by Ashley Meira
He rolled a large shoulder. “Don’t know. The circumstances are definitely suspicious, and your little speech earlier was certainly convincing.”
“I want him to be guilty,” I admitted. “Sounds shitty, I know. But if he’s guilty, then we’re one step closer to figuring all this out — and finding Adrienne. Besides, if I didn’t sound adamant, Jeffery wouldn’t have been as eager to help us out.”
“Prove us wrong, you mean.”
“Same effect.”
“You’re more political than you give yourself credit for.”
“Hey, I don’t insult you.” I looked around the house, trying to find any magical weak spots. “Give me a second, okay?”
I crawled over him toward the window, ignoring how his body felt brushing against mine. The window led to the third floor, but I could reach the second if I hung from the branch. The barrier’s magic grew stronger with each floor. I could see its veins thrumming along with the magic, thicker with each rising inch.
Absorbing the magic on this floor would get me really high. Almost as high as I’d been when I touched Adam in phoenix form. My face flushed as I remembered the way I’d behaved under that influence. Never again, or we might actually end up having a kid.
The first floor was our best bet, but it would be hard enough to convince Adam there was a hole in the barrier — how was I going to explain us needing to climb back down? My Fire crackled something that sounded like, “This wouldn’t be an issue if you told him the truth.” What a bitch.
Taking a deep breath, I swung so that I was hanging upside down from my knees. There was a spark of amusement in watching Adam’s magic flare in panic before he took control of it. I let myself enjoy both it and the heady sensation of blood rushing to my head for a moment before examining the closest window.
There was enough of a ledge to stand on, and I didn’t sense any mages close by. I sighed, not looking forward to absorbing all this magic. At least wouldn’t trigger any alarms when I did. Well, it never had before.
The Wallheim Museum in Austria — one of the magical art world’s premier locations — boasted a state of the art magical security system. I’d drained it and escaped with a particularly valuable jade vase in less than an hour without setting off a single alarm.
Why did draining barriers not send alerts like breaking them would? As with the rest of my Fireborn powers, I had no idea how it worked. Part of me wanted to kill my kidnapper on sight, just end everything then and there, but another part of me wanted to lock him up in my basement and pull answers out of him. Slowly and painfully. That was the part he’d created.
Adam was watching me intently, but when our eyes met, he turned away and said, “I’ll keep watch.”
After making sure he really wasn’t looking, I reached out and touched the barrier. It occurred to me too late that taking hallucinogenics while hanging upside might not be the best idea. Somehow, I managed to hang on while everything around me turned to waves of pinks and gold. Technicolor lights danced around my vision as the pulsing veins of the barrier thinned.
I flexed my fingers, trying to get some feeling back. The magic had numbed my extremities to that torturous point of half-awake, pins and needles sensation. A few more seconds turned that discomfort into a tickling, and I giggled as the magic pounded through me.
My Fire danced around, ecstatic about getting some real action. With Adam at my side, I’d had to be more careful about absorbing magic. Adrienne’s safe had been the most exciting thing I’d touched all month. Well, besides Adam. Mmm. Touching him felt like a great idea. It was a great idea. Where was he?
“Adam,” I crooned, my self-control almost gone. “You missed a spot.”
His hand reached for me. I batted at it like a cat, giggling before a pressure in my lungs cut me off. It felt like a dragon was sitting on my chest. Adam grabbed my wrists and yanked me up. The action turned my world white before a rainbow burst back in, making Adam resemble a multicolored work of art.
“You make my chest hurt,” I whispered, tracing a finger across his delicious cheekbones. I licked the path my finger took. Yummy.
“Pretty sure hanging upside down did that,” he said, capturing my lips before I could pull away.
My Fire and I both squealed. Pulling him closer, I deepened the kiss, letting my tongue taste his. It was even better than his skin, a mix of Adam and Ollie’s coffee. I wrinkled my nose, not wanting to add anyone else to this. I didn’t want to share Adam.
Strong hands squeezed my backside as Adam pressed his mouth harder against mine, our teeth grazing each other. “Bad girl.”
“Hey!” I pouted. “You kissed me.”
“Mhm.” He nuzzled my neck and held me tight, running his hands across my back. “Couldn’t resist.”
“Sweet tooth.” I giggled, remembering the way my magic tasted. “Chocolate and vanilla. Me and you.”
“Match made in heaven.”
I pulled back, sadness puncturing my happy bubble. “Monsters don’t go to heaven.”
Adam stroked my cheek and gave me a soft kiss. “Then it’s good thing you’re not a monster.”
I wanted to argue, but the burst of melancholy had put me back on track. We needed to get inside. Apparently, not even high doses of magic stood a chance against my self-pity. It was good to know for the future, though I wasn’t sure how smart it was to get high, then make myself absolutely miserable.
“I like you a lot.” I rubbed my cheek against his. “But no play time. We have to….” I frowned. “Oh no. I forgot again.”
“We need to get inside,” he said calmly. “The barrier is gone here for some reason, but the window appears to be locked. Do—”
The rest of his words were a whoosh as I dropped back down, lockpick in hand. “Don’t tickle me, okay? I hate it. It’s not cute, and I will stab you. And not in the fun way you could be stabbing me.”
Adam choked. “Focus.”
“I am, just don’t tickle me,” I huffed. Men.
The lock opened with a soft click, and I lifted the glass pane. I stretched forward and gripped the ledge before unhooking my legs. From this angle, guards shouldn’t be able to see me dangling. I lifted myself up and slipped inside, checking the dim hallway for any patrols. No guards, but lots of statues and paintings of people. I wondered if they came to life. What if their eyes followed you like in horror movies? I shuddered. Creepy.
My legs gave out as I stepped aside for Adam to get in. Wait. Why were we breaking in here again? When Adam pulled me up, the rush chased away all theories I may have had. My Fire shrugged, still rolling around like a well-fed wolf. All it cared about was getting more magic.
Magic. Shit. Right. Sobriety prickled at the very far corners of my mind. I’d absorbed some and wanted more— No, less. I needed to get rid of all this excess.
“Bathroom,” I forced out, clinging to the little bit of reality I had left. “Your skin is really soft. Do you use lotion, or is this another one of those lucky bastard things?”
“Is that really what you call it?” he said, lifting me into his arms and sneaking down the hall. “I was here for a dinner once. Bathroom should be through here.”
The second he put me down, I rushed to the toilet and jammed a finger down my throat. Ollie’s pie looked a million times better going in, I could guarantee that. Adam knelt beside me and pulled my hair back with one hand while rubbing my back with the other.
“Deja—” I hurled again.
“Vu,” he finished with what looked like a smile. It was hard to tell through the tears. “Take your time.”
I wanted to scold him. We’d broken into the home of one of our world’s most powerful people. Loitering was the last thing we should be doing, right after hurling in the bathroom.
Once my stomach was empty and the magic had been purged — to a minimal degree not worth what I just went through — I pressed my face against the tiled floor.
“Stay there.” Adam closed the lid before peeking into the h
all. Then he closed the door and flushed the toilet. “No magic around, and if he has non-magical guards, they aren’t nearby. So hopefully no one heard that.”
Vomiting to purge my high. I’d never been the healthiest person, but this was a new low. I wiped away tears, pretty sure they weren’t all from throwing up. It still felt like spiders were crawling all over my body, and there were neon dots prancing around my vision. But when I stood, my legs didn’t shake as much — and I no longer wanted to rip Adam’s clothes off. Right away.
“Where’s my lockpick?” I said, pulling it out of my pocket. “Never mind.”
“You wouldn’t be sloppy enough to leave it behind,” he said as we slipped back into the hall. Since he’d been here before, I let him take the lead. “Isn’t that Symeon’s?”
“Same model.”
“So, you had that the entire time and decided to punch Adrienne’s door?”
“I like punching things, and I hate kneeling. It’s why I didn’t become a thief. Full-time, at least. Crawling through vents is hell. ” I looked around. “Thomas is such a workaholic, he probably keeps everything in his office. Even a bed. Let’s find that. The office, not the bed,” I added with a shudder. Gross. “Should we be wearing masks, by the way? Like Bonnie and Clyde.”
“Thomas didn’t give me a tour, but I remember him mentioning his office was on the third floor. If we can get there without getting caught, we should be okay,” he said, turning the corner. For such a cold, calculating man, Thomas’ home was surprisingly old-fashioned. Everything was wood and antiques, more old-money decor than I expected from his personality. “Also, I’m pretty sure they didn’t wear masks.”
“Should’ve made Jeffery sketch out a floor plan,” I whispered, staring down a painting filled with angry looking cupids. Adam had to pull me away, but I managed to flip them off. Rude, diaper-wearing babies. “And I’m pretty sure they did.”
“Maybe in their off hours. Probably did a lot of kneeling, too. I heard they were very passionate about each other.” We turned another corner on this seemingly endless floor.
“Masks and kneeling? Do you make everything sexual?”
“Just when I’m with you. Can’t help it.”
I stopped, staring at his ass. I couldn’t help it. That thing was perfect, and my eyes had a mind of their own. “You lied about not having a sex dungeon, didn’t you? Does your butt look that great without pants on?”
“I’m not answering either of those questions, because I think you’re feeling a bit ill right now. But I want desperately to address both of them, so I’ll be bringing this up when you’re feeling better.”
“What else will you be bringing up?” I asked expectantly. “Oh! Stairs!”
Before I could take a single step, Adam grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me into a nearby room. A bedroom, apparently. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that “up” question.
Nah, I totally should have.
“Guards.”
“What if they’re trackers?” Urgh. All this whispering was making me lightheaded. “What if they want to taste your yummy magic? They can’t. It’s mine now.”
“All yours, sweetheart.” He pressed my face against his chest, though I suspected it was more to muffle me than anything. How rude. “But stay still now, okay? Do you need to throw up again?”
I should — it might neuter this high a bit more, a part of me thought. The boring part. Wasn’t throwing up bad for you anyway? “Why do you want me to do bad things?”
“Just wondering if you’re still feeling sick.” Maybe it was the high, but he sounded overly casual when he said it.
“I always feel good when I’m with you,” I slurred. “Okay, that’s not true. But it kind of is, and that’s what counts.”
He looked out the door, but I saw his lips turn up. “They’re gone. Let’s go.”
We rushed up the stairs. Adam was surprisingly graceful. With his size, I expected him to lope around trying to keep quiet, but he moved with almost as much ease as I did. The predator comparison came back, and heat shot through me as I wondered what else he did with predatory grace.
“Work our way through,” he said when we reached the top the stairs. A single, long corridor with two doors on either side greeted us.
“There’s no one here,” I said. “Why is there no one here?”
“With all the security outside, they’re probably not expecting people to get in at all.”
“Is that your security expertise talking?”
“Of course.” With all this magic running through me, his smugness was cute. Hell, it was always cute, but it came with a serving of annoyance I didn’t feel right now. “I’ll go left.”
I nodded and scurried to the first door on the right. Four doors meant we found the office quickly enough. It was the last one on Adam’s side, and more importantly, it was slathered in protective magic. The energy covered the door like a thick slime, pooling around the floor.
“I don’t wanna,” I whimpered. Absorbing that much would carry high consequences.
“You’ll have to,” he said, going back to the first door he checked. “I’m too big.”
“Huh?”
He waved me into the room. Dozens of cardboard boxes were stacked on top of each other and papers littered the floor. I followed his line of sight past a knocked over box and up the wall that connected to Thomas’ office. Crap.
“Vents.”
“Vent,” I corrected. “Singular. And stupid. I only crawl through vents for treasure, so you better be okay with me stealing something in his office.”
“Isn’t that why we’re here?”
“Something shiny,” I huffed, pulling the grating aside and crawling in.
The trip took three steps — crawls — and my high didn’t allow for the usual level of grumpy I maintained, so I made a note to be upset about this later.
Adam was waiting on the other side when I opened the door. Hard to believe Thomas didn’t think to put barriers on his vents. I would have, but then again, my side job involved breaking into secure places. Or abandoned places. Strangely, there was no middle ground.
“Don’t kiss me,” I said. “I just threw up.”
“How about an I.O.U.?”
“I collect interest on my debts.”
He grinned. “Deal. You’re cute like this.”
“I thought I was always cute.”
“Cuter.” He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. I felt the barrier come back up immediately. “Let’s get to work. We can continue this foreplay later.”
Thomas’ office was huge. Towering bookshelves lined the walls, looming over us like disapproving guardians. My Fire hissed at the imagined slight, urging me to set everything ablaze. The books, combined with all the stray paperwork, made great kindling. A large desk sat before the window near the back of the room. The wood gleamed, coated in leafy patterns from the sunlight filtering through the trees. I’d think it pretty if it didn’t also look like the center of evil.
“Think he has a hidden bookcase door?” I said, pulling random books out of place.
“Based on the house’s dimensions, there’s no space for an extra room in here.” Adam rifled through the paperwork on the desk. “Could have a safe hidden behind those books though.”
Even through the magic-addled haze, I knew something was off. Thomas was meticulous, calculating. But this place was a mess. His storage room was one thing, but for a workaholic like him, this office was the center of his world. Why did it look like a hurricane had blown past? None of this looked like the result of a struggle. He could just be distracted from all the murdering he’d been doing. That was a possibility.
“Can you pick this for me?” Adam asked, kneeling by the desk.
I came over. The third drawer was locked. I went to work, but said, “Sloppy to hide something in such an obvious place.”
“No hidden compartments in the other drawers. You can check this out, I’ll finish with the shelves.”
There was nothing inside Thomas’ locked drawer except more mind-numbing paperwork. The business speak bored me into a more sober state. Thank goodness — I was starting to worry I’d never feel my fingers again.
“Got a safe,” Adam said, moving aside a painting of some fruit.
Before I could pull out my lockpick, Adam raised a glowing hand and began manipulating the magic around the safe. My brows shot up. He never failed to impress.
“The protections are down, but I still need you to unlock it.”
I hurried to acquiesce, pulling the door open the second I was done. “Jesus.”
“What?”
I looked at him in disbelief and gestured to the contents of the safe. “There’s over $100,000 in here.”
“You’re a thief— recovery expert,” he corrected at my glare. “Have you never seen this much money before?”
“Sure. In the form of a vase or painting, not in cash.” I eyed the stacks hungrily. “Beautiful, glorious cash.”
“You could take some. He wouldn’t even notice.”
“It’s tempting,” I admitted. “The repairs for our home will eat up most of Fiona and mine’s savings. If we’re lucky.”
“And if you’re not?”
“We’ll be broke and have a partially reconstructed hole in our house.” I shook my head. I wasn’t going to take the money. Being here already put me in the Council’s crosshairs. I wasn’t tempting fate. “What else is in there?”
He gave me a lingering look before rifling through everything. “Money, some insurance papers, his will…. That’s it. Nothing else.”
“Keep looking,” I said, going back to the desk.
I patted the drawer’s interior for hidden compartments but found none. The desk had been looked through. In vain, apparently. Just like everything else. Damn it. What else was there?
My eyes drifted to the fireplace under the vent I’d come from. Had Adam checked it? I brushed the ashes aside, finding burnt bits of paper. Apparently not.
“He burnt something here, but the pieces are beyond saving,” I said, trying to make out the text. “Pieces of a date, and his signature. Letter, maybe?”