Chapter Sixteen #2
“Maybe only John and I should go in,” Nasir says. He has his head wrapped in a black scarf, which works with his jutting beard to add to his fearsome mien. Not for the first time over these many years, I’m glad he’s on our side.
“No.” Sonny sounds sharp, electric. “We didn’t come all the way out here through LA traffic to sit on our asses.”
“No, Sonny is right.” There’s force behind Rob’s words. “Someone has the diagram of the house, correct?”
“I do.” Will opens the briefcase and brings out a copy of the architectural plans.
We start with an overview of the entire property. “What’s that?” Sonny asks, pointing at a small building near the property line.
Rob shakes himself, as if he’s been pondering something else. “I saw that earlier today. I believe that’s where the security systems are housed.”
“Good to know.” Nasir sounds calm, but he’s glaring at Rob. “Might have been able to work it into our plans.”
“What do you propose?” Rob asks.
“Shutting down the entire security system.” Nasir’s glare goes cold.
“Which could potentially alert everyone to our presence.”
Sonny, Will, and I glance from one to the other like we’re watching a match on the court outside. When Nasir takes a stand, he’s the hardest of us to move, even for someone with Rob’s persuasive skills.
Right now, Nasir is dug in. “So could walking down a hall in a house with twenty-some vampires in it.”
“They’re not all vampires,” Rob retorts.
If Nasir is hard to move, Rob is impossible.
“If you attempt to disarm the security system, you’ll first have to disable whoever is guarding the place where it’s kept, and then we’ll have to leave you and probably one other to defend it and keep anyone from raising an alarm. ”
“Yes, and then the three who are left won’t have to worry about locked doors. You’ll be in and out of there more quickly and we can all go home.”
What he says makes a great deal of sense, so much so that even Rob’s got a crease in his brow as he weighs the various possibilities. He glances at Will. “Do you agree with him?”
“I’m not crazy about the idea of us splitting up, but I do like anything that would help get the job done faster.”
Rob turns to Sonny, the tilt of his head asking the question.
“I’ll stay with Nasir. If you run into any trouble, call us and we’ll come.”
Nodding, Rob shifts his weight and meets my gaze. “And what do you think?”
“Honestly, there are many ways this could go badly, and relying on Nasir’s gadget”—I flutter a hand in front of my eye—“will most assuredly slow things down. If you decide that’s the best course, I will follow you, as always.” I hesitate, but only briefly. “What Nasir says makes sense to me.”
“It’s decided, then,” Rob says. “Nasir and Sonny will disable the security system and the rest of us will exchange the diamond. Now, John, show us where we go once we’re inside.”
We switch to an architectural drawing of the house. Starting with the main floor, I show them the side door and point out the three locked rooms, along with the one where they’d attempted to hold me and the two where I’d seen young people.
“Once we’re inside, there will be few places to hide. I can send away those we come across, although my power isn’t limitless. It’s possible someone could overmatch me, particularly the cait sidhe or Prince himself.”
“If that’s the case,” Will says, “we’ll fight.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” I shake my head, knowing full well it might.
“Look, I can cast a glamour to distract them,” Will says. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ve always got Rob’s charm. We can do this.”
Rob pulls out his phone and studies the screen. “The sun will set in less than forty minutes, and Prince’s children will begin to rise soon after. We should go.”
“All right,” I say, wishing I shared Will’s confidence.
We all straighten, and at my nod, everyone bows their heads.
“We ask the very blessed Virgin Mary, our Holy Mother, to look upon our efforts with good will, and keep us in the light of her son’s love.
” I touch my forehead, my belly, and both sides of my chest.
The others do the same, with a soft chorus of “amen.”
There’s little to say after that. I’m already in disguise, and after he adjusts his headscarf, only Nasir’s eyes are visible.
Sonny puts on his gloves and his dark glasses, pulling his hood low, though this time for concealment rather than protection.
Will brushes his fingertips over Rob’s eyes, which casts a grey shadow over his face.
He does the same to himself and we all stand.
Saying a final prayer to the Virgin, I follow the others out of the guest house.
We wait on the patio for a moment, listening for the security team.
At Rob’s signal, we follow him single file around the side of the guest house and down the driveway, keeping to the shadow of the trees.
An intermittent breeze comes off the ocean, carrying the scent of salt and seaweed, and every sound, every scuffed step and leaf’s rattle, is magnified.
Some one hundred meters down the road is a small building.
The windows blaze with harsh, fluorescent lights and a man sits by the front door, smoking a cigarette.
Will breaks from our line, approaching the house.
Did we discuss this piece of the plan? No.
Have we had centuries to understand our roles?
Yes.
Between one step and the next, Will casts a glamour, so it’s a young woman who takes the final steps into the glare of those unnatural lights. “Oh hey,” she says, voice artificially high. “I think I’m lost.”
The rest of us stick to the shadows. From here, I can’t tell whether the man is human, fae, or shifter; it’s unlikely a vampire would bother to smoke. He pinches the butt between thumb and index finger, takes a squint-eyed drag, and answers her. “Lost, huh? Where’d you come from?”
She points vaguely over one shoulder, still moving toward him. She wears shorts that ride high on her hips and a white hooded sweatshirt. “Out on the street.”
“Really?” he says with a leer. “Why don’t you come in for a minute. My friend and I can get you set up.”
In his young-woman glamour, Will smiles and says, “Sure.”
They go inside. Nasir holds up one hand, bending one finger at a time for a count of five, then straightening them to get to ten.
At ten, we move.
Still in a line, we jog to the guardhouse, Nasir in the lead.
At the door, he pauses to assess the situation.
One glance through the window tells me Will has things under control.
He’s let the glamour go, and it’s his familiar form that has one man pinned to a chair with a blade and the other held in the corner by the barrel of a gun.
His hands are steady, his expression grim. The two men sit with hands raised, clearly unwilling to put up much of a fight.
Nasir pushes the door open, and he and Sonny file in.
“Aw, man,” the cigarette smoker says. “They ain’t paying us enough for this shit.”
“Shut up.” The other man has a grizzled beard and the kind of paunch older men get in their sixties. “Just tell us what to do and we’ll do it. Fucking vampires.”
Nasir opens his case and brings out a set of zip ties.
Between him and Will, it doesn’t take long for the two security men to be trussed up, one in each corner of the room.
The rest of the space is taken up by a desk with two computers and a pair of chairs.
A series of screens take up every bit of wall space, showing images from around the house, both inside and out.
Nasir takes one chair and waves Sonny into the other. Outside the door, Rob and I share a glance. He looks, if anything, more exhausted than before. This concerns me in ways I can’t put into words. It’s uncharacteristic for Rob to look so troubled.
Still, when Nasir says, “Give me ten minutes, then go in,” Rob straightens and gives me a confident nod. Whatever’s worrying him will keep.
With Will at our heels, we follow the driveway to the main house.
I take the lead as we wend our way through the gardens, guided by lights embedded in the ground.
An intermittent breeze comes off the ocean, causing the surrounding greenery to rustle.
Even so, we hear the security guards, their footsteps steady on the stone paths.
Rob touches my arm, and the three of us separate, each taking a nook in the shadows. It’s the same two who came by the guest house. The larger man’s ginger hair catches the fading light, and the shadows make his friend look mean. Their matching rifles are dense black threats.
Hiding from the guards on my own, I’d felt fear, if only because I wanted more of Marcus. Taking over their central security site then filled me with determination.
Now, my mind is in a heightened state, drunk on the thrill of the game for the first time in many, many years.
Senses tingling, I remember why I follow Rob. Only when I’m facing the threat of death do I truly feel alive.
The guard’s footsteps fade to silence, and I step away from the shadow where I’ve been hiding. Rob and Will join me, and together we follow the path that will take us to the side door. When we reach it, I stare at the small black box, the iris scanner. Its red light has gone dark.
“We know what we want,” Rob says quietly, almost a prayer.
“The diamond,” Will responds in kind.
“And anyone who’s there against their will.”
“What do we do when we find them?” Will’s question is valid, but Rob waves him off.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
Will’s grin takes on a manic edge. “Let’s do it.”
“Someday, let’s come up with a real plan.” They laugh at my attempt at sarcasm, and I reach for the knob, turn it, and open the door.