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He thought, then opened his shirt and directed the bird to climb in. It was a looser fit golf shirt, but he had a hoodie over it, so hopefully the amorphous thing would hide the slight lump that was Rill.
Rill dove down and wiggled into his shirt. It tickled and he resisted the urge to scratch. Rill gave him a beep and quit wiggling. He could feel the bird cling to his chest hair, which was uncomfortable, but it kept him alert. Once Rill was situated and not moving, he headed up to the main doors. Huge glass double doors. He walked through onto a marble floor and an intimidating wooden desk that you couldn’t avoid. Behind the desk was a row of elevators, and some fake plants and some seating.
He didn’t know why, but there was no one at the desk. Maybe the person had left to go to the bathroom, so he walked on past as though he had business and knew where he was going. He went straight to the elevators and hit the button.
The elevator door to his right slid open, it was empty. He walked inside and waited for the door to shut. “Where are we going?” he whispered to Rill.
Rill sent him a picture of the button, and Oliver pressed B4. The elevator lurched and headed down to the basement.
Chapter Nine
The elevator glided to a smooth stop and the doors zipped open. Oliver leaned out and looked both ways. There was some activity at the end of the hall, but no one was looking his way. He didn’t think he could sneak anywhere—his flame red hair, and tall gangly form was unmistakable and drew attention. Plus, he’d never done anything so outwardly law breaky. His face and ears had to be aflame. But everyone he saw was focused on getting somewhere, so no one looked at him.
He reminded himself to go boldly and act as if he belonged. So even though his ears were glowing with heat, and he knew his face was flushed, he strode confidently down the corridor, trying to follow Rill’s mental images as he went. He only hesitated once, when he wasn’t sure if the direction was to go right or left.
He pulled out his phone as though that was the reason he’d hesitated, and then he spotted a landmark from Rill’s visions, a wilted plant at the end of the right-hand corridor. He strode off, until he saw the room labeled “experimental lab.”
Rill wriggled in his shirt and beeped at him softly. This was it. The white, sterile room with the intricate cabinet. He looked right and left, no one was around. He twisted the knob. Locked. “Son of a bitch,” he swore softly.
Rill poked his head out of his shirt, and he looked down when the bird’s talons raked his skin. He had an image in his head that showed him standing only an inch from the door, so he moved as close as he could get. Rill reached out and tapped the door with his beak. The lock snicked. He turned the knob and it opened.
“Clever bird,” he said. “Glad I didn’t add breaking and entering skills to your skills on the application to wizard school.”
Rill sent him a feeling of amusement. He slipped in the door and closed it quietly behind him. The white room from Rill’s image spread before him. Only from this angle, he could see that it was mostly filled with lab equipment. He looked around, but the room he had entered was empty of people. He could see another room beyond this one through the doorway in front of him. He walked silently forward and peered in the next room.
He could hear the quiet buzz of equipment, and the thrum of electricity and magic pressed him from every side. He could smell something that reminded him of ozone, but it looked like a normal lab with people in white coats, and microscopes and other mundane lab equipment. Rill’s little heart beat faster against him. The bird was frightened. So was Oliver, he was terrified of getting caught.
There the cabinet stood on the far wall, incongruous against the sterile white room and the sight of all the high-tech gadgetry. It was strange, ancient looking. Waves of magic poured from it, so strong that even his weak skills had no trouble detecting it. Rill wriggled some more in his shirt. He was anxious, terrified, excited. The emotions washed through him quickly, changing. Oliver had no idea how he was going to get to the cabinet without being seen, stopped, or arrested.
He kept back and leaned against the wall out of sight of the other room. Rill suddenly burst out of his shirt, like the alien in the Alien movie and flew around the room in a flurry of movement. After a single pass, and lots of carefully whispered “get back here’s” by Oliver, Rill spotted what he wanted. There was a fire sensor on the ceiling. Rill flew straight at it and whacked it with his beak. Nothing. He did it again and again until finally the fire alarm screamed its warning and the lights started to flash. The door to the lab started to swing shut, so he dove behind it. Sure enough the people started streaming through pushing the door back open, hiding him from their sight. No one noticed him behind the door. The last person jogged out and passed through the outer door. He held the inner door from shutting, and he and Rill, who’d hidden himself as well, were in.
“We’ll have to be fast, buddy. That isn’t gonna be a long-term solution.”
Rill trilled at him. He reached in his pocket and dug out the key.
The lock on the cabinet looked new and shiny, it didn’t match the style or age of the cabinet at all. It’d been replaced and not too long ago. He put the key in the lock and received a strong shock for his trouble. He yelped and snatched back his hand.
He smiled sheepishly when he looked at his hand and it was unharmed. He reached out slowly and braved the electric feel of the magic to turn the key. The lock was tight, but smooth and the key set with a solid click and the door swung open.
It was filled with a variety of knickknacks. Mostly crystals and polished stones. Some metallic items as well. Rill squawked and dove inside, where he plucked out a crystal and dropped it in Oliver’s sweatshirt pocket. Then he grabbed two more and indicated that he was done. Oliver arranged some objects to cover the missing one, and then carefully relocked the cabinet and pocketed the key.
Now to get out.
He encouraged Rill to climb back in his shirt and hurried out. He hoped that people were still exiting. Maybe he could blend in with the numbers of people streaming out. The halls were empty. He jogged to the elevator bank, a hand supporting Rill in his shirt, so he didn’t fall out the bottom.
He climbed in and hit the button to the lobby. The elevator glided to a stop at the lobby, and the doors whooshed open. Oliver was faced with a crowd of people who were trying to go back to work.
Awkward.
His heart pounding and sweat running down his back, he strode out confidently. His ears were probably visible from space at the moment, he thought as he kept his focus on reaching the main doors. He almost made it. Once he was around the reception desk, a voice rang out.
“Yo, dude with the red hair. Stop right there.”
He didn’t stop. He sped up slightly and pushed through the inner glass door. Five more steps and he’d be out in the sunshine. One, two, three, four…A hand came down on his shoulder. He froze.
“Dude, you dropped this. I tried to stop you!”
A shorter man, with dark hair, probably close to Oliver’s age and wearing a power suit handed him the shiny brass key. It must have slipped from Oliver’s sweatshirt pocket in his haste. He felt a wave of panic, but the man didn’t recognize the key or act suspicious. He must be mundane if he didn’t feel the key’s power. He held out his hand and the man dropped it in his palm. No zing. Or the power was spent. Lucky break. He frowned at the key slightly, then gave the man a charming smile.
