Page 49 of Stone Temptation
As if I had time to guzzle bubbles. “See you in a bit.”
I left them to their duties, hurrying up the stairs, the scent growing thicker with each step.
Angry waves crashed inside my skull, glass exploding. My knees buckled, bringing me down. I grabbed the banister as ice flooded my system, blocking my vision. It carried me into a world of ice and glass and sea, each element bleeding into the other to form an incoherent scene.
The face of a man appeared. Black-and-white at first, popping into clear, gob-smacking color.
The call for aid rang like a bell.
Luke Garland needed my help.
ELEVEN
Luke
Istepped between the gargoyle guards, thief mode activated. In the zone, focused completely on my goal. I slipped into this state when on a job, leaving everything else outside my walls to deal with later.
My footsteps were silent, completely muffled by the magical candy. The two stony guards were oblivious.
Impressive.
According to the map Seth showed me, this stairwell led to the first floor of living quarters, with a second set of stairs connecting to the next floor and Carissa’s office.
I had two hours to get there, crack that safe, and return to the helipad. If things remained this easy, I really had nothing worry about.
Don’t get too comfortable.
I moved quickly, reaching an archway feeding into a gray corridor, bright strip lights above my head. The second stairwell sat halfway down this stretch. I moved with purposeful strides, passing closed doors, and hurried up the steep stairs to the next floor, keeping calm.
Eventually, I approached a door at the far end of the corridor with electric lanterns hanging on either side of it.
Carissa’s office.
Cameras whirred overhead, but what would they see? The office door opening on its own? As long as I didn’t mess about with it too much, any anomaly could be passed off as a glitch.
Thief head on, I channeled spiking adrenaline into my work. I’d broken into enchanter labs and houses, almost got eaten by a cannibal. I really, really had this. London gargoyle tower be damned.
A glass panel above the doorhandle blinked red, a keypad waiting. Numbers blazed in my mind, the first sequence a neon white line set against a dark background.
Sometimes, I really loved my brain when it wasn’t kicking my arse with sad boots on.
I tapped the correct order, the red light turning green and the lock clicking open. Gently, I pushed the door open as if I was the wind. The open window beside me, blinds rattling in the breeze, helped sell the glitch idea for the camera.
Checking behind me, I slid inside the office. Glanced at my watch. Ten minutes down. Still plenty of time.
My God. How many clocks did one gargoyle need? The stone room was packed with them, a couple of carriage clocks on the busy-looking desk.
All that ticking would make me leak government secrets in twenty minutes.
I inspected my surroundings, finding the safe in the far-left corner of the room. Built into the wall, the only clue to it being there was a tiny dial close to the floor.
Awesome.
I crouched down, seeing the numbers in my head once again, little arrows joining the digits to indicate the appropriate direction for the dial.
As smooth as silk, the safe unlocked. For a moment, I expected an alarm, metal bars slamming down on the window and door, trapping the burglar known as me.
The safe was packed with documents, a couple of books, and a black ring box at the very back beneath a notepad. I removed it, opening it to see the ring resting on a bed of crushed black velvet.