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Every stupid gray suit in the closet. I ran my fingertips over the fine fabric, squashing the irrational urge to smell it. Who knew there were so many shades of charcoal?
I checked every view from every window in his room. All of which looked down on the busy midtown streets.
The king’s bedroom was dark and moody, but not overly masculine. Deep gray walls complemented the mid-toned wood furniture. The linens were the same dark gray and while in a lot of spaces it might be too dark, Julian’s room had so many windows the effect was dramatic, not overbearing.
Sunny breezed into the suite with a pile of paperwork and set it up in the living area next to his bedroom. I sat next to her on a buttery leather sofa and waited for her to explain the papers sprawled in front of us.
“We tracked down Titus’s purchase orders going back ten years and found which safe companies he had contracts with. We even discovered which security system he uses and what contractor he hired to staff his guards.”
“Sounds like you’ve done everything right so far.”
“Well, yes, but we still don’t know which safe of the dozens he’s had delivered to his tower over the years holds the scepter.”
“Titus has had dozens of safes delivered to his property?”
Sunny nodded.
Well, I saw why they needed me. Still, I didn’t think I’d be much use as a “consultant.” I could explain the basics of any safe to anyone, but they really needed someone there in case they pulled a Russian nesting doll, like Julian had. I couldn’t prep someone for that or to think on their feet. There was no way I could jam months and months of study into someone else’s head. “There have to be others who know more about safecracking than I do. I don’t think I can do this the way you need.”
Sunny nodded. “There are. But they’re all human. They can’t set foot in Titus’s tower without becoming a meal.”
That sent a jolt of ice down my back. I didn’t know what kind of arrangement Titus had with the human officials on his side of the river, but the rumor was that he kept them all compelled so his vamps could feed on the streets.
More like murder in the streets.
“So, I’m the only vampire safecracker?”
Sunny nodded, scrolling away on her tablet. “You know the reason, Eden. Vampires respect the chain of authority too much to steal from a king. The safes are for the illusion of safety alone because any vamp could tear the door off its hinges. But brute force sets off secondary alarms and countermeasures, so we need to be more subtle about it if we want to get out alive.”
Yeah. But that was only part of the reason I was the only vamp safecracker. Sunny was just too thoughtful to say it out loud.
If Odette hadn’t died, she would have instilled in me respect for vampire authority and I never would have considered stealing from a king.
It made sense, but also, it kind of didn’t. “Okay, but who was doing this before me?”
“No one. During previous incursions, they displayed the objects in front of everyone. The game was more about who had the skill and balls to steal in plain sight more than anything.”
And since Julian had caught wind of a supernatural thief, I was the perfect choice to help with the new way of things.
I nodded, head a little spinny, like I needed some blood.
Hadn’t I just had some at breakfast?
It was probably all this talk of Titus getting to me. I took a hard left and changed the subject with zero segue or tact. “What about you? Do you have a mate?”
Sunny’s eyes widened, and an adorable flush spread across her nose. “Oh, um, we don’t have to talk about that.”
“I have exactly one friend, Sun, and I just found out that I was keeping secrets from him when I didn’t need to. I don’t want to start off our relationship one-sided like I did with him.”
Her cat-like gaze met mine. “You want to be my friend?”
“Uh, duh. You’ve got killer style and you know way more about all the vampy shit than I do. Plus, if you’re gonna make me stay here, we might as well be friends.”
She shook her head, brow pulling together. “But I’m the king’s aide.”
I shrugged, not sure what she was getting at. “Is this a hierarchy thing? ’Cause I don’t really care about that.” If she was about to tell me that I could only be friends with the mates of other kings, I was gonna start throwing things.
Sunny picked up the tablet and scrolled through it at lightning speed. Not quite a blur, but definitely faster than a human. “There’s nothing in our laws that strictly forbids it,” she mused and glanced up at me. “I don’t have a mate. Yet. It’ll happen though, after I decide to die.”
