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She avoids my gaze and doesn’t answer. She doesn’t need to. After I heard her conversation with her lawyer, I had Stiel track the progress of her case. It will take some time, but she will get her money.
“The moment we get up there, you are on your own.” She pushes her way out of the car and is halfway to the front doors before I start to exit. When she looks back to thank Rook for helping her out, her brown eyes shine with wetness.
* * *
Freddy wasn’t kidding when he said this was a more exclusive affair. As the elevator doors open on the loft, I immediately notice how the space is set up differently than the wrap party. Where there were hundreds at the party, I estimate about eighty or ninety people are in attendance here. Where before the space was empty except for the art on the walls and the hors d’oeuvre table in the center, pedestals much like the ones in the brotherhood’s penthouse now dot the room. The room is dim, and a spotlight is focused on each pedestal. Held perfectly angled on top of each is a stolen relic or artifact encased in glass.
A small platform is set up on the left side of the room with a podium and elevated stand behind it. A large piece of black cloth is draped over the stand, and it is clear from its awkward shape that the ancient silver ceremonial vessel is beneath it, ready to be unveiled.
I look over the room and see the wreckage of thousands of years of stolen art and culture, all held by a man who has no connection to any of it. These items could have the same hold over their original owners as the Keystone does over my brothers and me, and I can’t imagine what it would feel like if I wasn’t able to take back what is mine.
“Darling, Starfire, you made it.” Freddy sweeps in from the side and wraps his arm around Julianna’s shoulder.
A growl, low and instant, builds at the back of my throat.
“Of course I did. You asked, so how could I refuse?” She giggles, an easy smile on her face that makes her look as if she’s never had a single day of worry.
She doesn’t look back at me. She simply turns and walks with him wherever he is taking her.
The soft heat that hasn’t left my chest since Julianna’s arrival grows stronger, pulsing between my ribs, pushing up another snarl. I force it down. This is for the best. She is my pass into the party, and now she is distracting the host.
This couldn’t go better.
Soon she will have no need for a sugar daddy, but that doesn’t mean she won’t look for one. No matter how much Julianna’s presence distracted me from the Keystone, she deserves the sugar daddy she wants.
“Are you in?” Dredd says in my earpiece.
“Yes.” I swallow hard as I tear my eyes from the freckle on Julianna’s lower back.
Dredd, Knox, and Rook can view me and the guests through the large glass windows from their position on the roof across the street. We know Maximus will be hidden in the night sky, and we’re prepared for him just as much as we are prepared to steal back the Keystone.
No longer monitoring Julianna’s apartment, I spent every sunset to sunrise of the days leading up to tonight searching for any hint of the rebel gargoyle. At moments, I was sure I was sensing him, but just as quickly as I felt it, it was lost to me. One of our caves on the cliffs of Malibu is set up and ready to be used to contain and question him. I need to know if he is the only one to survive the fall and what his plans are for the Keystone, now and centuries ago.
I make my way through the sparse crowd. No one looks at me. They’re too busy following the tracks of Freddy and his new interest, Julianna. I notice a few people from last week’s party crowded around the pedestals. Harris is supposed to be here, but I don’t see him. For his sake, I hope he remembers my warning and keeps his distance.
I slow my walk as I pass each pedestal, looking over the guests’ heads to confirm what is inside. Freddy was adamant the Keystone wouldn’t be on display, but I had to be sure. Compared to the jewel-encrusted items and gilded relics, the Keystone would be a wholly unimpressive artifact.
Our plan is simple. Now that Julianna has gotten me inside, all I have to do is wait for the ceremonial vessel’s unveiling. The guests’ and, more importantly, the security guards’ attention will be focused on where Freddy will direct them. On my command, Knox will create a distraction, just enough to pull the guard from the staircase. Then Rook, who will have flown to the building’s roof, will set off Violet’s spell, giving me five minutes to get upstairs, magically unlock the vault, and grab the stone. With my Strange speed, that should be more than enough time to get the job done. Then I’ll leave, taking Julianna with me.
If she still wants to leave with me, that is.
I catch Julianna out of the corner of my eye, her gold dress glinting in the dim light. The warmth in my chest spreads to my arms and down to my stomach. Freddy is next to her, and a new admirer is on her other side, a blond-haired man. He’s not someone I remember from the wrap party. He’s close but not touching. She laughs at something he says, but it looks like one of her practiced laughs. He smiles down at her, his full glass of champagne held tightly in his hand.
Julianna’s back is to me, Freddy’s hand low on the dip of the dress. She isn’t looking at me, but I know she knows exactly where I am in the room. She probably knows where every important person is in the room and the value of every item on display too.
Baby girl is clever.
I watch the subtle muscles and bones of her back move like liquid framed in the gold dress as she works the room. The blond man says something to her, but I miss it, distracted by his hand on her arm. Her shoulders stiffen for a second, but then she leans into his palm.
It isn’t till I hear Dredd in my ear that I realize I’m letting out a low rumble.
“Don’t frighten the humans.”
My eyes still trained on her, I take a deep breath and compose myself. She squeezes the man’s arm. Her hand lingers. A woman with drinks comes by, and Julianna lets go of him only to lean in close to the server and whisper in her ear. The woman laughs, then blushes.
Julianna flips her honey-brown hair over her shoulder, exposing one long side of her neck. She turns her face to the side, looking down at her shoulder like some speck of dust might dare land on her and she has to brush it off. But there is no dust, and she isn’t focused on her shoulder. Instead, her gaze flicks to me, and her lips curl in the faintest hint of a seductive smile.
Julianna winks at me.
