Chapter 8 #2
My excitement and relief vanished an instant later when the sound of a turning knob sent a bolt of panic through me.
Squatting low and looking through the bottom level of shelving, I watched in horror as the storage room door swung open and a ray of low orange light entered my hiding place.
Looking around like a rat trapped in a cage, I couldn’t see anything that would make a good hiding spot.
Every shelf was fully stacked with bolts of fabric and leather. There was only one place to go.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I leapt as high as I could and grabbed the shelf beside me, climbing as silently as I could. Even so, the metal racks rattled a bit as I made my way up.
“Hello?” the guard said. “Is someone there?”
Climbing faster, I got to the top shelf and looked up.
Fifteen feet to the ceiling. It should be enough room.
Just enough. The guy clicked on his flashlight again and moved to the row I’d been in, sweeping his light back and forth.
Pushing off the shelf, I jumped into the open air and shifted.
The room was huge, but my dragon form was pretty damn big too, and there was barely enough room to partially extend my wings and glide to the other side of the room and latch my talons to the seams in the wall.
Pulling my wings tight, I focused all my mental and magical energy into my camouflage, praying his light would sweep right by me if he decided to raise it.
The lighting in the storage room was low—four emergency lights and nothing else—and threw shadows into almost every corner.
Plus, if the guy was looking for someone, he surely wouldn’t think to look up a bare wall a human would have no chance at holding on to.
My change of position, near silent as it was, hadn’t been fully silent.
“The fuck?” the guard muttered.
Despite my best intentions, I opened an eye and peered down. He was moving up and down the storage rows, sweeping his flashlight around madly.
My massive dragon heart thundered madly.
I was terrified he might hear that, but I couldn’t control it.
He might glance up any second in search of the sound.
I’d seen the gun on his belt. I was a dragon shifter, yes, but bullets would still kill me if I took a shot to the head or heart.
If my camouflage failed me… Hell, I didn’t want to think about that.
Please, please, please, I thought, begging for something to keep this from becoming a disaster.
Then, as though a direct answer from god, a box at the opposite side of the room fell over. The next sound was the slick swish of gunmetal sliding out of a leather holster.
“Move and you’re fucking dead, bitch,” the guard cried.
Nearly shaking in worry and fear, I glanced down, expecting to see him aiming up at me.
I’d need to do something drastic if he was, possibly kill him, and that wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I would if pushed.
I was not a murderer or killer of innocents, but I would do whatever I needed to for my sister.
I could deal with the demons and nightmares once she was safe.
Thankfully, the gun barrel wasn’t pointed at me. The guard walked toward the first sound, gun held out in front of him. Losing sight of him, I craned my neck and focused my hearing on him, trying to pinpoint his location as he rounded a shelving rack.
The tiny and angry squeal of a rat echoed through the room, followed by the guard’s panicked curses.
“Fucking hell. Shit!” he shouted, each word punctuated by the thud of a stomping boot as he tried to smash the rat.
From what I could hear, the vermin managed to evade the raining death. After a few heaving breaths, the guard cursed under his breath, holstered his gun, and strode to the door.
“I don’t get paid enough for this bullshit,” he said as the door closed behind him.
I spread my wings and floated down to the ground.
I shifted back into my human form as soon as my feet touched the floor.
Kneeling, I tried to calm my racing heart, but when I glanced at the timer I’d set, a steel band seemed to wrap around my lungs.
The screen flashed the same three numbers over and over:
0:00…0:00…0:00…
Out of time. God only knew how long ago the clock had run out.
I needed to get out of here. Now. Rushing back to the clipboard, I scanned the lines until I found the location of the exact color and type of upholstery I needed.
When I found the roll I needed, I pulled it free, surprised at how light the vegan suede was.
I’d anticipated it being bulky and difficult to move.
A fat eight-by-eight-inch sticker sat on the end, stuck to the plastic wrapping, saying the roll had ten yards of fabric, almost double what Shyanne said she needed.
There was no time to cut it, though. I had to get out of this godforsaken building.
Tucking the thick roll under my arm, I smiled to myself and turned to the door. That was when I saw it. In hindsight, it should have been evident. A camera. Of course, that would be something we’d need to worry about, but in our haste to get this done, neither Shyanne nor I had thought of it.
Alarm bells clanging a warning deep in my head, I stared at the camera above the door, aimed directly into the storage room.
“Fuck me,” I growled through gritted teeth.
Not only had it caught me stealing this fabric, but it most likely had a night-vision mode that would have given it a full view of my transformation.
Video evidence of dragons. My kind had managed to keep it from happening for the last hundred years since cameras started to become ubiquitous.
Our camouflage worked on the naked eye, but openly shifting on camera?
Not so much. You could rewind footage, pause it, enhance it.
And our camouflage only kicked in once we were in our winged dragon form.
That was a problem I’d have to figure out once I got out of this fucking room.
Ignoring the camera, I inched the door open and peered out.
The guard stood at the far end of the main room, facing the electronics workshop, but he was looking down at his phone, swiping and scrolling aimlessly.
He was facing away from me, and the office.
There was no time to hesitate, he could finish whatever he was doing any second.
Move! I screamed at myself. My dragon snarled at me to get going.
Stepping out, I dropped into a low crouch and pulled the door shut behind me, keeping the knob turned so it wouldn’t snap into place.
When it was fully shut, I slowly released the knob, all while keeping my eyes on the guard, heart in my throat, stomach churning bile and acid as the adrenaline of this entire mission sent manic signals through my body.
Door secured, I crept toward the office in order to stay soundless.
The security guy yawned, then looked like he was going to turn in my direction.
Freezing in place, I clutched the fabric, knuckles turning white, eyes widening in terror, but instead of turning, he raised his arms above his head, stretched, farted, then walked all the way into the electronics workshop.
Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I hurried back to the office. When I stepped inside, I leaned against the wall and took two deep, steadying breaths. My body was shaking, but there was a bit of elation in what I felt. In a few seconds, I’d be back outside with what I needed.
Now that I was in the home stretch, the nagging worry about the damned camera came back to me.
How many others were in the building that I hadn’t seen?
No way there was only that single one. Shit, there may have even been one on the roof catching me swooping down like some avenging angel.
My camouflage worked well, but I would still be obvious.
Outside, the steady thud-thump of boots told me the guard was again patrolling. Time was up. The owner could come back at any time.
One minute, I thought. You’ve got one minute to look, after that? You’re fucked, but there’s nothing for it. At least your sister will be safe.
With the flatulent guard outside, my search was confined to the office, so that’s what I did.
Leaning the fabric on the wall below the window, I searched the place as silently as I could.
Within minutes, I hit paydirt. Under the desk, bolted to the wood above the computer tower, a single box had ten wires running into it.
Ten older-style coaxial cables. Exactly what I’d imagine security cameras would use.
This had to be an external hard drive. I let out a shuddering sigh of relief that this Dusty guy hadn’t upgraded his security system to cloud computing.
Every image from tonight was stored on that damn box.
I grabbed it and pulled until the tiny half-inch screws popped free of the fiberboard wood the desk was made of.
The next ninety seconds of unscrewing the cables was maddening, but I stayed as focused as I could until all ten were free.
As I worked, I wondered where the hell the owner was.
On the desk, right at eye level, a leather wallet sat beside a set of car keys.
There was no way the dude had gone home.
Was he still talking to Shyanne? She’d assumed she would only be able to stall him with a fake offer to sell her shop for ten minutes, fifteen max.
It had to have been over twenty-five minutes since I got her text.
As I unscrewed the last cable, a kernel of worry took seed in my mind. What if something had happened? What if the guy had tried something? He could have gotten angry when he realized Shyanne had no intentions of selling her shop. He could have hurt her.
The very idea sent a volcanic wave of rage through me, and I had to clamp my tongue to the roof of my mouth to stop a growl from erupting from my throat. My dragon was equally pissed about the possibility. There was only one way to find out what happened: I had to get the hell outside.
The fabric would be missed the next day, then not long after that, they’d realize their camera footage was gone. There was no way they wouldn’t know they’d been robbed, so there was no reason to be too careful in my exit.
Rather than jumping to the window, I pulled a chair over, still staying as quiet as possible, and straining my ears to listen for the guard.
Once the chair was in place, I climbed up, and pushed the tube of suede through, and then tossed the hard drive outside.
Glancing back one last time to see that I’d not been spotted, I climbed up, and shoved my way back outside.
When my boots struck the pavement, I wanted to roar at the sky in victory, but I settled for a quick fist pump and hiss of elation.
Shifting, I grabbed the upholstery with one claw and the hard drive with the other, and took off into the sky.
It wasn’t until I was three hundred feet in the air that I finally felt free.
Swooping low over the river, I released the hard drive, then arched back toward the building.
Rather than perching atop a skyscraper, I chose an apartment building a couple blocks away.
Once I landed, I sat down on my knees and put the roll aside.
I pulled my phone out, and tapped a quick message.
It’s done. I’m out.
My initial worry about her taking so long came roaring back, so I fired off another text.
Are you okay?
I gazed toward the garage, wondering what was happening. Could that asshole have figured out something was off and hurt her? The very thought sent my dragon into a frenzy. A few minutes ticked by, and there was still no response.
Heart thudding with fear, I stepped up onto the ledge, readying myself to jump into space and swoop down to check on her. If that prick laid a single finger on her, I’d—
I flinched as my phone buzzed. Dragging it from my pocket, I sighed with relief as I read the message.
Shyanne: Great. I’m heading out now. No problems. Just pissed I had to deal with this dickhead.
Shaking with relief, I stepped back off the ledge and sagged down, falling on my back.
I put a hand to my chest as I stared up into the starry sky.
The adrenaline was fading, and I was drained and exhausted, but happy and relieved.
My moment of respite only lasted around ten seconds before I rose.
Grabbing the roll, I leaped off the roof, shifting in mid-air.
I flew hard and fast back to the cabin to get the car.
From what I could tell, this was all gonna work out fine.
At least I hoped it would.