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“I messaged Castor this morning. He’s going into the governor’s chambers today.” I smile. But him spending an additional two days hanging out in the city when he’s supposed to be back on his way to Athens isn’t endearing him to his company or his family. At least, that’s what his message said.
“I’ve already told Liora and Elandra we’re coming. So go get your little friend, and let’s get going.” Belle smiles.
“My little friend?” Nico scowls at her.
“The trident of Poseidon.”
Nico glares at her. “I’m not even sure where it is.”
“You stink at lying, bucko. Now, let’s get going.” Belle carefully picks up all the papers around the table and places them in the lockbox. I tuck it under my arm and put it in the safe—a new safe, under the center of the pod bed, not the normal one in the wall.
12
EROS
“It’s fine. We’ll catch the next elevator. That trident is far too heavy.” I point to Nico and Sunshine in the elevator. But the speech is for the others next to them. “It might bring the whole elevator system down if we come in too.” I smile at the mermaid next to Sunshine and Nico, then glance back at Holter. The eyes of the mermaid’s three scowling mates vanish as the doors slide closed with a click, presenting a fresco of dolphins chasing a school of fish. The small Braesen side lobby is out of the way and hopefully will have less people around. Nico is taking Sunshine up to the apartment, and Holter and I will arrive a few minutes late.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time.” Holter grabs the side of my arm. The lobby of Braesen isn’t something I remember well. I was here on a mission when I first started doing hits for the security council. The place is full of both real and animatronic animals. A butterfly lands on Holter’s shoulder. I smack it off.
“What are you doing?” Holter glares at me.
“I hate those things. Everyone is always like ‘butterflies are good luck and so pretty.’ No, they’re creepy flying bugs with big wings and giant eyes.”
Holter cocks his head at me like I’m the odd one here. He picks it up. “This one wasn’t real.” He holds the twisted little yellow and black body close to his face. “But if it was, you’d get us in a lot of trouble with the caretakers.”
“Caretakers?” I’ve never really thought about how Braesen takes care of the animals inside their dome.
“Yeah, they have a whole set of mermen who take care of the creatures in their dome. It’s a huge honor to be nominated,” Holter says.
“To make a living picking up bug shit?” Yeah, no thank you. I hold back a shudder.
Holter puts the twisted carcass back on the floor. “Hopefully, someone can fix it.”
“By burning it?” I stare at the bent wings fluttering on the floor.
“Let’s go.” The elevator opens again, this time mercifully empty. I pull out my tech and swipe it over the control pad. First, I kill the surveillance in the elevator, then I find the switch and an array of invisible floors show up. Fucking hell. From where the lobby comes into view, the main building appears to be the fifth floor of the dome. Labeled buttons range from 103 to subfloor five. But the control pad? “Look.”
Holter’s eyes shoot wide. “Poseidon.”
“Right.” Damn. I’ve got tech that could have made this a whole lot easier. But there are some things I can’t share, not even with my own mates. Things that could put them in a lot more danger if they knew about them.
“There are fifteen levels below us? How is that even safe for the dome and surrounding area?” Holter asks.
“I don’t know. I also don’t know where to start.”
Holter looks over my shoulder. “The lower levels have higher clearance.”
“Then that’s where we go,” I say.
I’ve got a pit in my stomach, one that tells me this won’t go the way we think it will. But I punch the code on my block and the elevator shimmies downward. My eyes flick to Holter. Damn, he’s calm. But then, going on missions with Nico over the years has to have changed his disposition.
The elevator shakes when it stops. Holter waves his hand and motions me to the other side of the wall. The doors slide open; it’s dim out there, and whirling motors vibrate around the massive space. I’ve got my collapsible trident out, and I duck my head into the room. It’s full of equipment—power supplies, pistons sloshing up and down. I glance at Holter, and his brow is furrowed.
I shrug. It’s a mechanical room with no one around. The floor is massive and empty. Holter and I share a beat of silence. Then he points to a pipe. MVP is written on it. The damp floor doesn’t show any signs of care or anyone having been in the space for quite a while.
Back to the elevator. We find another level and more of the same: empty spaces, lots of empty workstations, like the facility used to hold thousands of workers.
I whisper, “Do you think they’ve given up on whatever it is they were trying to do?”
