Page 104 of Us Defiant Few

“We doing this, or what?” Takeshi gestured inside.

“We’re so going to die,” Derek muttered as the four of them walked through the front entrance, keeping their steps light along the wooden floor.

The entrance boasted wooden pillars and a grand staircase that separated into different sections of the house. She flinched as the floor creaked under her weight, but the Chief didn’t crash through the front entrance or run down the stairs.

Their plan was working. But they didn’t have much time.

“Where’s the library?” Her heart beat a million miles a minute as she turned to Derek.

“Second floor,” he answered. “We gotta move quick.”

They bolted up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Derek turned right at the landing, and they sprinted toward the end of the hallway. Khalani glanced at some of the open bedrooms they ran past.

It was strange. The rooms had beds with plastic sheets covering them, like they’d never been slept in.

But they kept moving, finally reaching the last mahogany door.

Derek tried the handle. She was certain Takeshi would have to use his brute strength to break in, but much to their surprise, the door easily swung open.

The library was much smaller than she’d anticipated, with an empty fireplace and a tiny mahogany desk. Several shelves lined the room, filled with hundreds of books.

“What are we looking for again?” Derek asked.

“Ansel mentioned something about Olympus. I actually have no idea what that means, but he said to look for photo albums.” She let out a rough exhale. “Just take a shelf and start searching.”

They fanned out.

Khalani stood on her tiptoes as she shifted through various books, all of them containing hundreds of pages of text.

But no photo albums.

Nearly twenty minutes passed, and they’d resorted to throwing books on the floor in their frantic search.

“Khalani.” Derek finally turned to her. “Ansel was lying to you. There’s nothing here.”

“We just haven’t looked hard enough,” she replied, skimming the books on the bottom shelf.

Logic told her Derek was right. They’d been in the house way longer than they’d planned, and the sun was beginning to rise, shining bright light into the library.

But something kept her searching. A creeping feeling in her chest that commanded her to stay right where she was.

“The Chief will come back any moment. We need to go,” Derek insisted.

She was just about to answer when a glint of gold caught her eye.

The Greek Gods of Olympus.

Khalani grabbed the book, and the moment it left the shelf, a distinct click echoed throughout the room.

“What was that?” Winnie whispered.

Takeshi was by her side in a flash. “Sounded like a trip mechanism.”

He pushed the shelf, and it swung open, revealing a hidden area of the house.

The room was dimly lit as they crept inside. Two bookshelves stood on the left side of the room, and a wide desk lay on the other end, with dozens of papers stacked on top.

But what made them all freeze were the screens.