“We don’t. Let’s get ourselves a key, then,” I said.
“I’m coming with,” Danny insisted. “You guys fucked up the last robbery. I’m not sitting this one out.”
The last thing I wanted was a fight. Danny wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so I guess that meant he was coming along.
“Fine,” I agreed. “But you answer to me. When I give orders, you follow them, no questions asked. Got it?”
“Understood,your highness,” Danny said, in the most irritating way he could. He was obviously trying to annoy me.
I didn’t like the guy, but I was going to have to work with him. “All right. We’re going to need help from the Elvish Associates.”
“You know they can’t come with us,” Kallie pointed out. “Only demigods can travel through time with me, along with Oberi because she’s an eternal being. Rishi no longer freezes when I stop time, ever since he stepped into his demigod abilities in the Infernal Underground, so I’m certain he could come, too, since his powers are linked to Marcus. But that’s it.”
“I’m not suggesting we bring the Associates with us,” I said. “But I resolved to let people help us. At the very least, we need to know when Frank made that deposit. Max has the bank records, so she can get us the exact day and time.”
“You really think they’ll go along with this?” Danny asked. “Everyone was up in arms the first time you tried to rob the bank. It’s best if we keep this on the down-low.”
“They don’t need to know where we’re going,” I said. “We’re just getting information. I’ll be right back.”
I marched down the hall and took a couple of turns until I reached the door where I’d met with the Elvish Associates many times before. I entered the room and heard the clacking of a keyboard.
“Your highness.” Max was startled at my arrival. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to search the bank records,” I told her. “Find me the time and date when Frank Coffrey made his deposit into the vault. We know we’re looking at the 1920’s, but I want theexactdate and time.”
“I’m on it.” Max turned back to the computer.
I expected her to ask questions, but she didn’t. She must’ve felt unease in the silence. “Is everything okay, your highness?”
“Don’t you want to know why I’m asking for this information?” I wondered.
“If it was important enough for me to know, you would’ve told me already,” Max said. “The Elvish Associates don’t ask questions; we follow orders. We aren’t here to be your friends.We’re meant to work for you. If you don’t want to tell us anything, you aren’t obligated to.”
“You aren’t mad at me for going into the bank without you?”
“I don’t have a right to be angry, your highness,” Max explained. “If that is what you thought was right, we have to back you up even if we believe it is wrong. From birth, we’re taught to follow you without question.”
I frowned. “Eddie’s made it perfectly clear he’s upset with me, and he’s my guard.”
“Eddie’s closer to you than he should be,” Max stated plainly. “He’s breaking the rules by making his opinion known. He has been taught to comply without question, and that is what he should be doing.”
I knew it was a bad idea to get close to Eddie. I needed to start putting some distance between me and my guard. Otherwise, we weren’t going to be able to do our jobs properly.
“Here we go…” Max mused. I heard the whir of a printer, and Max handed me a thick sheet of paper with braille letters and numbers across the top— the exact time and date of the deposit.
“Thanks, Max,” I told her. “You’re a lifesaver.”
I returned to the demigod training room, waving the paper at the others. “I’ve got it!”
We went over everything we knew— when Frank showed up at the bank, how we were going to pull off the switch, and what to do if anything went wrong. When we were ready, I created a solid illusion of a false key, so I could swap it for the real one and Frank would put the fake in the vault. Kallie crafted us period-specific clothes that would help us blend into the 1920s, as well as an oak antique wheelchair for Ava that fit the time period we were headed to.
“This thing is ridiculously uncomfortable,” Ava complained as she sat in it.
“You won’t have to use it for long,” I promised.
Something clinked as Danny withdrew it from his pocket. “Bottoms up.”
I scowled, but he’d already downed the liquid. “Drinking on the job, really?”
