Chapter 18

Eighteen

Everything looks better at night. The glow of the city lights against the low hanging clouds overhead, the shine of streetlights and storefronts along the bodies of the cars rolling past, even the people. Lucien had been right. Everyone out right now looked like they were dressed to impress.

The only two idiots that stood out were Diaboli's men tailing us. They had emerged from their room only a few moments after Lucien and I had left ours, and now they were behind us, like distant shadows.

Lucien extended an arm. I hooked mine around his and together we entered the current of passersby. "Are they really going to follow us everywhere?" I asked, trying to keep my voice low enough that he could hear.

"They'll go wherever we go," he said.

"Is that necessary?"

"You might not be too happy about it right now, but if we get into trouble with the Recondites, you'll be glad they're here."

"I doubt that very much."

"Try to relax. Isn't this what you wanted? To be outside?"

"Yes, but they make me uncomfortable because you know everything we do and say is getting back to your father."

"I know it is, which is why I'm being careful with what I choose to say around them and while we're in our room."

I glanced back at the two men following us while we waited for the crosswalk lights to change. They were keeping their distance, watching us carefully. Both had earpieces in their ears. One of them reached for his, tapped on it, and spoke quietly to no one.

Relaying information to his boss.

Lucien tugged my arm when the lights changed, and we crossed the road together slowly. Though I had walked in high heels before, it wasn't exactly a common occurrence; I found myself checking every crack in the sidewalk to make sure I wasn't about to twist an ankle.

I suddenly found myself in the shadow of the building we had been watching since we got here. It looked taller from down here, more imposing. The windows all along the side of the building reflected their surroundings at night, making the entire side of the structure look like a giant mirror.

My apprehension started to rise. There was something magical about this building. I could feel it, like a low hum, or a quiet pulse. It was like standing too close to an electrical transformer, so close you could hear the current buzzing inside.

Lucien and I made a pass of the front of the structure, making sure to get as close to the front door as possible without looking like we wanted to go in. He didn't stop to look at it, choosing instead to keep walking, to pretend like he was just another guy, like we were just another couple, on our way to dinner, or something like that.

I wasn't nearly as subtle.

As soon as the door came into view, my eyes were on it, taking in every ounce of detail I could. The double doors themselves were made of what I could only imagine was bullet-proof glass. Heavy, thick, durable, and entirely out of place amongst the inviting revolving doors of the nearby restaurants and hotels.

Beyond it I saw two men, almost identical to the two guys tailing us. These two were just as big, just as stocky, and just as well dressed in their black suits. I was sure they had guns tucked away under their suit jackets.

It was the sunglasses they were wearing that pushed them above the guys behind us on the 'are you even trying to blend in?' scale.

Sunglasses?

Indoors?

At night?

I would've found it funny if they hadn't been so damn intimidating.

They weren't the only peculiar thing about this entryway, though. The first thing I noticed was, the space behind them was entirely dark. A single, yellow light lit up the entryway, but beyond that, I couldn't see a thing. No reception desk, no lobby, no people.

The other weird thing was the symbol on the door. I almost hadn't seen it—it was barely visible, but it was there: a crown sitting on a beam of light. The symbol of the Recondite family, the symbol of their holy order.

Neither of the men behind the door moved a muscle as Lucien and I rolled past. We put the door behind us, walked to the end of the block, then stopped, making it look like we were going to cross again, only we didn't.

"Did you feel it?" he asked.

"I did," I said, "That's their temple, alright."

"It feels like some kind of forcefield. That would explain why we can't see into the windows... do you think you can break through it?"

"Break through it? Are you serious?"

"This is why you're here. If there's a forcefield around the entire building and you can't phase through it, our operation is dead in the water."

I looked around the street, finally settling my gaze on the giant building looming above us. "I… guess I could."

"You hesitated."

"Well, yeah," I said, looking back at him. "I know I can phase through physical things; I don't know if I can move through a magical, definitely lethal forcefield. I've never tried."

"I don't think it's a lethal forcefield, otherwise any drunk idiot off the street who wanders too close would get zapped."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Look," I took Lucien's face in my hand and turned it around, "They're all walking on the right side of the sidewalk. No one's getting near that building, like they're being repelled."

"You're right. I'm sure if we had broken away from the stream of people, they would have noticed us instantly—whatever is keeping them away doesn't seem to work on us."

"So, they'd know exactly when a mage is getting too close for comfort…"

As a fellow magic user, I could only be impressed with the thought that had gone into their defenses. As an Ethera who was about to try phasing through these defenses though, I was shitting bricks.

"We shouldn't underestimate them," I continued, "Who knows what traps could be hiding behind that forcefield."

Lucien nodded, turned around, and together we made another pass of the front of the building. I didn't notice anything new this time, everything was exactly the same, only, when we reached the other corner of the building, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the alley directly adjacent to the Recondite Temple. "Quiet," he hissed.

"What's going on?" I asked, as he tucked me into a nook behind a dumpster.

"Look…" he whispered.

The alley was long, and dark, ending in a wall topped with broken shards of glass. This looked like some kind of freight entrance, wide enough for a truck to slide in to deliver supplies, materials, sacrificial animals—whatever these people needed.

A single side door stood out from the rest of the otherwise entirely featureless wall. In front of it was a person… wearing a blood red robe. The robe looked ornate, it was covered in silver embroidery. Strange sigils and runes ran up and down the length of the robe, which was topped with a hood, of course.

Whoever that person in the robe was had just come out of the side door. For a moment I thought we were about to be spotted, but he threw his head back, and let out an exasperated sigh. A moment later, he pulled a packet of cigarettes out from inside his robe, lit one, and walked across the alley to a small collection of boxes sitting opposite the door.

The man sat on the boxes, took a deep drag, pocketed the packet of cigarettes, and then produced a phone. I couldn't see what he was doing from here—maybe dealing with messages to or from his superiors, or using an app on the phone to monitor cameras for activity around the building.

When I saw him chuckle, I realized, he was scrolling.

"What was it you just said about not underestimating these people?" Lucien asked.

He was right on top of me, we couldn't have been pressed any closer together. All the guy in the alley had to do was look up, and he'd see us. If we stepped out to leave, there would be no avoiding it; we would get spotted immediately.

"Maybe he's just a… low level Recondite," I said.

"Or maybe they're all morons."

"I doubt it. Just because this one's watching cat videos or something like that to blow off steam doesn't mean he's not dangerous. You should know that better than anyone."

"Maybe you're right."

I looked up at him. "That's the second time you've said that to me."

"What?"

"That I'm right. I must be a natural at this spy business."

"Shhh, be quiet before he?—"

Lucien didn't give me a warning. Before I knew it, he had cupped my cheek, turned my face up toward his, and pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened, my heart surged into my throat, and my entire body tightened. I didn't know what to do with my hands, what to think, or where to look—until I glanced over, wide-eyed, at the guy on his phone.

He was looking right at us.

Without another second wasted, I shut my eyes and wrapped my hands around the back of Lucien's head. My heart was pounding, my limbs were shaking, but I hadn't opened my mouth, and Lucien hadn't tried to make me. We were simply standing there, our lips pressed together, gently swaying like we were deep in a lover's embrace.

I couldn't bear to admit even to myself how incredibly turned on I was.

Look at where we were, in an alley around the side of a heavily fortified fortress belonging to another magical family; a fortress we were about to break in to and steal from. And I'm kissing Lucien Diaboli.

Or, at least, I was pretending to kiss him.

Until the heat levels in my chest rose to fever pitch, and I found my lips gently parting all on their own. I turned my head slightly to the side, opened my mouth, and delicately flicked his lips with my tongue. Lucien sucked in a deep breath. I pushed my hands further into his hair.

"Play the part," I whispered against his mouth. "He's going to think you're a terrible kisser if you don't move."

In an instant, everything changed.

Not only had I given him permission to kiss me, I had also dared him to kiss me properly. His hand slid from my cheek to my neck, his lips parted, and his tongue came in search of mine. My entire world suddenly tipped upside down.

There, in that quiet alley, our tongues met and danced, his hand wrapped gently but firmly around my throat. Holy hell. I felt him squeeze, ever so slightly, and my heart went into overdrive.

"Better?" he whispered against my mouth.

I was panting, my lips desperate to find his again. "Yes," I breathed.

"That's enough."

"What?" I asked.

"He's not looking anymore."

Lucien turned my head to the side. The man in the robe had clearly lost interest in what we were doing. I was torn. I wanted him to kiss me again, but with the Recondite's attention now away from us, we could leave without it looking suspicious.

I grabbed Lucien's hand and made a break for the street, then I turned the corner, and pulled him away from the Recondite temple. When I didn't stop at the crossing that would take us back to our hotel, Lucien asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving your friends the slip," I said, and I hurried toward the end of the block and made a quick left.

By the time the men who came around the corner trying to find us made the same turn I had made, we were gone, blended into the crowd; vanished.

"They're going to find us," Lucien said as we walked hurriedly away from the hotel.

"I know," I said, "But you're taking me out to eat first."

"I am?"

"Yes. Right now."