The hooded figures, faces hidden by the shadows of eighty-eight lamps, walked counterclockwise around the prone man staked out on the floor. They chanted in Greek and made arcane gestures toward their captive.
A shorter form, cloaked in purple, stepped into the middle of the circle and stood above the prisoner. A curved, golden knife flashed in gloved hands. “For the crimes you have perpetrated . . . for the unnatural act you have committed . . .”
The man whimpered against the gag in his throat and tried to thrash against his bonds.
“I use this sacred knife to avenge your sin and purge our persons from your evil.”
A plunge, a brief spurt of blood, and it was finished.
Pulling back her hood, the Head Librarian shook her head. “I mean, really! Deliberate mis-shelving? He had to die.”
The Venerable Order of Librarians nodded in agreement.
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