I groaned and reached for my water bottle. “There’s not much here we don’t already know.”
“Which is why we’re going to start with her office.” He checked the time on his phone then gathered the items back into the file. “We should head out now, swing by the campus store to purchase the phone charger, then make it over to the building before it closes at nine. This late, most of the staff will have gone home for the night, and it will be mostly janitorial staff.”
We stood, and I waited while he grabbed the key from his duffel bag. I twisted my fingers together, uncertain if I should ask my next question.
“Should I bring my demon blade?”
His lips formed a scowl. I shouldn’t have asked.
“Yes. You should always have it on you. It’s your best form of protection.” The scowl deepened. “You know how to use it, don’t you?”
“Of course. I—”
“Read the books?”
I cocked my head back and turned up my nose. “For your information, I was practicing blade combat just the other day.” He didn’t need to know it was virtual and my actions were controller-based. I definitely wasn’t going to tell him about my sweet dance moves. He hadn’t earned it.
“That’s good to hear. You’ll have to show me during our training sessions.”
Training sessions?
“Sure, no problem.” I flashed him a confident smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to change into something more suited for lawbreaking. Wait out in the hall.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I silenced him with a pointed finger.
“Don’t even think about making a pathetic witch joke about my dressing up as a cat burglar, or you’re out on your ass. You can sleep with the rats.”
His mouth snapped shut. “Never crossed my mind.”
“Sure it didn’t. Move!” I pushed him toward the door then turned my attention to my closet.
All right, what says I’m out for an innocent stroll, but also works well while committing a felony?
Oh, and it needed to conceal a mystical blade.
Obviously, spandex was out.
***
“I can’t believe you brought the dog,” Caden whispered as we walked briskly through the quad.
“Why not? He makes the perfect lookout. No one will see him unless he uses his haunting abilities to make himself known, and he can warn us if he hears anything. Besides, he’s part of the team.”
Caden mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like the sarcastic version of, “Some team.” I hoped he was including himself in his scorn.
The night air was crisp and smelled of damp leaves from the earlier rain. Puddles on the stone walkway reflected the light from the campus’s exterior lampposts. Loki bounded after us, oblivious, stopping briefly to sniff a passing student before keeping pace.
I was pretty satisfied with my outfit selection. I’d gone with a dark gray fleece pullover and black skinny jeans tucked into leather boots. My demon blade was strapped to my ankle, courtesy of the sheath I’d purchased with overnight shipping the same day I returned from the manor.
And Caden thought I was unprepared. I had the foresight to shop, didn’t I?
We approached the history department’s office building. Three floors of stone and Gothic arches towered above our heads. A single-story walkway connected the lecture halls, the parking lot for both buildings nearly empty. Floodlights lit the main entrance, and I noted a security camera in one arch. The side entrances were almost certain to be locked this late in the evening.
“Can you do something about the camera?” I asked, angling my head toward the stone arch. “It’s probably not a great idea for two people who were there the night Professor Roberts died to be seen entering her office building right before closing.”
Caden agreed and focused his magic, sending a little zap of energy through the air. The wires connected to the camera sparked and sizzled, disconnecting the feed.
“That should do it. They’ll assume it was an electrical problem.”
