Page 33 of The Dagger and the Flame
‘Not usually,’ Sera whispered back. But something about the spiralling dust motes made her feel like they weren’t truly alone in here.
‘Those gargoyles outside used to give me nightmares,’ Bibi confessed. Her short, shallow breaths made Sera wonder if she might be anxious too.
So Sera said with a wink, ‘I think the one on the far left is quite handsome. Did you see that exquisite bone structure?’
‘I suppose he does have nice horns.’
They broke out into nervous laughter.
Val stopped at the top of the stairs. ‘If you two don’t shut up, I’m putting you outside like a pair of naughty cats.’
There was a sudden crash from the garden, followed by astrangled meow. They froze in place on the landing, Sera’s heart thundering so furiously she could feel it in her throat.
‘What was that?’
Bibi swallowed. ‘A naughty cat?’
They hurried on, climbing one staircase and then another, spiralling up to the top of the house. Moonlight slipped through the windows, catching the ends of their cloaks. Up and up they went until they came to a room on the highest floor of Villa Roman. Val picked the lock in ten seconds flat. The door creaked open, revealing a beautiful library. It was bathed in a kaleidoscope of colour – blues and reds and purples and golds – the large stained-glass window casting strands of painted moonlight across the dust-laden shelves.
‘How could Pascal neglect this place?’ murmured Sera.
‘I guess he didn’t care much for stories,’ said Bibi. ‘Only coin.’
‘What a waste of a life,’ said Sera, thinking longingly of those endless afternoons in the cosy labyrinth of Babette’s House of Books.
‘You two are so easily distracted,’ said Val, who had already found the safe under the desk, and was halfway through picking the lock. ‘I could have done this entire job by myself.’
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ Bibi drifted to the window. She pressed her palms against the coloured glass and peered out over the Verne. ‘This must be the best view in Fantome.’
Sera wandered over to the desk and found a beautiful silver letter opener, engraved with the royal insignia of Valterre. Two swords crossed beneath a rose in bloom.
‘Take it,’ said Bibi, watching her admire it. ‘Your first souvenir.’
‘I don’t even write letters,’ Sera confessed as she slipped it into the pocket of her cloak.
‘I’ll write to you,’ said Bibi, pilfering a fancy fountain pen and a pot of ink.
There was a loudclick, followed by the keening groan of the safe door and then the triumphant crow of Val’s laughter. ‘I’m a genius! It didn’t even take—’
Suddenly, a bell rang, the sound so deafening it reverberated around the room.
Sera snapped her head up. ‘What the hell is that?’
Val rummaged through the safe. ‘There must be a rope attached to the mechanism. The second I pulled it—’
She was interrupted by the sound of dogs barking. This time, from somewhere below.
‘Run!’ shouted Bibi.
But Val was shoulder-deep in the safe. ‘I’m stuck!’
Sera lunged, yanking her out by the hood. Val reeled backwards with a sharp curse, and the tiara clattered to the floor between them. Sera snatched it up and jammed it onto Val’s head, nestling it into the curls. ‘There! Let’s go!’
All three of them scrambled to their feet. They ran for the door, spilling out into the moonlit hallway. There were footsteps coming up the stairs, too quick and too many to be human. Sera spotted a shape at the other end of the hallway, and her breath caught in her throat.
There was a huge black dog prowling towards them. And three more were coming up the stairs.
‘Guard dogs,’ hissed Val. Villa Roman might have been neglected but its treasures had not been forgotten by theLorens. The girls lunged for the nearest shadow, grasping for invisibility, but the dog came right at them, a menacing growl rumbling in its throat.
