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This was not at all the way I thought tonight would go down, but when BDD didn’t stay stationed outside the door, I had to shoot my shot.
I slipped off my Choos, hid them behind the toilet, and snuck out of the bathroom on silent footfalls.
First stop, goodie bag.
Four
Tuckedbehind the secret hinged bookcase and doused in stinging nettle tincture laid the bag of tricks I’d snuck in earlier that day posing as part of the catering crew. That little bag was stocked with more tincture to cover my scent, explosives—should things go sideways—and the most advanced safecracking tools money could buy, and it was the biggest part of my ticket to freedom.
I’d compelled the county clerk for the original blueprints to the compound, and believe me, that was not easy. But once I’d broken into his mind, he was more than willing to tell me about all the secrets the blueprints hid. The passage this bookcase hid was the oldest secret the building held, and I had bet that being the oldest, it was probably the least known, making it the perfect spot to stash my gear.
After splashing myself in enough stinging nettle to make a German Shepherd nose blind, I shouldered my pack and blurred upstairs, ears and eyes trained on anything that might break my cover.
I’d made it to the second floor and was just about to speed across the level to the back staircase when a housekeeper ambled out of a bedroom.
I froze mid-stride.
Shit, fuck, goddamnit!!
I pried my muscles free and blurred to her.
Thank fuck she was human, and already under so much compulsion she didn’t have much fight left in her.
If she had been anyone else, my ass would have been toast.
“Forget you ever saw me,” I whispered against the woman’s ear and once more ran for the back stairs.
I knew before I went in that getting across the second floor would be the hardest part. No cover. So many doors for things to be lurking behind. But I had a feeling the housekeeper was the only one on the floor at the moment.
Vamps didn’t enjoy seeing work being done.
Oh, they sure as shit enjoyed having it done. Having their sprawling mansions clean and their gardens well-manicured. But generally, they didn’t want to see it happening.
I hadn’t been a vamp long enough to really know why.
But seeing the housekeeper was a good sign for the rest of the second floor.
Fortunately, I was right, and sped up the back stairs to the third floor without another incident.
The last stretch was hairy too, but I just had to be quick.
Ears pricked for movement, I blurred across the hall to the last door on the right.
I gripped the doorknob, hoping the king was the sort to leave his doors unlocked, and sighed with relief as the knob turned easily.
I snuck inside and eased the door shut without making a single noise.
And there it was.
I smiled to myself as I stared at the safe standing at the back of the room. Of course King Julian would choose that safe.
No pictures covered it. The king built no furniture around it.
He hadn’t seen fit to hide this safe.
And for good reason.
The six-by-six-foot monstrosity was considered uncrackable. Impenetrable. It was fireproof, bulletproof, and watertight.
