Chapter 6
Althea
You can see her Fae heritage. She's rather petite, but strong and flexible like a reed. Even so, all my instincts scream that it's madness to send her alone to that place.
“Okay, let's go over it again,” I propose, sliding the obsidian between my fingers. “When you enter the mansion, they'll ask what you want. You tell them you're the new masseuse and memorize the layout by taking photos, if you can. No heroics.”
“For the fifth time, Althea,” she responds, rolling her eyes. “I go in, pretend I know how to give massages, explore, get out as fast as possible. It's not my first dangerous job, you know?”
“Yeah, okay, but this isn't like stealing some jewelry from any rich guy,” I insist, raising my voice more than I intended. “Voronov is... different. You already know, the rumors about him, about what he does to those who betray him.”
“I know it well. He's been buying stolen pieces from us for years,” she rushes to respond, arching the eyebrow over her blue eye, while the one over the gray remains impassive.
“I'm just telling you there are people who disappear and...”
“Yeah, you're really encouraging me,” she replies, shaking her head. “Anything else you want to tell me? Let's see if besides being a mobster, he also turns out to be a werewolf or a vampire.”
“Werewolves don't exist,” I respond automatically.
“Vampires do,” Sylara whispers next to us.
“Seriously?”
“Let's focus. Vampires don't matter to you right now, they're rare, and most are in New Orleans. You need to wear this at all times,” I say, placing a listening device in her ear and covering it with a strand of hair.
“I look like a spy from the movies,” she jokes.
“If they catch you, try to buy time however you can. It won't be easy to get past the entrance security. Last chance; if you don't want to do it, we'll find another way,” I remind her.
Nell smiles and shakes her head, narrowing her eyes.
She tells us something about how, even though she's scared, she can do the job, and something else I don't even process, because all my senses are focused on the way the elf kneels before her, takes her hands, and a current of air forms around them.
“What the hell did you do?” I growl.
“You already know,” Sylara murmurs, losing her race's typical composure for a tenth of a second.
“Kaelisar forbade us,” I protest.
“What did you do to me?” Now it's Nell who asks in a whisper, but there's no fear in her voice, rather wonder.
“It's a temporary boost,” I explain, watching as Sylara discreetly leans against the wall. She's pale, more than usual even for an elf. “She gave you part of her elemental energy. That... that's not something we normally do. It has a cost. In fact, Kaelisar explicitly forbade it.”
“I feel...” Nell breathes deeply, closing her eyes. “It's like I could create a hurricane just by thinking about it.”
“Don't do it,” I murmur. “The apartment insurance doesn't cover damage caused by novice elementals.”
“Wow, you're getting the irony. Very good, Kobold,” she laughs, raising both thumbs at me.
We're so close I can count the almost invisible freckles scattered across her nose. For an instant, a primitive impulse invades me, almost uncontrollable. I want to taste her lips.
I pull away abruptly, confused and alarmed in equal parts. I don't know what's wrong with me.
“Take this,” I say too roughly, handing her a small glass vial with a clear liquid inside. “This is the last thing. A few drops in his drink and he'll sleep long enough for you to explore the mansion.”
Nell takes the vial, studying it cautiously as she rolls it between her fingers.
“It won't kill him, will it?”
“It'll just knock him out.”
“What a shame! The world would be better off without him,” she says suddenly. “Anyway, I'm not a killer,” she declares firmly. “Thief, yes. Liar, when necessary. But I don't cross that line.”
I'm about to respond when Sabina enters the apartment, her hair slightly damp at the tips. She's wearing a tight shirt that shows more than necessary, and it irritates me to notice how Nell's gaze drifts to her cleavage.
“All set,” she announces. “Six visible guards, four at the main entrance, two patrolling the perimeter. Standard camera system, nothing Sylara can't handle.”
“And the escape route?” I ask, moving even further from Nell.
“Clear. Ready, little thief?”
Nell nods as she shifts her gaze to Sabina's lips and a pang of something that looks too much like jealousy pierces through me.
**
“What the hell did you do?” I protest the moment I'm alone with Sylara.
“Improve her chances of surviving, that's all.”
“That's all? And in the process increase your bond with her, right?” I insist.
“Jealous, Kobold?”
“Kaelisar forbade it.”
“Are you jealous of me or Sabina? Because it's clear the Fae is devouring her with her eyes.”
“Why would I be jealous?” I growl.
“Because I am... and I'm an elf. I don't even want to think how a Kobold might feel in a situation like this. And that confirms my theory.”
“All that bonded Quad stuff? That's bullshit, assuming it ever really existed.”
“And yet, here we are. Three elementals: one of each element, feeling an inexplicable attraction to that girl,” she states with a calm smile.
“And how does that work? Assuming it could be true, of course. Do the three of us end up fighting over her? Does Nell choose who she wants from us?”
“I'm not sure Nell is feeling it. It's obvious she's felt something for Sabina, but I don't know if she feels it for us too.
Her human side complicates things a lot.
In theory, in a true bonded Quad, she wouldn't choose, because she'd feel something for all of us. An almost immediate and very strong bond. It could also be that Sabina is manipulating her.”
“All that soulmate shit,” I scoff.
“You know it exists among paranormal beings. In Nell's case, it would be three soulmates. I don't know if any ancient elf remembers how it worked last time.”
“Sabina feels it too,” I sigh. “I've seen her look at Nell the same way I do.”
“The same way we do,” the elf corrects.
“Shit, Sabina alone with Nell. I hope she doesn't make any stops before getting to the mansion.”