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“Ready?”
Gabe watched me from the doorway. His jaw twitched with tension. I’d spent most of the last two hours laying in his arms, listening to him grind his teeth in his sleep. Our task weighed on him. He loved Luke as much as I did. We both hated to steal from him, but until that box was safe, we had no other option.
“Yes.” I slipped off the messy bed and stifled a yawn.
The last few days hadn’t given me much of a chance to catch up on sleep. I was running on fumes.
“Let’s go.” He headed out the door first, looking both ways down the hall.
We weren’t going to have much of a problem sneaking down to Luke’s office. The only Nephilim guards on duty stood watch at the manor entrances—an extra security that had been put in place since the recent ambush by Seth’s army. And thanks to the late hour, the hallways of the manor were all ours.
We snuck down an empty back stairwell. Our footsteps echoed on the bare concrete as we listened hard for any sign that we were not alone. Silence welcomed us. Pushing the door open to the second floor where Luke’s office resided, we glanced down the hall and waited for the moonlight cascading through the tall windows to throw any intruders into sight.
“As soon as we get it, I’ll take it back to my room,” Gabe whispered at my side.
The darkness of the hallway threw his face into half shadow. Deep wrinkles appeared across his forehead and around his mouth, as if he’d suddenly aged another six hundred years.
“We’ll find a better spot for it after that,” he added in a gruff voice. “Until then, at least we’ll know it’s safely in our hands.”
I nodded. Part of me was excited to get a
moment to look at this thing. There had to be some clue on it as to why Seth was so afraid of a silly little wooden box. My fingers itched to touch it, as if simply holding it in my hands would make it reveal all its secrets.
We took off down the hall at a steady walk. I watched the other end of the hall nervously. It might have been three a.m., but that didn’t guarantee us privacy. All it would take was for Luke to get the sudden urge to study something in one of his texts, as he often did, and we’d be caught. I wasn’t sure if any amount of explaining would erase the disappointment he’d have at finding out that Gabe and I hadn’t trusted him with this secret. And I didn’t want to find out.
“Here.”
Gabe stopped outside Luke’s office and jiggled the doorknob. Locked.
“It’ll take me a minute to get in.” He pulled a pick out of his pocket and nodded in the direction of the dark end of the hallway. “Go keep watch. Seth’s inside man might have the same plans as us tonight.”
Swallowing down the nervous energy swelling in my stomach, I headed off into the darkness. There wasn’t much to focus on, so I paced back and forth, listening for the sounds of Gabe’s pick in the metal lock. I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I didn’t see the shadowy man approach until it was too late and I’d smashed face first into his chest. The pressure on my nose brought a sudden well of tears to my eyes. I shielded it with two hands, crying out in pain.
“So sorry, love.” Noah Brown’s arms reached out to steady me. “Didn’t see you there.”
Pale moonlight streamed in through the nearest window, revealing his face. He hadn’t shaved this morning. Scruff covered his entire chin. It made him resemble a beach bum even more. Paired with his long wavy amber hair, he was every surfer girl’s dream.
“Lizzy?” He leaned over to peer at me. “Is that you?”
Guiltily, I dropped my hands from my face. “Yeah.”
“What are you doing, roaming the manor at night? Don’t you know it isn’t safe anymore?”
He glanced over my shoulder and I prayed that Gabe was safely hidden in Luke’s office.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I lied, throwing out the first excuse I could make up. “I thought a walk would help.”
In the darkness, his light brown eyes appeared almost darker, like chocolate. His mouth pulled down in a sympathetic frown and he reached out to pat my shoulder.
“So sorry, mate. Your cousin, Raquel, told me about your demon problems. I wish I could help.”
I bit my lip, holding back my slight flair of anger. Remind me to give Raquel a strict lesson on the definition of secret. I didn’t want all my acquaintances knowing about my inner parasite. Especially someone I liked as much as Noah.
“It’s okay.” I shifted from foot to foot. “Today’s been a good day, really. No attacks and Gabe came home.”
Something dark flashed in Noah’s eyes and was gone before I could name it.
“Yeah, I heard about that. Glad to hear he came back in one piece.”
