Chapter 5
“Let me guess, it’s in the basement,” Luke said.
Clint contemplated jumping over the railing and using a spell to catch himself before he hit the bottom, but he had no idea how many intruders were in the lower vault.
If there was a group, or if anyone was waiting at the bottom for him to rush that quickly, then they could overwhelm him.
Going down each flight of steps was excruciatingly slower, but it was safer. “Good guess.”
“Just makes the most sense. They sent me after something up here so you’d be far away from whatever you’re keeping down there,” Luke replied. “What are you keeping down there?”
“Looking to fill your pockets with those treasures instead?” Clint asked.
“Hey, I gave you my name. I think you’re skilled enough to track me with it,” Luke said. “So I’m not going to take anything without permission.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe that.” Clint held on to the handrail as he caught his breath. He only took a second to gather his energy before continuing downward.
Luke didn’t have to pause. Because he doesn’t have to breathe. Instead, he trailed two steps behind Clint. “I can understand why you’d be worried about me. But I’m a little curious on who would try to set me up.”
“That so,” Clint said.
“I don’t think I was the target,” Luke continued.
“I took the job from a broker, and while he might’ve known that I was probably going to ask for a job soon, he didn’t know exactly when I was going to.
And honestly, the info in the file was a little sketchy.
Like I said, I had to improvise. But they must have been watching your place.
Or maybe the broker told them I picked up the file.
Otherwise, I don’t know how they knew I was hitting you tonight. ”
“Quiet,” Clint whispered. “We don’t want them to know we’re coming. Unless you are working with them and you’re trying to warn them.”
They went half a flight of stairs before Luke leaned in closer and replied, “I can’t be quiet and answer that. So for the last time. I’m not working with them. Not on purpose.”
I shouldn’t like having his voice in my ear.
Clint tightened his grip on his staff. The little thrill he was getting from having Luke so close to him was just because he hadn’t had anyone close.
Yes, that had to be the reason why. And all right, there was a bit of mystery surrounding him since Luke had somehow managed to slip past the threshold barrier of Clint’s tower without a formal invitation.
And he is my type. Perfectly. But Clint had bigger problems at the moment, and he was going to focus on them.
He had no time for flights of lustful fantasy.
“You’re the only one I hear in the stairwell,” Luke murmured.
“We’re in a stone tower in the middle of nowhere,” Clint said under his breath. “Voices carry.”
“I figured, but I thought you’d—”
A scream from below. Clint quickened his steps as a thousand possibilities ran through his mind.
Some of his treasures locked away forces that should not walk the earth.
Demons. A dragon wyrmling in stone. Eldritch creatures.
Things that simply wouldn’t go home or would cause bigger problems if they were away from the material realm.
The scream changed in pitch, climbing before it was suddenly cut off.
Going downstairs was easier, but running for eight flights still winded Clint. He stopped at the end of the staircase and leaned on his staff. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. The wooden door leading into his subbasement was open, and the long stone hall was empty.
Luke ventured to the doorway. He was about to step into the hallway and onto a stone that Clint knew he’d trapped.
“Wait!” Clint whispered.
Luke remained exactly where he was, foot still in the air, and said, “More traps?”
“Plenty,” Clint replied.
Carefully, Luke took a step back, but he kept his gaze focused on the hallway ahead of him. “You have thirteen rooms down here. Tell me they aren’t all vaults.”
“That would be a lie.” Clint sucked in another deep breath and straightened.
“Who are you?” Luke murmured.
Holding his hand out toward the hallway, Clint said, “I am Clint Ravenwing, Magus of the Greater Circle of the Unyielding and a Keeper in the Order of Cosmic Wonder. I am a guardian of light, a protector of life, and a stalwart against the insanity of the Realms Beyond.”
His words in his voice were a passcode for the hallway, and a ripple flew out from him along the stone. The floor held most of the traps, but the ones on the walls went dormant as well.
“Oh my God, how do you get your ego in your pants?” Luke whispered.
Clint raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at him.
“You just unlocked a hallway by calling yourself a ‘guardian of light and protector of life.’” Luke held up his thumb and forefinger. The distance between them was as great as it could be. “Little bit of ego, hm?”
“You think that shows my ego?”
“You could have made it something like ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ or ‘my garden is the best fucking place on Earth.’ But you went for your titles and boasted about how good you are. So yeah, ego.”
“As if you don’t have one,” Clint muttered.
He lifted his staff rather than letting it hit the floor with his stride.
His own footsteps sounded impossibly loud.
There were voices ahead of him. Though all thirteen doors were open, he was certain the noises were coming from the room at the far end of the hall.
“I am perfectly humble,” Luke replied.
“Oh please,” Clint grumbled. “You have brat written all over you.”
“I do?” Luke asked, the innocence in his voice as real as a political promise.
Clint turned to face the vampire. For his part, Luke was playing up his naive act, batting his long eyelashes far more than a vampire would need to blink.
Clint was willing to wager that Luke’s sire had picked him for the brilliant shade of his green eyes.
And he was slight, short and thin in a way that just ticked all of Clint’s boxes in seconds. Even his fangs were cute.
The wise move would be to summon the Reverse Ariadne and tie up Luke until he dealt with the intruders in his subbasement.
Or he could lock the vampire in one of the rooms in this hallway.
He didn’t need the distraction at his back.
He shouldn’t trust him. He’s not Sloane.
Not everyone is a traitor like him. When had he forgotten that?
Bastian had a point. Clint might have some repressed trauma himself.
He caught Luke under the chin and made him tilt his head back. Luke’s eyes widened, and a wave of joy went up Clint’s spine at having surprised him. “I have a feeling you’re a recalcitrant brat, and if you turn out to have nothing to do with the greater conspiracy, maybe we can talk about that.”
Luke smiled. “I hear four heartbeats besides yours. They’re racing.”
Heartbeats was a good sign. At least no other vampires had broken in. Luke might be an anomaly after all. “Can you hear what they’re talking about?”
A thoughtful expression filled Luke’s features. His gaze became unfocused. “They’re arguing. One of them is upset that another slit their friend’s throat. One just got zapped by a trap, wants to give up. They’re looking for something. An ebony box with a sapphire. Enochian script on it.”
“Damn it, that’s Valgaruz’s box.” Clint turned to face the end of the hallway. “I should’ve known.”
“How could you possibly know that? I mean, you have to have like a gajillion—”
Clint held up his hand for silence, then motioned for Luke to follow him.
Every step brought more tension to his shoulders.
So far, the vampire had been complacent since being caught.
He could have fought half a dozen times.
But he might have been waiting for the best moment, and that could be the one in front of them.
However, putting Luke in front would expose him to greater risks.
What if the people in the vault were mages?
At least one of them had to be for them to get this far past Clint’s wards.
They might light Luke on fire, and he didn’t deserve that, especially if he had nothing to do with the larger scheme.
Suddenly, Luke grabbed Clint by the arm and hauled him backward.
Clint sputtered, but Luke put his hand over Clint’s mouth as he pressed him up against the wall.
Here it was, the moment of betrayal. Clint glared down at the vampire.
He didn’t need his mouth to cast a fire spell. Runes on his staff glowed red.
Luke held up a finger to his lips, then dipped his fingers into a pocket on his hip. He approached the spot that Clint had nearly stepped on and drizzled chalk over it. The chalk fell into a pattern, revealing a rune on the floor. It wasn’t one of Clint’s.
Clint had assumed that the intruders were so concerned with their task that he didn’t consider they’d set warning wards against him. He nodded once to Luke and gestured for him to come close. Luke tilted his head with a confused frown, but he obeyed.
With a quick gesture, Clint cast a spell that would let them both see the magic around them. Doing so revealed one more rune in the doorway itself.
Luke’s eyes glimmered with Clint’s magic, a soft sheen that was a little brighter than it should have been. Clint tucked away that detail and moved around the rune in the hall. He tapped the end of his staff beside the one in the doorway and cast a dispelling charm. The rune vanished.
“Wait, I hear something,” a voice in the next room said.
“You’re paranoid,” another declared.
“I think he’s right,” a third said. “I heard it, too.”
“Doesn’t matter if we can—ah ha!” a fourth shouted in triumph.