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TWENTY-THREE
Seraphina reached herfirst stop. If everything went according to plan, it should start right...now.
“Excuse me, are you here for flowers?”
A Prentian approached her with a hovercart laden with flowers neatly arranged in portable baskets. Smiling, she said, “Yes. Thank you so much.”
“It’s not a problem. Glad to see it in use again. My nonny loved to stay busy and be around others too. Good luck with your sales today.” He passed over the silver remote control for the cart and tipped his head to her.
“Do I owe you anything?” she asked, infusing her tone with hesitancy.
He bowed his head and held up his hands together, fingertips forming a triangle as they touched in a gesture of high esteem. “Oh, no. Already received payment. Thank you.”
She smiled again, pleased the automatic release of credits she’d scheduled before leaving had gone off without a hitch. She’d brokered the deal through a paid service to rent the cart for a limited time frame. That the seller agreed to stock it with flowers in advance was an added bonus she hadn’t expected.
Using the slim remote, she set the cart to move forward at a sedate pace and walked behind it, her back hunched over and her gaze scanning the crowd.
“Flowers. Flowers for sale,” she called out in a warbling voice.
Genuine sales were made from those in the area, adding to her cover and she had to work to keep from grinning in triumph. As she drew closer to the street in front of the pavilion, the level of excitement and anticipation increased. Jarad would be inside the yellow spackled building with its bright blue trim among family and mingling with guests.
Everyone would listen and watch him with no cares to his public criminal activities. Her hackles rose and she moved forward bypassing the building without a second look to draw attention to herself. She spotted the security patrolling the area in the pale blue uniforms of Pi Vista enforcement.
A customer came up and purchased a hand basket. Even as Seraphina processed the sale, she took note of the snipers strategically placed on the roofs of surrounding buildings and smirked. As if she’d be so obvious. The reason she’d been so successful in her elimination of the individuals on her list was because her actions were anything but predictable outside her attendance at the Ice Ball.
Right beneath their noses, she made her way through the wandering pedestrians, selling her wares and making innocuous conversation. Pi Vista citizens had an almost obsessive reverence for the elderly and it worked in her favor. Not one guard or officer gave her dawdling form a second look.
Once she emptied her cart of merchandise, she programmed it to return to the address she’d been given and watched it trundle unhindered down the road. Part one complete. She knew the layout and security on the outside. Now to go and see about the protective aspects inside that they utilized for that smug bastard.
Her heart skipped a beat and her palms grew slightly damp. Rook would be there. While he’d yet to confirm any specific details about his law enforcement involvement, she knew he had to be a part of a high-level organization. Their fight beneath the rooftop revealed his experienced skills not to mention the accuracy of the shot he’d taken at her while on the ladder and descending with one hand.
The House of Oolun would definitely have Rook and his team watching the interior of the pavilion in close quarters. Only the best for Jarad.
So, she wasn’t taking any chances. There wasn’t room for even the smallest margin of error. She headed for the corner of two buildings she’d scoped earlier in her reconnaissance. The shadowy slice of space made for the perfect turning point. No cameras or recording devices would catch the glimpse of her as she passed for that eight second beat of time.
As soon as she stepped forward, she shoved her next morph forward, whipped off the trailing cloak and flipped it in reverse to use the hood strings to tie it around her waist as an over skirt. She straightened to adjust her spine and posture to one of a young woman as opposed to an old lady.
The moment she stepped beyond the building, everyone would see a woman with pitch black hair, a crooked smile, mismatched eyes—one green and one blue. Her height would draw attention since she topped two inches over the six foot mark in this form.
Her hustling stride led her to the stairs of the pavilion and she jogged up the flight, pausing at the massive double doors to let the body scanner take her metrics and check for any hidden weapons on her.
The sensors beeped, confirming she was clear of any threat. Seraphina moved forward, gaze on the long hallway and the arched opening for the event.
“Halt.” Another guard inside stopped her.
She froze and turned slightly. A large man in a black jumpsuit, heavily laden down with weapons stood on her left. His menacing frown would have scared a lesser willed person.
Hair cut in a severe style and eyes narrowed in concentration, his appearance stirred her memory. It came to her in a dawning flash. He’d been the guard at the Ice Ball who hadn’t seemed to like her. She didn’t believe in coincidences. His presence here meant he’d worked in conjunction with Rook to drug and abduct her.
Withholding a snarl with years of practice, she kept her pleasant mask in place and arched a questioning brow. “Yes?”
There was no recognition on his face. And why would there be? She wasn’t lushly curved like Tempest, her body not overblown in a manner designed to attract the interest of the opposite sex.
In this guise she was slim, borderline unhealthy in contrast to the height she’d added. Her dark hair was eye catching due to its length but nothing notable in its slick to her scalp style hanging down her back.
Clothing choice also differed from Tempest. The cloak she’d worn converted into an ankle length blue skirt. Her white dress beneath that flowed against her frame showing her flat chest.
The features she’d chosen were bland and nondescript from her wide nose, thin lips and large eyes with stubby eyelashes. The only detail she’d exaggerated was her ears. They stuck out from her head enough to create a curious glance from those around her.
