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My hands fisted. “Shut up.”
“Or what?” A taunting smile. “You’re not in charge anymore, Princess. Now get in the box. Victorine’s orders.”
I raised my chin. “I want to see Rafe first.”
“He’s fine. Now get in the goddamned box.” She dropped her voice and said without moving her lips, “I’m here to get you out.”
My eyes widened.
“Don’t act surprised,” she warned. “Just nod.”
I scrutinized her, but her face gave away nothing.
I obediently dipped my chin. “You want me to get in the box.”
“Yes,” Lainey replied in a normal tone, then dropped her voice again. “Just long enough for me to freeze the cam for a few seconds. Then I’ll let you out of the box. You hide in the bathroom, and I’ll restart the cam before I leave. When I open the door to the hall, you can follow in the shadows. I’ll leave a side door on the ground floor ajar.”
She gave me the door’s location.
“What about Rafe?”
“They’ll be switching guards on the lower level in exactly six minutes. You can rescue him first, or leave him behind. Your choice.”
I met her eyes. “I’ll need time to get him free of the cuffs.”
She considered that. “A power failure would do it.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course. But the mansion’s backup power will come on in thirty seconds.”
I stared at her. Why would a slayer help us? But I had no choice but to trust her. “Thank you.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll owe me.”
“Anything.”
A sly, very satisfied smile. “Excellent. I’ll be waiting on Pont Notre-Dame with tickets and fake IDs for you both. Now if you’d get inside…” She gestured toward the steel box.
I climbed into it and crouched down. Lainey started to lower the lid.
“Oh, and Zoe?” she said. “Back in Pigalle, thanks for calling Rafe off. He caught me by surprise. You’re not as cold as you want people to believe, are you?”
“It would’ve been too much trouble to dispose of your body.”
She laughed and shut the lid.
I had a bad moment when things went dark. If Lainey had lied and engaged the box’s lock, I’d be on my way back to Montreal by morning, leaving Rafe to fend for himself.
A heartbeat passed, then another. Four of my heartbeats all together while I listened tensely for the snick of the lock engaging.
I set my hands on the lid, straining to hear what was happening through the half-inch-thick steel. My reflexes were ten times faster than a human’s. If Lainey did attempt to lock me in here, I’d have a fraction of a second to react, but that would be enough time enough to shove the lid into her lying face.
The lid lifted. I was never so glad to see someone’s face. “You have three seconds to get in the bathroom,” she whispered.
I made it in two.
She shut the lid again and opened the door to the hall, and I faded into the shadows and slipped past her.
