He caught my arms in strong, though thankfully no longer burning, hands. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”
I couldn’t see any way out. If he got Holly killed with his arrogant demands, I would never forgive him.
“Holly’s been kidnapped,” I admitted, my voice full of the resentment that seethed beneath my skin. “And I’m the only one who can save her.”
His face was a mask, but I could tell by the way he shifted that I’d surprised him. “Kidnapped? By whom?”
“Your mate, Erik Anders.”
His focus intensified. “And what’s your involvement?”
“My involvement? I should be asking you that question. Are you working with Anders?”
“Anders is a fellow councillor. That’s the extent of our connection.” That was what Alberto had said, too, but I wasn’t convinced.
I threw my hands up in disgust, shrugging out of his grasp. “See? That’s the whole problem with you. You’ve done nothing but accuse me of lying since we met, when you’re lying through your teeth yourself. You expect me to believe Anders’ little errand boy Mason just happened to turn up right after you showed up in town? You even lied about knowing him!”
He ignored my questions. “Why are you the only one who can save her?”
But now that I was in rant mode, it all came tumbling out. “I don’t even know why you dislike me so much. What terrible crime do you suspect me of? I’ve never done anything to earn this amount of suspicion. Do you think I’m a One Worlder? Is that it?”
“I think you may be something infinitely worse.”
“There’s something worse than One Worlders? I thought you shapers hated them all with the fire of a thousand suns.” A small sun burned on my wrist where he’d scorched me. I was too scared to look at the damage. Then I remembered what else Alberto had said, just before I left, about Steele’s reason for visiting him. “You think I’m a shadow shaper, don’t you?”
He went so still that I knew I’d hit the jackpot.
“What do you know about shadow shapers?” His voice was silk over steel, filled with menace.
I took a step back. “Only what Alberto told me. That you were worried about them, and that you’d been getting cryptic messages from a friend that they’d taken.”
“Alberto must really trust you, to pass on my confidences so lightly.” He let out a deep breath, and his hostility seemed to go with it. He took my hand, gently this time, and turned it over to look at the bright red marks of his fingers on my wrist. “I hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Did that mean he’d decided to trust me because Alberto did? Once again my vampire friend was coming to my rescue, though he wasn’t even here.
I wasn’t quite as ready to let go of my anger. Steele’s apology didn’t stop my wrist stinging like the devil, and I was determined to get to the bottom of his connection with my enemy.
“Did you tell Anders you found me, like a good little lapdog?”
His expression turned to one of revulsion. “I am not Anders’ lapdog. And why would I tell him anything about you? I don’t tell the councillors about every girl who tries to kiss me, you know.”
“Not that.” I could feel my face heating. “You emailed him about the break-in at the Mayor’s house. I saw the email on your laptop.”
He frowned. “That was you?”
*Way to incriminate yourself, Lexi.* Syl chose that moment to saunter out of the trees and pin me with a look of disgust.
Oops.
“So much for Johnson’s gang of cat shifters. I emailed the whole council with my report—which was basically that Johnson is full of shit—and Anders emailed back. He was very interested in the details.” He glanced at Syl. “He particularly wanted to know if a black cat was involved.”
Just as I’d feared. That break-in had been what tipped Anders off to our presence. “And then he sent Mason,” I said.
“It seems so. Now go back to the part where you tell me what you have to do with the reason Anders has kidnapped Holly—if that’s really what’s happened.”
“Trust me, that’s what’s happened. Although I suppose it was Mason that did the actual kidnapping, while you and Joe were out looking for him. Anders wants her for leverage over me. He wants me to do something for him, and he figured threatening my friend would force me into it.”
And he was right, the bastard.
The confusion began to clear from Steele’s face. “This thing he wants you to do, does it involve breaking into the Ruby Palace?”
I drew in a sharp breath. “How did you know that?”
His face lit with grim satisfaction. “I knew he was working with the shadow shapers. Go on. Tell me everything.”
Ha. Not likely. But I told him enough to keep him happy: about the ring, and Anders’ previous attempt to get me to steal it. How Syl and I had fled town, but Anders had found us again. His expression grew darker as I talked.
“So,” I said, “any idea why your new councillor wants to steal a ring from the Ruby Adept’s safe? What’s so special about this ring, anyway?”
“Let’s just say it would be very bad for the fireshapers if Anders got his hands on it. If the shadow shapers got their hands on it.”
“Don’t suppose you want to help me get in there and get it, do you?” The place was riddled with security cameras. It wouldn’t be impossible, but walking in as the guest of one of the councillors would certainly be easier than going it alone.
“You’re asking the wrong guy. I’ve suspected for a while that Anders had bigger plans than just making it onto the council. But the Ruby Adept won’t hear a word against his favourite, and I’m seriously out of favour at the moment.” A wry grin momentarily turned his grim countenance into something far more attractive. “The Adept seized on Johnson’s complaints about his town being overrun by rampaging cat shifters. Left me in no doubt that I needed to spend more time in my role as Master of the South-East, and that I wouldn’t be required to return to the capital for quite some time. However …” The grin turned malicious. “I have floorplans of the Palace I can show you.”
“So you’re not going to try to stop me stealing the ring?”
“No. I’ll help you free Holly. I owe Joe that much. If I hadn’t dragged him out of his bed, he would have been there to protect Holly himself.”
Right. As if Joe could have done anything that Holly herself couldn’t. Being pregnant didn’t make her any less a werewolf. But I was willing to let that point slide, if it meant Steele would help me against Anders. Having a fireshaper up my sleeve would be an ace in the hole against whatever betrayal Anders had planned—because he definitely had a double-cross planned. There was no way he could afford to let me walk out of there with Holly, knowing what I knew.
“And after I get the ring?”
“I’ll make a copy of it for you to give to Anders.”
“Really?” Now it was my turn to sound doubtful. “An exact copy? Anders said it had some fancy sunburst design on it.”
“Not a problem. My secondary is metalshaping.”
I’d figured as much after seeing him make those handcuffs out of the barstool leg. Most fireshapers’ secondary element was either metal or earth. At least if it came to a fight, Steele should prove stronger than Anders, whose secondary was water.
Syl sniggered. *Oh, that’s rich.*
*What?*
*His name’s Steele and he’s a metalshaper? You should ask him if that’s his real name or a stage name.*
*Very funny.*
“I’ll keep the original safe,” Steele continued. At least someone was focused on the job. I threw Syl a withering look but she licked one dainty paw, airily ignoring me. “You can trade the copy for Holly, then I’ll burst in with the provosts and catch him red-handed with the ring. Then I’ll have proof for the Ruby Adept that his favourite is crooked.”
“Why bother making a copy, then? If it all goes to plan, Anders will only have it for a few moments.” It seemed a lot of e
ffort to go to. The more I heard about this ring, the more curious I became. What was the big deal with it?
He pulled a face. “Because the gods laugh at the plans of men.”
13
“He’ll probably be working late tonight,” said Steele. We were in the sleek red sports car again, though the roof was up this time, enclosing us in an intimate, dark space. “There’s a special council meeting tomorrow, so he’ll be in his office on the lower floor. There shouldn’t be anyone in his private rooms.”
The car was parked in a dark spot a couple of streets from the Ruby Palace. The streetlights illuminated Steele’s strong profile next to me. The sooner I got out of this car the better. I needed to be concentrating on the job, not distracted by thoughts of how good he looked in the dim light, or how close his powerful body was.
But then, anyone looked good if it was dark enough. Just because he’d spent the afternoon going over floorplans and photos of the Palace with me, and talking about the routines of the guards, there was no need to go weak at the knees. He’d applied a cooling ointment to my burns and bandaged my arm almost tenderly—but he was the one who’d caused the damage in the first place. I had to remember he was a shaper, not one of the good guys.
“I thought the council only met once a month.”
“So they do, unless something important comes up.” I gathered it was something to do with the mysterious shadow shapers. He didn’t seem inclined to elaborate. Perhaps he thought Alberto had told me too much already. “Anders is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Several times during the afternoon, I’d caught him staring intently at me. What did he see that was so interesting? Was he still secretly worried that I was in league with his enemies? But it wasn’t that kind of a look. It was more intrigued than wary.
The mice had found the safe for me, hidden behind a painting in the Ruby Adept’s private apartments. Not the most original hiding place, but what it lacked in originality it made up for in inaccessibility. Even Steele, a member of the council, had never been inside his boss’s private apartments. Apparently no one was allowed in, apart from the Adept himself, a handful of guards, and his trusted personal servants.
Not that that would matter to me. I’d already worked out my plan of attack, and I was confident I could do this.
Steele didn’t seem to share my confidence. “I’ll try to get you out if you get caught.”
“Thanks,” I said drily. “Let’s hope that won’t be necessary.”
Holly was depending on me. Getting caught wasn’t an option. I put my hand on the door handle. Time to go.
“Wait.” Steele leaned toward me. Before I realised what he was doing, he had my face cupped in both hands. “For luck.”
His lips descended on mine, soft and hard at the same time. I froze in surprise, then heat jolted through me, and suddenly I was kissing him back, my fingers reaching up to twine through his hair and pull him even closer. What was I doing? This guy was a shaper, one of the enemy. But holy shit, he could kiss. Everywhere he touched, my senses burst into flame, and I melted against him, kissing him back hungrily.
How long had it been since anyone had touched me like this? For a second I forgot what I was doing—forgot Holly, forgot the ring and the danger awaiting me, forgot everything but Steele’s mouth searing its way into my being, his hands roaming over my body, lighting new fires wherever they touched.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing heavily.
The intensity of his expression made me nervous, so I blurted out the first smart comment that came into my head. “Are all fireshapers so … changeable? This morning you were threatening to turn me over to the provosts for questioning.”
“You didn’t really think I’d do that, did you?” His knuckles grazed lightly along my jawline, sending a thrill of delight shooting through my body. “I had to say something to get you to talk. You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
He continued to stroke my face, his eyes focused on my lips. This was not conducive to my concentration. Shakily I reached for the door before my insides exploded and I melted into his arms. Even reminding myself that he was a shaper couldn’t stop my knees from trembling.
I practically fell onto the pavement. “See you later.”
“I’ll be waiting.” His deep voice was full of promise.
Infuriating man. I slammed the door and turned away, taking deep breaths of the cool night air. What was he thinking, kissing me like that? Where did he get the idea that I would welcome that kind of attention?
*I don’t know. Probably from the way you tried to climb into his lap like you were a starving kitten and he was a big bowl of milk.*
Oh, great. I’d been hoping Syl hadn’t seen that.
*It’s not polite to intrude on people’s private moments.*
*You were in a car in the middle of a public street. You need to work on your definition of private.*
A small black cat stalked out of an alley and fell into step beside me as I passed, her tail waving haughtily in the air. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything further about my questionable behaviour. She could hardly have said anything I wasn’t already saying to myself.
As we approached the palace I pushed all further thoughts of Steele out of my head. I couldn’t afford the distraction. I opened my mind to the life all around me, which helped me leave thoughts of the self behind. The world was bigger than just me and my issues. I touched a hundred little lives, all busy with their own affairs: here an owl out hunting, there a mouse skittering through the undergrowth in the park, further off a dog baying at the moon. I reaffirmed my link to the bright spark that was Syl, and joined with a couple of other cats, too. Their agility would serve me well.
We arrived at the street that ran along the back of the palace. A neat garden lay on the other side of the high iron fence. The fireshapers’ taste ran to traditional rose beds with pebbled paths meandering between them, and the heady scent of the blooms hung on the night air.
*Wait here,* I told Syl. My plan called for smaller allies tonight.
I walked along the pavement beside the fence, just another woman hurrying home in the night. The palace grounds were softly lit, but as Steele had predicted, the top floor of windows were dark. Most of the lights were on the second floor, where the offices were, and a couple more on the ground floor. My mental map of the building suggested that was the security centre.
There were cameras on the high fences and up under the eaves of the building. Cameras everywhere, their eyes unblinking. I sent out a call and first one, then another, answered. Small bodies flapped and crawled—it only needed one or two. A cockroach covered the camera lens on top of the fence long enough to hide my leap to the top and quick drop on the other side. Another obligingly settled on the rooftop camera covering that section of the grounds. Only for a moment—not long enough to arouse suspicion, but long enough to hide my quick dash across the open lawn.
Pressed against the side of the building, I waited to see if the alarm would be raised, but nothing disturbed the still night. It was after midnight. There was no one else on the street. I wondered what time the Ruby Adept would start thinking longingly of his pillow. I’d have thought of mine, except then I might think about sharing it with a certain fire-eyed shaper, and that would be no good for either my blood pressure or my concentration.
The cameras were angled to cover the grounds, not the sides of the building, which was made of the local sandstone. Plenty of cracks and little bumps and ledges to make the ascent easy for a cat-like climber. I took advantage and climbed rapidly.
From the roof, I had a view of the night-time city. The main thoroughfares were lit with streetlamps, but great swathes of the city bulked in darkness. Guess the shapers didn’t think it worthwhile to light the way for mere humans or shifters in those poorer neighbourhoods.
Skyscrapers were out of fashion—they were seen as too “human”. Even the tallest buildings were only four or five storeys high. None s
prawled across as much ground as the complex on whose roof I lay.
Again, I waited to see if I’d triggered any alarms, but nothing stirred to break the silence of the wee hours. There was a guard on the third-floor balcony below me. He was stationed outside the apartments of the Ruby Adept. Another guard stood in the interior corridor outside the Adept’s door, according to my little spies. I wondered if they stood there all night. Must be the most boring guard duty ever. The poor bastard on the balcony couldn’t even pace, since the balcony was neither wide nor long.
I gathered my forces again, ready for the final assault. Poor man. I felt guilty as I crept across the roof to a position just above his head.
The cockroaches swarmed, and muffled swearing broke the stillness of the night, followed by the sound of a man slapping himself in some agitation. I risked a peek. The poor man was doing well not to scream. He must have had fifty cockroaches crawling on him, and half of them were on his face. I shuddered even as I leapt off the roof.
My kick caught him in the head and he went down like a sack of potatoes. A handful of my little soldiers crunched underneath him, the small sparks of their lives blinking out in my mind. Hurriedly I let the others go. They flitted and scurried away, leaving me alone on the balcony with the guard.
I checked his pulse. It beat strongly, but he was out cold. Quickly I gagged him with the handkerchief from his pocket and tied him up with his own belt, in case he woke before I was finished. Then I turned to the balcony door and stepped inside, pulling it closed behind me.
I was in a lounge room, furnished predominantly in red. Looked like the Ruby Adept took his title seriously. A single lamp by the door—red, of course—lent a bloody glow to the scene. Either the Adept was a neat man or his servants were very particular; it looked like a hotel room awaiting a guest. Nothing out of place, no sign that anyone lived here. There wasn’t even a newspaper on the coffee table, much less any personal possessions.
Moving quietly, I crossed to the inner door. Through here was a bedroom, a bathroom, and an enormous walk-in wardrobe. It was nearly as big as the bedroom. How many clothes did one man need? A lot, apparently. One whole wall was nothing but suits. Another was devoted to his official robes of office—red, naturally.
Stolen Magic (Shadows of the Immortals Book 1) Page 13
