so much as a discarded boot. Just books. They were all identical in shape and binding, and the air was rich with the scent of ancient paper. Corin turned in a slow circle. He saw an open doorway beyond the piles, and the room it revealed was full of books.
A dark stair climbed up to another floor, and even the steps held little piles of books. Corin backed slowly out the open door and into the boulevard. His eyes traveled up the building’s facade to the dirty windows of a second floor. Knowing what to look for, even through the gloom he could see the squared edges of more books piled high. His gaze went on up to a third floor. A fourth.
And there to the right was another building like this one. They stretched half a mile to the first intersection, and beyond that were more. Across the street were more. It was a sprawling city, hidden from the world of men, robbed of life and wealth but completely filled with books.
CHAPTER SIX
Brows drawn, Corin turned until he found David Taker still waiting by the door. “How far did you search?”
“Three blocks, north and west and south. I sent Hocks the other way, and he just came back to announce more of the same. Some places that look more like houses. One he swears was a smithy, but books where the forge should have been. Books for an anvil.”
“As…as I said—” Corin licked his lips and cleared his throat. He raised the book still in his hand. “This book alone is worth more than its weight in gold. And we have thousands here.” He glanced down the way and tried not to shudder. “Hundreds of thousands.”
David Taker took a long step closer. “Why, Corin? Why books? This is not what you expected. What is this place?”
“It is a tomb,” Blake cried out. “Every one of you can see it. It is a tomb, and these books are the sleeping dead. Didn’t the slave girl tell us that? The dead remember!”
“That’s nonsense,” Corin said. “It’s a safe, dry place. This is a cultural treasure. Think of it more as a temple—”
“And we should anger these gods?”
Fury flared in Corin’s breast, fed by fear, but he quelled an urge to snap at the first mate. Blake was playing to the men’s anxiety. Corin had lost control of the situation. He took a slow, deep breath and surveyed his crew.
“These are secrets,” he said at last. “This place is a treasure trove of secrets, and pirates thrive on secrets. This is a fortune—”
“It’s a grave!” Blake cried, and Charlie Claire groaned in wild fear.
“You have seen your share of graves,” Corin tried.
David Taker answered under his breath. “Never from inside.”
“You led us here,” Blake accused. “You led us here, you ignored the slave girl’s warning, and now we will leave this place empty-handed if the desert’s fires don’t consume us first.”
“You wretched dog!” Corin snarled, but Blake dismissed him with a shake of his head. Even with his wrists bound before him, the man could play a lord.
He ran an imperious gaze over Corin’s crew. “You heard what the slave girl said. Corin brought her because she knew this place. It holds the record of our sins, she said.”
A tremor of superstitious fear shook the pirates.
Blake nodded. “Our only sin is disturbing this sacred place. And that is on your captain’s head. Repent it now, with me, and let him be the one who burns.”
“No one is going to burn,” Corin said. “If you want to leave this place, we’ll leave. Grab an armload of books, everyone, and we’ll leave a kingdom’s worth of relics here to rot.”
“Sacrilege,” Blake cried, justified. “We are pirates, aye, but are we grave robbers? Here?” He shuddered theatrically and shook his head.
One glance showed Corin how much ground he’d lost. How? How had Blake won their hearts? He’d played to their fears. It would be easy enough for Corin to play along—to leave the books undisturbed and come back alone in the future. But he would have no future. Fear gripped the crew right now, but it would evaporate beneath the desert sun, and only gold would tame them then.
He knew all those things in the space of one angry grumble, and he answered with an unaccustomed show of emotion. He threw the book down on the dusty street. He stomped it underfoot. “Shall we leave empty-handed, then? That is what he recommends!”
“I recommend we refrain