33. Thea

Chapter 33

Thea

" I f you don't listen, it's not going to work." Roach punctuated each word with a tap of her finger.

Jax scowled, the silver ring around his iris growing. He'd joined them at the table, along with Lucifer. Although, Lucy was more interested in staring at Ruhne.

"There's no argument here," Roach continued. "You don't have a crew, and we have what…" She checked the time. "Four hours to iron out any details of this plan."

"You're not going in alone," Jax said, his tone like granite.

" You will be standing outside the gates, along with him." Roach gestured toward Lucifer. "Swiper will accompany me inside."

Jax remained silent, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

"You just complained you didn't have a crew, and now you want to cut us out?" Lucifer said with a look of disbelief. "I call bullshit on this plan."

"You're not a crew. You're untrained and honestly, more of a burden than anything."

"Ro," Thea hissed.

There was a cold calculation in her gaze. "You called me because I'm the best, which means I'm the boss and I say who stays outside, and who goes inside. Otherwise, the odds of pulling this raid off goes from hard to fucking impossible. Two people is easier to slip inside a guarded complex than four plus a pixie."

"Sorry, she does do this for a living," Thea added, wincing at Jax's cutting expression, and Ruhne's scowl. "And between us, we have the skills to do this."

Roach nodded. "You don't have any other options, because it's either my way or nothing. Swiper's needed for the vault, and I'm there to cut the alarms."

"What if something goes wrong?" Jax asked, Thea hearing the roughness of Thunder in his voice.

"It won't." Roach glanced between them. "Because you're going to listen to me, even if you don't like it."

Jax didn't like it.

Even when Roach explained a plan that was meticulously thought out with the limited information. It had taken a few hours, but he'd eventually relented.

Thea eyed the mask with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. She'd never worn a full-face mask, more because she'd never needed to. Her line of work required the use of her face, tricking her marks into believing she was actually interested in them, and not their money. Wearing a black mask that only revealed her lips and eyes wasn't exactly something she was used to.

"Put it on," Roach demanded, pulling down her own mask. "We've only had a few hours to plan a job that would usually require weeks. I can't be sure if the usual cosmetic charms will work, and we don't have the time or the knowledge to negate all security measures. "

Thea knew it was unlikely to run into any wards. Magic could sometimes mess with the displays, especially if the item in the exhibit was created or attuned to magic. Which was one less thing to worry about.

"Do you have the – "

Ruhne fell from the sky, catching himself in a draft before fluttering between them. "Miss me?"

"I told you to stay with the others." Roach's words came out cold, clipped. "You shouldn't be here."

Ruhne smirked, cocky with himself. "You're underestimating me, and I'm here to prove you wrong."

Roach's expression was hidden beneath her mask. "Stay close and don't fuck this up."

It had been less than twenty-four hours since they'd decided to steal the page. If they planned it more thoroughly, they risked the owner removing the page from the vault entirely, or Gideon reaching it before they did.

To put it bluntly, Roach wasn't amused. "We should have an entire team," she muttered. "Not you, and a pixie." She eyed Ruhne like he was a rodent she wanted to squish beneath her foot.

"You're the one who asked the big boys to remain outside," Thea reminded her.

"A trained team. They're more of a liability than help, and the only reason they're even anywhere near the site is because of the money."

Thea had agreed to the same amount Jax owed her. It was a chunk of change, and for anything less than the ridiculous amount, Roach would have turned down. She knew that they were going in unprepared, which went against everything Roach taught her. Good thing Thea thrived on improvisation.

Roach hiked her bag higher on her shoulder. "There's a camera top left. Give me a second and I'll… "

Ruhne zipped toward the lens, the camera's red light flickering.

"Huh." Roach cocked her head, her dark hair tucked beneath her mask.

"I can loop the camera for thirty seconds," Ruhne explained. "Which means you need to move."

"That's you, Swiper." Roach pressed herself flat against the side of the building, hiding herself in the shadow.

Thea dropped to her knees, picking the lock on the back door with ten seconds to spare. It had been easy enough to climb over the fence, the security not walking the area surrounding the archives as often as the museum itself. Not that she'd seen a single guard yet.

A flash of headlights, but they didn't give it much concern as they closed the door quickly behind them. The museum and the attached archives were situated in the centre of Washington. Roads surrounded the entire building, and just like any city, Washington had people out and about, even at the ridiculous hour.

It would be an awesome place to explore if she didn't have to get back home. She was living off the adventure, but she itched to be back by her father's side. The only reason she hadn't argued with leaving not only the country, but the continent, was because Jax promised they'd be in and out.

"Through here." Roach led, stopping every few feet to wait for Ruhne to deal with the cameras. The back entrance was situated behind the exhibits, giving them direct access to where they needed to go.

Thanks to Harper – who'd spent hours on the phone with numerous people – had found out where the document was stored. Which meant they knew exactly which floor and room to get to. Luckily, the archives were pretty straightforward, and only a fraction of the size of the attached museum .

Three sets of locked doors, and fifty-eight stairs later, the area turned dark. Emergency strip lighting ran down the length of the floor, the overheads off. Thea expected generic grey walls and boring signs listing room numbers. Not darkness disrupted with bursts of red. The light changed every few seconds, leaking from a set of double doors further down the corridor.

Red. White. Red. White.

Unease twisted her stomach.

They hadn't come across anyone yet. Not a guard, or even a custodian. They'd passed empty offices, supply cupboards and other storage rooms. It was admittedly late, but surely there would be someone? Anyone to walk the halls and windy corridors where treasures from across the realms were supposedly documented and kept.

Roach pulled a small box from her backpack, the click echoing around the creeping silence around them.

Red. White. Red. White.

"It's a blocker," she said, putting it in her back pocket. "It disturbs radio frequencies, as well as most phone signals."

"Then how will the boys communicate with us?" Thea asked, keeping her voice quiet.

Roach looked back over her shoulder, lips pressed into a thin line. "They can't, not until we're done."

Thea narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything else. She trusted Roach knew what she was doing.

"I can't hear the buzzing of the cameras," Ruhne whispered, landing heavily on her shoulder. "Something's wrong."

"Maybe there's no cameras down here?" Thea replied, glancing up to see the silhouettes of something that definitely looked like a camera.

"They're broken." Ruhne huddled closer. "If I die, I need you to avenge me."

"You're not going to die." Thea rolled her eyes when he poked her in the cheek. "Fine, any recommendations?"

"I don't know, but get creative." He shrugged. "Do what feels right in the moment, then add sparkles."

The lighting strips brightened when they turned, and Roach skidded to a stop.

Red. White. Red. White.

Thea came up from behind, her boot stepping into something slippery. The red light flashed, splashing the entire floor, including the puddle of… the smell finally reached her nose. Copper, as well as other bodily fluids.

"What the fuck?" she whispered, swallowing bile. It was a lot of blood. The puddle smeared off to the left and through a door marked ‘Storage AB64.'

Red. White. Red. White.

"This wasn't part of the plan," Ruhne whispered, taking to the air. He raised himself toward the ceiling, his wings silent and almost invisible but for the slight sheen.

Thea felt her wild magic prickle her skin. "I don't think we're alone."

"We need to keep moving." Roach stepped over the smears, her footsteps hurried as she pushed through the set of double doors where the red light seemed to leak from. They swung wildly, and Thea caught them before they could make any noise.

"Ro?" she whisper shouted, Roach having disappeared into the warehouse style chamber. Heavy industrial shelves lined the room, running parallel from one side to the other. Each held a row of labelled cardboard boxes stacked four high. "Roach, where are – ?"

"Over here." Head popping up from behind one of the shelves, she waved. "We need to pick this up. The alarm has been activated."

A desk stood in the centre, right below the red flashing light. Paperwork had been scattered, much of it drifting onto the floor in various piles. Blood spotted the wood, little droplets that were distanced apart. The scent of copper stuck to the back of Thea's throat, creating a fur over her tongue. It was so strong, yet she couldn't see the source.

"Fucking cockwaffle." Ruhne whizzed towards the closest box, his small hand touching the cardboard. "It's… soggy." He pulled back slightly, glancing at the others. "They're all soggy. Oozing something – "

"Don't touch anything," Roach hissed, taking a seat behind the desk. Pulling out a cable, she plugged it in into the computer, only for her fingers to fly over the keys. Within seconds, the obnoxious red light above stopped, momentarily drowning them in complete darkness until the emergency lighting finally whined to life. The strips along the floor barely illuminated the chamber, so Roach pulled out a few glow sticks from her bag.

"Everything's been shut down." Pulling the mask from her face, Roach pushed it into her back pocket. "Over here."

Thea pulled hers off, too, relieved to feel air against her skin.

"The door's made of a thick metal," Roach said, pressing her gloved hand flat against the surface. "Almost impossible to break down with sheer force that wouldn't compromise the contents. Which is why you're up, Swiper."

Thea touched the keyholes, one around waist height, and the other around shoulder. "It's a bi-lock system that requires two keys to turn at the same time," she said, mostly to herself.

"You think you can do it?" Roach asked with a raised brow .

Thea had worked on more complicated locks before. Taking out a pick and a tension tool, she began to work on the top lock. Just like with sleight-of-hand tricks, it was all in the wrists. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on every pin, feeling each one click into its designated place. "Ruhne, can you come hold these, please?"

Ruhne swept down, taking the strain, so Thea could move onto the bottom lock.

Within seconds, she had the second one ready. "Ruhne, on my count, I want you to turn. Ready?"

On her command, they both turned the tools at once, the door creaking as the internal mechanisms clicked into place.

"Impressive," Roach said, pushing past to open the door further. "You really do have the fastest hands."

Thea stepped over the threshold behind, finding the small room lined with drawers and filing cabinets. Everything was characterised, so it didn't take Roach long to find the correct one.

"Got it," she said, pulling it out. The document was pressed between two sheets of card, the page the colour of bone. Her fingers brushed the surface gently, watching how the words on the page vibrated before she stuck it in the back of her jeans. "I'm sorry about this."

Thea stilled. "Sorry?"

Without warning, a sharp pain seared down Thea's side that forced her to stumble back, knocking hard against one of the cabinets. The entire thing shook, quaking up the wall to a higher shelf. Debris fell, and Thea ducked her head while her hand automatically touched her waist, finding something rigid sticking out.

"Thea!" Ruhne shrieked, a curtain of glitter falling over Roach.

Roach wafted her hands, fanning the glitter away. "I wasn't given a choice," she said, closing their distance until they were pressed together. "If it's between me and you, I'm always going to pick me."

Thea sucked in a breath when Roach yanked out the blade, heat spreading from the wound.

"It's nothing personal." Roach checked her watch, the skin on her arm glowing with angry blotches.

Thea plugged her side with her hand. "Yeah, well it feels pretty personal to me," she shouted, no longer caring who overheard as blood pulsed between her fingers.

Roach lifted the knife once more, the sharp edge glistening. "Please, don't make this harder than… ugh!"

Ruhne's sword stuck out from her eye, his movements a blur as he rose to the ceiling and outside her reach.

Screaming, Roach stumbled out the door.

Ruhne drifted down. "Remove your hand, and stay still."

Thea blinked at him, the shimmer of his wings turning a pale blue. "Yeah, no. That's not happening."

Ruhne made an impatient sound. "Thea…"

"You're as observant as a bloody rock. Because if you haven't noticed, I'm leaking, Ruhne."

"No shit," he said, voice edged with irritation. "I'm trying to stop it."

Thea reluctantly pulled her fingers away, and Ruhne immediately dusted glitter over the puncture hole.

"You're such a baby," he said, hovering so close she could feel the wind from his wings. "It's barely a flesh wound. Three inches deep, if that."

Thea pinned him with a scowl. "Let me stab you with three inches, and see if you like it."

Ruhne let out a snort, his grin revealing dimples.

"Get your head out the gutter," Thea groaned, looking down to find the bleeding had stopped .

"I can change my dust." Ruhne posed with his hands on his hips, chest thrust out like a superhero. "I've itched bitch-face with a special blend. She'll probably start scratching until her skin peels from her bones in about thirty seconds."

Pulling her shirt up, Thea checked the skin on her stomach. There was definitely a hole, but it didn't look as angry as she'd expected from being stabbed. "Have I told you before that you're absolutely terrifying for someone that's like seven inches?"

"Eight." Ruhne looked over his shoulder to where Roach had run. "Don't worry, she shouldn't get far. And when we do find her, I'm going to finish plucking out her eyeball." His head jerked up, his smile manic. "Deal?"

The visual wasn't something she'd ever want to experience.

But who was she to stop his fun?

"Deal."