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Plus, it would eat into my budget in ways that would turn tonight’s outing from my last, to my second- or third-to-last. There were only so many times I could roll the dice on not getting caught. And more jobs meant more risk.
Risk I wasn’t willing to take.
Cat burglary was not my long-term plan.
And I sure as shit wasn’t gonna let some sleazy little slumlord wannabe get in the way of my dream.
Jaxson nodded. “Me and the other tenants agree. We thought you could…”
I glared into my friend’s amber eyes. “Oh, don’t you worry your sweet little ass about it, Jax. I’ll fucking handle it.”
Jaxson graced me with his dazzling smile. “Thanks, babe.”
And that was why I didn’t lock my door when I came home.
The first time I had to have a talk with the landlord, it was about the building’s broken water heater. Three other tenants had also complained about it, but they all got the same shuffling, noncommittal response.
After I spoke with him, a plumber arrived four hours later and I’d gotten a reputation for getting things done. “First thing tomorrow, don’t you worry, Jax. But right now, I really have to get going.”
Jax nodded and finally stepped aside. “Sorry for bothering you about it. Can I call you an Uber or something?”
I pinned my friend with an icy stare. “You are never a bother, Jaxson. Got it?”
He nodded, and I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I locked the door behind me. “I’ll tell ya all about the lives of the rich and famous tomorrow, okay?”
“’Kay,” he agreed, and crossed the avocado-green hallway to his apartment.
The second his door clicked shut, I shot down the hall, taking the stairs at a speed that would definitely kill a human, especially one in heels. No one in the building knew I was anything but human. In fact, most humans were blissfully unaware of our existence. I just hoped no one was feeling nosey enough to spy through their peepholes. Because I wasn’t blurring downstairs to the ground level for all to see.
I was racing upstairs to the rooftop.
Three
Boundingacross midtown from roof to roof got me to the compound moments before the guards closed the gate. I hadn’t planned on Superman-ing it, but a lady does what she must.
Security was always extra-tight at vamp-only events. They couldn’t risk humans accidentally wandering in. Not if they wanted to keep the delicate balance between vamps and the human officials who kept our secrets. I didn’t stick my nose too far in that mess, just enough to know I didn’t want to know any more.
A tall, rail-thin guard with salt-and-pepper hair took my invitation and ushered me through the street-facing entrance as he locked the gate behind me. Another guard, this one just as tall but with a haircut that reminded me of a K-pop star, silently escorted me down the stone path to the double front doors. We went through the Carrara marble entryway, through two rooms, then took a left down another marble hallway before he finally deposited me at the entrance to the internal courtyard.
I didn’t need to pay attention to the details of the study and great room we’d walked through.
I’d already memorized them.
I knew every room, including how many windows, doors, and hiding spots there were, and what the room was generally used for in the royal compound.
I even knew about the secret passageways built into the walls.
Unfortunately, those Prohibition-era passages only led from room to room, never to the outside. The external exits were boarded up sometime in the late 80s.
Even so, if the worst came and I was caught, I knew this place like a drunk knew their drink order.
And yet, despite knowing each of these rooms, it was still shocking how different they were from what my mind’s eye had conceived.
I’d expected austere, new-money, minimalism. White walls and black furniture with glass tables might look good on Pinterest or Instagram, but were clinical and sterile in real life.
These rooms were far from clinical. They had a lived-in, inviting feel. The books of the study weren’t all leather-bound tomes that had never been read, though I caught sight of a few classic first editions, spines creased and all. But there was also genre fiction, philosophy, and even a few graphic novels tucked away on the shelves.
Color me surprised.
