Page 65 of A Touch of Treachery
I just hoped I hadn’t used up all my luck tonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DESMOND
IescortedCharlottedownthe steps to the ballroom floor, then glanced up.
Henrika was standing at the second-floor railing, her hands clenched around the glass as though she wanted to melt it the way she had melted the poker table’s felt.She glared down at us, then whispered something to Bryce, who nodded and moved over to speak to the guards.
I tensed, expecting Bryce and the guards to rush down the stairs after us, but they remained on the balcony.
Charlotte kept walking, her gaze straight ahead, not seeming to notice the other people in the ballroom.We went right by Joan, who was still standing at one of the high tables.Joan’s gaze landed on the Grunglass Necklace sparkling around Charlotte’s neck.She raised her eyebrows in a silent question, but I gave a small shake of my head.Henrika hadn’t sent Bryce and the guards after us—yet—so there was no reason for Joan to blow her cover.
Charlotte and I left the ballroom and slipped past the throngs of guests milling around outside.Charlotte quickened her pace, veered around a column, and stepped into a room with dark wooden shelves filled with leather-bound books.Several long reading tables took up the center of the public library, and chairs were clustered around a fireplace at the back wall.No flames crackled behind the grate, and the air felt chilly after the heat of all the bodies in the ballroom.
Charlotte zigzagged around the furniture, then stepped into a small alcove tucked away in the back corner.No security cameras were embedded in the ceiling, and I didn’t sense the telltale tingle of any electronic surveillance.
“We’re clear,” I said.“This area is a security dead zone.No one is watching us.”
Charlotte blew out a breath, dropped her head, and braced her hand on a bookshelf.Tremors swept through her body, making the emeralds and diamonds sparkle around her neck.
After several seconds, Charlotte blew out another breath, straightened up, and released the shelf.“I am so glad that worked,” she confessed in a low, raspy voice.
I frowned.“You didn’t know you had the winning hand?”
She shook her head, and some more tension drained out of her body.“No.I knew Henrika had a strong hand, but I was running out of chips, and I had to make a stand.What’s the old saying?Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”
My chest tightened at just how close Charlotte had come to losing, but it was quickly drowned out by a wave of admiration for her gutsiness.“I would have done the same thing.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.The Grunglass Necklace might be valuable, but it’s just a necklace, just gold and jewels strung together.Recovering the undercover list and protecting our agents is what really matters, and you played it all perfectly.”
Pride surged through me, and a smile spread across my face.“Have I told you lately how brilliant you are, Numbers?”
I grabbed Charlotte around the waist, lifted her off her feet, and spun her around.A shaky laugh tumbled out of her lips, and her aura blazed a bright blue from all the adrenaline pumping through her body.I spun her around again, then set her down and gave her a quick, fierce kiss.
Charlotte let out another laugh.She smiled at me, although her lips puckered, and her eyes quickly narrowed in thought.“This gives us the perfect opportunity to divide and conquer.I’ll go meet Henrika and get the UC list.She should keep most of her guards and her attention focused on me.That will give you a chance to slip out of the resort, infiltrate the woods, and see if you can find Henrika’s lab.”
I shook my head.“No—no way.I don’t want you going anywhere near Henrika or Bryce.Not alone.”
Charlotte shook her head right back at me.“I’ll be fine.Henrika isn’t going to kill me in her penthouse.She still wants something from me, and I think you too, although I still haven’t figured out what it is.”She frowned, and those mental gymnastics filled her gaze again.
I stabbed my finger at the Grunglass Necklace.“What about that?Wearing the necklace in front of Henrika is like throwing chum in the water straight at a shark.”
Charlotte’s hand crept up, and her fingers stroked one jewel after another.“Henrika can’t kill me, and she can’t take the necklace from me either.If she attacks me, then she’s violating her own rules of engagement, and the other paramortals won’t stand for that.”She dropped her hand from the jewels.“Besides, we can cover more ground if we split up.You know I’m right.”
I did know, and she was right.We’d only been at the resort a few hours, and Niles, Steig, and Oriana were already impatient that Henrika hadn’t produced Redburn yet.One or, more likely, all of them might decide to take matters into their own hands and try to force Henrika to turn over the formula.Charlotte and I needed to find any Redburn samples before that happened.
“All right,” I agreed in a reluctant voice.“But I want you to be extra careful around Henrika.”
Charlotte used her index finger to draw anXover her heart.“I promise.Maybe by the time I leave the penthouse, you’ll have located Henrika’s lab, and we can call in the Section strike teams to take her down, capture the other paramortals, and end this game once and for all.”
Charlotteheadedtothepenthouse to meet Henrika, while I returned to the honeymoon suite.I swept the area, but no one had bugged our rooms while we’d been gone.
Satisfied that no one was watching, I stripped off my tuxedo and changed into a long-sleeved black tactical shirt and matching cargo pants.I threw on a black fleece jacket and made sure I had all my usual weapons.A black knit winter hat hid my blond hair, and for a final touch, I slid my hands into a pair of thick gloves and my feet into the heavy boots Joan had picked out in the armory.
I could have left the suite, gotten into the elevator, and returned to the ground floor, but Bryce and the guards were certain to spot me on the security cameras, so I stepped out onto the balcony.
