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“Gee, what every guy should gift a girl. Protection against him,” I said sarcastically.
Thorn put his forehead in his hand and pinched his nose.
“Business, Elena,” he said.
“Okay. And this artifact is where?”
“It’s in the house,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Obvi. What does it look like?”
Thorn shot me a skeptical glance, as if he didn’t believe I asked.
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
“Fabulous,” I said sarcastically.
He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this what youdo?”
“Yes, but it helps to have a clue.”
A derisive noise rose in his throat. “Well, you don’t have one.”
Our eyes locked on thatbonmot, and the temperature inside the Porsche rose ten degrees. I’m undecided whether to kiss those sexy-as-fuck lips or slap his face. Thorn continued speaking as if he didn’t just insult me.
“We have no intel on its locale. It might be kept in a safe, or a glass case, or its location is monitored by an alarm. But we are certain the object is in the library. One of my guys broke the library’s window lock on his run last night to trip the alarm.”
“And he didn’t get caught?”
“Well, he’s aprofessionalthief.”
I gritted my teeth. Thorn deliberately worked my last nerve. And sitting in close quarters to him, and inhaling his cologne, an animalistic charred wood, myrrh, frankincense, and tobacco scent, bitter and sweet at the same time, made things sizzle between my legs that shouldn’t.
Focus, Elena.
“Anything else?”
The corner of Thorn’s mouth twitched.
“The collector is secretive and may be supernatural as well.”
I glared at him then. “Okay, well, that’s kind of an important point. The last time I crossed paths with a non-mundane retrieving an artifact, I nearly drowned, and now you’re forcing me to encounter another preternatural being?”
“We don’t know what he is. No one can read him,” Thorn countered. “Which means he may be a simple mortal.”
“Or so powerful no one can read him. Perfect. Got it.”
Thorn shook his head in exasperation.
“It shouldn’t be that bad. I’ve had my people set off the security alarm every few days for the past two weeks.”
I must have stared at him like I was stupid because he scoffed and shook his head again.
“It’s nearly impossible to keep a security system working around magical energy,” he said.
“I know that,” I hissed. “The kinetic energy of magical objects can interfere with the electronics.”
“The police grow tired of the rich after a few false alarms. So now, if you screw up and trip the alarm, the police won’t respond quickly. That might buy you enough time to finish, and escape with the object.”
