“Of course,madame,” the teller— Elise— replied in a thick accent. “We will need identification, a signature, and of course, your code to the vault.”
Ava pulled out the documents Kallie had forged, just in case we needed them. “It’s all right here.”
“Excuse moi?” Marcus said as he passed by. He spoke in his best French accent. He sounded a bit nervous, but somehow managed to pull it off convincingly. I guess his days as a theater kid were starting to pay off. “May I be of service?”
“This woman wants to access a vault,MonsieurBlanc,” Elise replied.
I quickly whispered into my earpiece. “Her name’s Elise. Call her by name, and get rid of her.”
“I will take it from here, Elise,” Marcus said. “Please bring themadamea glass of water.”
Elise sounded confused. “Yes,MonsieurBlanc.”
Marcus went up to the computer and started typing on it. I didn’t think he was doing anything more than mashing random keys. He made a show out of rustling through Ava’s paperwork. Once Elise was gone, he said, “This way,madame.”
I must’ve been holding my breath the whole time, because when they disappeared into the hallway nearby, I finally felt like I could breathe. “Keep us updated,” I whispered into my earpiece.
“We’re on our way to the vault,” Marcus said, before quickly switching back to French. “Bonjour, bonjour.”
“How many people are back there?” I asked.
“A few,” Ava replied. “So far, so good. Ancestors, how many wanted posters can they have?”
I heard the sound of paper tearing through my earpiece. Ava was pulling the posters off the walls.
Ava,I warned through the bond.We can shred this whole bank to pieces when we’re done, but we need to get the vampire key first.
I was just having a little fun.
Have your fun in the vault. How close are you?
The vault’s just ahead.
I spoke into the earpiece again. “Marcus, report.”
“Scanning now… fingerprint is good… retinal scan is… what the hell?”
My heart leapt, and a beat of silence passed. I started to panic. “Don’t leave us hanging, Marcus. Report.”
“The scan took, and we entered the code, but the vault isn’t opening,” he said.
“This should have worked,” Ava insisted.
“Something went wrong,” I growled. “Our magic must’ve triggered something. Kallie, what’s happening?”
“There have been no alarms triggered on the tech end,” she said.
“I can feel the bank’s wards with my magic,” Marcus added. “Nothing’s changed.”
“So what’s going on?” I demanded. Oberi started to fidget beside me, and I could feel the panic rising in our bond between the three of us.
“Let me try again,” Marcus offered.
Several moments passed where nothing happened, then I heard the sound of voices through the earpiece. They spoke in French, so I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Ava, report!I cried through the bond.
Two guards approached us— shifters, I think.
