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“You all right?” Tommy asked me.
Something about the look in his eyes was knowing, like he’d been told about the job. Now I wished we were alone even more. Tommy and I weren’t friends or anything, but I trusted him enough.
Was stealing the artifact going to be harder than it appeared to be? Was I going to have backup? Knowing more about the details might have made my decision easier.
“Do I look that awful? You’re the second person to ask me that in the span of ten minutes,” I said instead, putting on a smile even though my stomach was still in knots.
“You look normal to me, if that makes you feel better,” Chad said, emerging from the office with his hand on his girlfriend’s lower back. He kissed her, and she left.
“See, maybe that means I look awful all the time,” I joked.
“You look great all the time,” Lucy said. “And I’m not just saying that. Here’s your latte, Tommy.”
“Thanks.” Tommy took a sip. “See you guys around.”
He gave me a concerned look as he left, which only made me feel worse. What did he know?
“Anyway, what’s going on, Arden?” Lucy asked, cleaning the espresso machine.
I bit my bottom lip. All of my missions with the Lunars were top secret, but I needed some advice before I drove myself nuts.
“So, say someone asked you to do something absolutely insane—life-or-death insane,” I said, pouring myself a mug of light roast. “And it’s definitely not something you’d want to do. But if you did the thing, you might learn some important information about something you’ve wanted to know your entire life. Like about your family. Would you do it?”
Chad crossed his arms over his chest, and Lucy cocked her head to the side, thinking it over. Both of them knew about my past and how hard I’d tried to find any information on who my parents were and how they died, so I didn’t have to spell it out for them.
“What are the odds of it literally being life or death?” Lucy asked.
“Extremely high.”
“I’d do it regardless,” Chad said with a shrug. “You’ve spent your whole life wondering about your parents. Maybe you have a family out there that you’ve never met. People who could add to your life.”
“Good point.” I hadn’t even thought of that. What if they were right here in Rouhaven, and I didn’t know? The idea of having a family was so foreign to me, yet so appealing at the same time.
“You should do it. Even if it’s life-or-death crazy; getting that information will change your life,” Chad said. “And family is important. A chance like this might not come along again.”
He was right. I took a deep breath and blew it out. I’d never forgive myself if I let this opportunity go by.
I had to steal the artifact from the Royals. Once I got to that point, I would figure out how to survive.
Chapter3
Arden
My blood pumped through my veins as I looked at the Royals’ palace from the rooftop of a nearby office building.
The place was crawling with enforcers even this late into the night. All of them looked like ants from this distance. They were clustered away from the side door that one of the Moon Oracle’s insiders had enchanted a half hour ago. The spell made anyone inside avoid the area, though they never consciously realized what they were doing. Assuming that the spell was still active. A narrow window of time remained before it wore off, or one of their enforcers noticed that someone had used magic in that area.
Heading downstairs, I ran through the plan again, even though I’d spent all day memorizing it. I had to use a stealth spell to approach the rendezvous point just outside of the palace grounds without being heard. From there, I had to meet up with the insider to switch into her palace worker uniform and have her put a glamour on me.
Once I got inside—assuming that no one caught me and my spells didn’t trip any of their counter-spells—I had fifteen minutes to get to the vault in the middle of the palace, analyze how it was locked, break in, grab the artifact, and get out without being noticed.
I was in over my head, but I was past the point of backing out. I had to go for it.
Although the air was cool, sweat dripped down my back under my black shirt as I put a stealth spell on myself. I used them regularly, but my hands still trembled as I worked. Stealth and cloaking spells were incredibly useful for fae like me, but that also meant that counter-spells for them were equally common. No cloaking spell was ironclad.
Once I was sure I was covered, I slipped through the dark streets, sticking to routes that cloaked me in darkness as extra backup.
I reached the edge of the palace grounds ahead of time. Now I had more time to panic. What if the insider got caught on her way out?
