1. Griff #4
He stumbled, almost losing his footing as the entire building shook. Screams erupted nearby, and he looked up from the panel, his eyes widening when he saw droves of people swarming out of the theater into the hall.
Scattered protectors in their midst shouted for order, urging them to return to their seats. But it was obvious that they were fighting a losing battle. The crowd was too panicked to pay them much mind.
Gritting his teeth, Griff shoved his way through the crowd, using his aura-sight to try to trace the source of the explosion. A blast big enough to shake the entire theater should have left a good deal of magical residue behind.
Sure enough, he sensed the lingering essence of another runeflame spell on the air.
He squinted his eyes against the plethora of auras now blazing around him, careful not to focus too hard on any one of them.
Even still, the flickering bits he sensed from the corner of his sight soon left a dull throbbing in his skull.
It took longer than it should have thanks to all the distractions, but eventually, he tracked the disturbance to a small corridor off the main entrance.
If his memory wasn’t mistaken, this led to the theater’s main vault, used to store any valuables belonging to the patrons while they attended a show.
He’d been offered the courtesy when he arrived but had declined.
He felt a sinking sensation in his gut when he saw the thick smoke obscuring the door to the vault, along with more blinding auras he couldn’t decipher. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew where this was going.
Yet, as the smoke began to clear, he was confused to see the vault door still shut and secured. But then…what had that blast been? And what was the purpose of the conjured smoke? Like the lights, it didn’t make any Void-cursed sense!
He was still pondering the mystery when the lights flickered back on. The runetech must’ve finally finished resetting itself. Glancing back toward the theater entrance, he took in the current situation.
Protectors had stationed themselves around the room.
Having apparently given in to the crowd, they’d switched from trying to herd people back inside to overseeing a (mostly) orderly exit out the front.
There was no sign of the Pentarchy. Most likely, Sasha intended to keep them secured on the balcony until the situation was under control. Griff approved.
“Sir, get away from there!”
Griff turned to see a harried-looking protector bearing a captain’s sigil stalking toward him. “Are you in charge of security here?” he asked.
The protector’s scowl deepened. “I am. Now please, back away from the vault. This is a restricted area.”
Griff admired the man’s dedication to protocol, even if part of him chafed at the wasted time. “I’m Inspector Denton with the Watch.” He gestured to the sealed vault door at the end of the hall. “Mind opening that for me?”
The captain’s eyes lingered on the silver badge affixed to Griff’s chest. When next he spoke, his tone had grown noticeably more polite.
“That vault is the latest in Vantoric runetech. It’s utterly impenetrable without the proper rune keys.
I can assure you, sir, that no one has entered since I personally sealed it a half hour ago. ”
Studying its exterior with his aura-sight, Griff had to agree. It would take some seriously advanced spells to breech that many active wards without setting off all manner of traps and alarms, and his aura-sight detected no such magic.
Still, he couldn’t shake the ominous premonition growing in the pit of his stomach. “Please, Captain—humor me. Something strange is happening here, and I intend to figure out what.”
Grumbling under his breath, the protector reluctantly moved down the hall to the door and pressed a small seal against a pad there. With a series of clicks, it unlocked.
“There, you see,” the protector said as he tugged the heavy metal door open with a loud creaking noise. “Like I said, there’s nothing…”
He cut off, freezing in mid-motion as his mouth hung open. Gazing past him, that sick feeling in Griff’s stomach intensified. There was indeed nothing: the vault stood completely empty.
Griff slowly strode past the stunned protector, scanning the interior with his aura-sight.
Still no signs of any foreign magic, save the vault’s inherent wards.
Had someone stolen the captain’s key, then replaced it without him noticing?
But no, that wouldn’t have tricked a rune key tied specifically to the man’s unique lifeforce.
How in the Void had someone pulled such a miraculous heist off without leaving a trace?
As Griff came to a halt in the center of the room, he glanced down at the bare metal table there and sucked in a breath. The room wasn’t entirely empty after all. A pair of playing cards sat on the table, face down.
His fingers trembled slightly as he reached out and flipped them over, already knowing what he’d find. Sure enough, it was a Jack of Spades and a Jack of Clubs.
Blackjack had struck again.