Aiden
As I maneuvered through the crowd to get to Milo, my phone buzzed in my hand. When I looked at the screen, I saw a message from Vea.
Vea
Shit. Okay, she was serious. Quickly tapping reply, I composed my message back.
Me
We will do whatever it takes.
Vea
Good.
Dropping my phone in my pocket, I saw Milo in my line of sight when I looked up again.
He was chatting with a demon near a sculpture that was up for sale.
Slowing my walk significantly, I approached him.
“Excuse me, I’m so sorry.” I politely interrupted their conversation.
The demon gave me a nasty, displeased look as if she had just smelled something foul.
“I need to go over something with him quickly.” Doing my best to make my interruption seem business-like and nonchalant, I smiled. The demon snarled and turned away.
“Wow, you pissed her off,” Milo chuckled as I pulled him away from the crowd of people. “What the fuck is going on? Your face is way too serious.” Milo’s brows furrowed as he focused his attention on me.
“Plans have changed.” I kept my voice low as we stood shoulder to shoulder looking out over the crowd. “We aren’t here for the art tonight.”
Milo turned to look down at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Turn back around,” I said sternly.
“Shit.” Milo squared his shoulders and sipped his champagne.
Taking a deep breath, I crossed my arms over my chest. “He’s here, and he is who we are after.”
Shifting slightly, Milo made a soft grunting noise that he understood. A server passed by and collected Milo’s now empty glass. “Wait,” Milo spoke softly. “Who are you talking about?”
I knew I was going to need to elaborate more but was trying to figure out the best way to explain the situation in a short period of time.
The best way to give Milo the necessary information right now.
We could explain the rest to him later. “The Senketsu is here.” My voice was barely a whisper.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Milo go perfectly still.
“We need to get him tonight, for Vea.” He still didn’t move as he listened to me.
“I can’t explain everything right now, but we just need to figure it out and get it done. It’s serious.”
Milo released a tiny nod and looked over to me. “Then let’s do it.” The unfailing loyalty Milo had for the Mortis family was the exact reason he was in the position he was. Following closely behind, Milo walked with me back toward the stage.
The crowd had begun to shuffle back to their seats for the live auction. Doing my best to look behind the stage again, I didn’t see anyone where I had previously seen Ceril and the Senketsu.
“Do you have any ideas?” Milo asked as we walked back to the corner we were standing in.
I surveyed the room and saw a door to the right of the room.
Thinking back to the blueprints of the building, I remembered that the door would lead into a hallway that wrapped around the back of the event space we were in.
There was one on each side of the room for the caterers and staff to be able to enter and exit quickly without having to shuffle through the crowd too much.
They could quickly run through the back halls to get what they needed.
Picturing the other rooms in my mind, I began to formulate a plan for how we could begin our search.
“The servers are doing their final laps around. They will go back to the kitchen there soon.” I casually pointed to the back left corner of the room, reminding Milo where the kitchen was in the back halls.
“Right. Do you think he’s being kept back there somewhere?” Milo began watching each of the servers, accounting for each of them as they moved around the room.
Nodding, I looked around the stage and spotted the angel with the ice blue hair standing to the side of the stage with her arms crossed.
She looked mean as hell. “Ceril pulled him back behind the stage over there by the arm. They disappeared out of sight before I could get any closer. I called Vea right away.” Remembering the blueprints, there were several rooms off the back of the stage that were connected to the hallway.
It would work perfectly once we got back there.
Milo leaned toward me slightly. “If we can get back there and around, it should be easy to check those rooms. We just have to be prepared for whatever additional security they have. I’ll text Mitz now to shut the cameras down.” I nodded in understanding.
Ceril walked gracefully onto the stage with his wings relaxed around him.
“Good evening again, everyone.” Applause erupted in the room as Milo and I began moving toward the doors to the hallway.
“The Shirogane Family is pleased to host this auction tonight. Being able to share these one-of-a-kind Senketsu paintings with the people of Noirhaven is such an honor.” Ceril’s speech continued as Milo and I reached the doors.
When Milo gave the thumbs up that the cameras were down, we pushed open the doors and slipped into the hallway.
Stepping into the hallway felt like stepping into a warehouse.
Metal and concrete walls surrounded us. Every sound echoed as we walked.
We both looked at each other, terrified to make a sound.
We resorted to using hand signals as we moved.
Milo moved forward silently, shuffling as close to the wall as possible, and I remained close behind him.
He held up two fingers and pointed forward.
Thinking back to the blueprint, there were two doors on the left side of the hallway, and the second one led to the area behind the stage.
I nodded, and Milo continued forward until we heard footsteps and a deep voice from a room on the other side of the hallway.
“I’ll do anything as long as I’m getting paid.
I honestly don’t give a fuck what I have to do for it.
” Two men laughed boisterously as they stepped into the hallway.
Milo and I froze in place. “Who the fuck are you two?” The larger of the two werewolves asked, taking large strides toward Milo and me.
Stepping ahead, I stood in front of Milo and put my hands in my pockets, squaring my shoulders with confidence.
My fingers slowly rubbed the textured edge of the blade in my pocket.
“Hello.” The corner of my lips lifted slightly as the werewolf continued to approach.
It was the blonde from the other night at Vanta.
“Funny we meet again. Like this.” I looked the man up and down as the other werewolf ran up behind him.
“Hold them here. I’ll go grab some rope or something.
Just keep them down. I’ll be right…” Abruptly, the other werewolf stopped speaking and looked at me up and down before glancing back over at the alpha.
“Dude, come on, we have a fucking job to do. Pin them the fuck down.” The blonde never took his eyes away from me.
His breathing slowed, and his eyes glazed over.
The smaller werewolf nudged the larger, and he snapped out of whatever daze he was in.
“I’ll get this one.” The big guy said, reaching forward for my shoulders as the smaller being tried to grab Milo.
Ducking out of the way, I pulled the blade from my pocket and swung up, catching him in his abdomen.
Milo knocked the other werewolf down with a kick to the chest. They weren’t great at hand-to-hand combat in tight spaces, and we used that to our advantage.
With a swift jab, I hit the blonde werewolf in the throat, and he hunched over, coughing, gasping for air.
“Go now!” Milo yelled. I didn’t hesitate, taking the few steps to the next door to enter the space next to the stage.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind us, I could hear the auctioneer calling bids to the crowd. “Check each room, quick. But be prepared for anything. I’ll cover.” Milo said as he turned around and watched my back. I began opening doors, looking for any sign of the Senketsu.
When I opened the third door, the blonde was sitting cowering in the corner. He was covering his eyes with his hands and rocking back and forth. “He can’t do it. No. He can’t.” The being kept mumbling these words as he sat in the corner.
I timidly approached him and crouched down.
When I turned around, Milo stood guarding the door.
“Hey. Excuse me.” The blonde jumped, and when he looked into my eyes, the soft brown and red of his irises swirled in the fluorescent light of the backstage room.
This was the Senketsu. “Are you okay?” I asked, softening my voice.