoyance, trying to peer through the crack between the doors. ‘If it’s going to be anywhere, it’ll be in here …’ She reached up on tip-toe, running her fingers along the top edge of the cabinet.
    ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘Well, if it were me, I would put the key … ah!’
    She brought her hand down holding a small brass key.
    ‘Bingo. Watch the corridor, I’ll see if I can get it open.’
    Gingerly, April pulled the door open and peered outside. Her heart leapt as Layla came around the corner, and she ducked back inside.
    She could hear a countdown being shouted out in the distance.
    ‘Hurry, Caro!’
    ‘Come and look.’
    ‘Have you found it?’
    ‘Maybe,’ said Caro.
    ‘Maybe?’ April hurried over.
    ‘I mean maybe it was there, but it isn’t now.’
    April looked. The cabinet was empty. But from all the disturbed dust, it certainly looked as though whatever books had been in there had been moved very recently.
    ‘Shh!’ said April. ‘Someone’s coming!’
    Caro ducked behind the desk and April jumped behind the door. Her heart sank when she saw Layla walk into the room and tip-toe to the drinks cabinet. Carefully opening the door, she poured herself a brandy and prepared to knock it back. Just then she spotted April and spilled the liquid down her front.
    ‘God,’ she spat, brushing the drink off her kingfisher-blue dress. ‘This is silk, that’s going to stain now! What the hell were you doing there?’
    ‘Hiding, of course.’
    She glared at April. ‘And is that the best you can do?’