Chapter 5 #3
And then the shouting started again with another round of bids. Meanwhile, a waif-like woman slipped along the side of the table and waved to catch the vendor’s attention. I watched as she offered for another artifact while the other two were still shouting out bids for the marbles.
The vendor reached for the box.
This was my chance.
I held my breath. Sort of. It felt like I was holding my breath, my ears were ringing, and my heart was pounding… none of which were really happening because I didn’t have lungs, ears, or a heart in this form.
But if I messed this up, things could go very, very badly for me.
The vendor lifted the lid of the metal cashbox…
I rushed forward, solidifying just enough to knock against one haggler, pushing them so they staggered forward.
Then, like a line of dominoes being set in motion, my plan unfolded.
The table jostled when the haggler stumbled into it, which made the vendor shriek in outrage, while the other haggler grabbed for the marbles they’d been bidding on.
And that was all I needed. The brazen theft of the marbles distracted the vendor enough that they didn’t secure the cashbox, so I could do a little thieving of my own.
I slipped into the box and grabbed the crystal.
I cloaked it in my shadows, solidifying enough to take hold of it, before jumping to a shadow across the room behind a massive bronze sculpture of an elk.
I waited. I listened. There was no outcry.
No pursuit. No accusations—at least nothing related to the crystal hidden in my shadows.
Still, I didn’t want to stick around. Given the sleazy clientele, I doubted anyone would start throwing around accusations since that might draw the wrong type of attention, but I couldn’t count on it. And who knew what that wolf and mage would do if they discovered their crystal had been stolen?
I hadn’t checked out the second floor yet. Now was the perfect time to do that. Besides, with the main event taking place in the large banquet rooms on the second floor tomorrow, it’d be useful to scope out the place.
Going between floors in a public building could be tricky in my shadow form. Stairwells and elevators were brightly lit and free of tables or plants or other objects that cast shadows. Looked like I’d be shifting.
I jumped from shadow to shadow until I claimed the empty bathroom stall in the corner of the men’s public washroom. I transitioned from shadow to solid, my clothes appearing with my shift. I breathed out a quiet sigh of relief.
After the disappointment of finding Morgan’s empty cage, I’d been worried my shadow form would cling to me. I’d almost lost myself to darkness before I met Gage all those years ago. I knew how easy it was to sink into my shadow form and stay there.
So I’d half-expected my shift to be slow and sluggish. Thankfully everything was normal. I could usually switch between forms a few times a day without trouble, and it looked like things were working the way they should.
However, if I had to transition too much, I’d need to eat something more to balance my magic. So far, though, I was fine.
I tucked the crystal inside a small pillbox Teague had given me several years ago.
He’d said it’d been spelled to hide it from magical searches, and suggested I use it for a geocache, after I complained how mages had an unfair advantage when hunting for caches.
But I had looked at the little box and known I couldn’t part with it.
It was the perfect size to hold the small, polished stones I liked to leave in the caches I found.
The stones I selected weren’t cursed or spelled, but each had natural magical properties.
I wasn’t a mage, but I liked the idea of passing along items that might help people get through dark times.
Not everyone was meant to live in the shadows.
At the moment, I had a selection of small stones, including amethyst for calmness, black tourmaline to combat negativity, rose quartz for harmony, citrine for joy, and pyrite for abundance.
None of them were bigger than a dime, so they weren’t expensive, but sometimes small things could have a big impact on someone’s life.
I should know. I still had the small piece of labradorite I swore led me to Gage all those years ago.
No one—and I mean absolutely no one—knew about that stone, or its significance to me.
But it was always with me, in that little pillbox beside the others.
I snapped the lid closed, and calm settled over me.
No one would be able to sense the crystal’s energy now.
Still, I took a moment to take a few breaths before straightening my cuffs and collar. When I stepped out of the stall, the man drying his hands didn’t seem surprised to see me. Hopefully no one else noticed I hadn’t walked inside the room either.
After washing my hands, I strode purposefully to the elevator. I wished I could take the stairs, but that could draw attention. People were lazy SOBs. Very few people took the stairs when an elevator was right there. I needed to blend in. Be predictable. Act like everyone else.
When I stepped out of the elevator, I was relieved to find the hallway empty. Although the sounds of people setting up tables in the banquet rooms told me that could change any minute. Movement at the end of the hallway made me freeze. What was that? Someone darted out from an alcove ahead of me.
Their ink-black cloak billowed out behind them like a wraith. The hood slipped down to reveal short, jet-black hair underneath. I got the sense that the mysterious figure was a man. A very suspicious man.
What in the name of the Eternal Magic was he doing? He looked more like a stage magician than a supe. Damn it. If a human infiltrated the event, that would only spell trouble. The last thing the supe community needed was a viral video showing the worst types of supes, or any supe at all, really.
I had to find out what this guy was up to.
He was humming the theme song to Mission: Impossible. I only recognized it because Jeremy had made us supes watch it a month or so back as part of his ridiculous “School the Supes” events, and the song had been stuck in my head for weeks after.
Hearing the man hum the song wasn’t the strangest thing I’d ever come across, but it reinforced my suspicion he was doing something he shouldn’t.
He rounded a corner. I dashed forward and stole a glance down the hallway.
The man appeared to be… uh, dancing? That didn’t seem right. But as I watched, he did it again.
Yeah, he was definitely wiggling.
Then the humming stopped abruptly.
“You worry too much,” the man whispered.
He was standing alone, so he must be wearing an earbud. Either that, or he had a mouse shifter in his pocket.
“I don’t know, V. Maybe it’s better that the cameras are off,” the guy said.
V? As in Venus? I grunted in frustration. Had she sent someone else here too?
The cloaked man froze.
Shit. He’d heard me. I ducked into an alcove as he spun around to search for the source of the noise.
“Hold on, I’m going to just…” the man mumbled.
What was he doing? I glanced down the hallway in time to see the wannabe stage magician open an unmarked door and slip inside a darkened room. Good. I could confront him there. Without an audience.
I glanced around to ensure I was alone, then let my shadow form wash over me.
I jumped between the few shadows under the hallway tables until I came to the dark gap under the door.
I dove for it. Just as I slid under, the sound of heavy footsteps pounding on concrete rumbled out of the stairwell at the end of the hall.
Strangely, the cloaked man hadn’t turned on the light in what appeared to be a supply closet. That worked out well for me, but it raised another set of questions. Had he seen me too? Did he know I was an ally? Had Venus told him about me?
Who was this Rudy Tada guy that Venus thought he’d need two bodyguards?
This whole situation was feeling shadier by the moment.
I should have suspected something was wrong when Venus wouldn’t tell me anything more about Rudy. I’d dismissed my misgivings about her lack of information, more focused on another opportunity to search for Morgan than what she had asked me to do.
But what had I gotten myself into?
From the gap under the door, I watched as guards spilled into the hallway.
“You better hope we don’t find anything up here,” the guard in front said.
“You didn’t respond when the air mage said they caught part of a sketchy conversation.
You should have. It isn’t like we can check the cameras.
” Huh. That was the same young wolf who’d given the crystal to the vendor earlier.
It sounded like she was part of the security detail.
“But these rooms aren’t open yet. Just the staff are here,” her underling said. “Besides, why would it matter? We only have a skeleton staff. I was told to protect the assets, not chase down something a mage might or might not have heard.”
“And that’s why you aren’t in charge.”
The good news: The cameras really were off. The bad news: The security guards were moments away from discovering Venus’ other agent. As irritated as I was with Venus, I felt compelled to protect the mission and the other operative.
Footsteps in the hallway grew louder as I flowed into the room itself.
The place reeked of cleaning chemicals, which should help us hide our scents from the guards, even the wolf shifter.
I solidified my hand enough to turn the lock and secure the door.
That should slow the guards down. Hopefully it’d give me enough time to get this newbie under control too.
“Uh… V…” the man whispered as the lock clicked into place. “Something is going on… Shit. I hear people running. I gotta go…”
“Be quiet and do as I say,” I whispered as his own words tapered off.