Page 88 of Burn of Obsidian
Chapter 33
Thea
“If 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.”