Page 74 of Locked
CHAPTERTWENTY
Rifyr
I watched as the tiny old woman hobbled away from her car. I squinted when I looked at her, because even though I'd watched her go into Zelle's high rise (the only person I'd ever seen go in, by the way, save for me, Kinden, or Sorrel) a few times now and I had followed her home, I couldn't believe that this tiny old human woman was the one who'd treated our Zelle so horribly.
The one who'd threatened Basil's life to the point where he'd had to go live with Kinden.
The one who'd shaved Zelle's head and made her cry so hard her eyes went red.
I set my jaw and narrowed my eyes.
That bitch of a witch was going to get it.
I waited for her to hobble across the parking garage and into the building and then waited an extra few minutes just to be sure she was gone.
Only then did I jump out from my hiding place and make for the car.
I made quick work of the locks on her door. I had always been excellent at lock picking, which was good, since I'd made a career out of it.
There was a sound, off in the shadows. A plink. Or a click.
I paused, squinting into the darkness, determining it was likely nothing more than a drip of water or some other creak that happened in older buildings such as these.
I'd halfway expected Zelle's guardian to live in a cottage on the outskirts of town, given all the times Zelle had posted about Mother's garden and how it was better and lovelier than hers.
But three times this week, I'd followed Mother from her now-daily visits to Zelle and back here to this condo building.
I swallowed thickly when I thought of how many times Zelle'd had to prick her finger to allow this horrible woman entrance to her tower and it made me angry.
I clenched my fist around the lock pick and opened the door.
Thankfully, no alarm or anything else seemed to be triggered.
I was looking for something, a spare key,anythingto get me into that woman's condo. Anything I could use to get in and find the braid of Zelle's hair.
If I could find the hair, then Kinden would stay behind in Zelle's place to confront Mother. Sorrel would provide backup and I would take Zelle back to my place for safekeeping.
I had the most magical wards on my place because up until now, as a lockpick, I was the one most likely to be targeted by dark magic users. They didn't really like to hire a locksmith for their services, they'd much rather kill the locksmith and steal his tools. So it was a no brainer for me to be the one to watch over Zelle while Kinden and Sorrel duked it out with a dark witch.
I was moving around a few bags in the back when it fell out.The braid.
The entire braid tumbled out of a paper bag and onto the floor of her car.
I was stunned for a long moment. I hadn't been expecting to actually find the braid in the old woman's car. Something felt off. Weird.
I cracked my knuckles, wishing I'd brought Kinden along so he could scan the thing for curses. Hell, even Sorrel would be better at it than me. But I didn't have either of them. Everyone had felt it would look too suspicious, two half-elves breaking into some old woman's car. At least if I was caught, I could claim I thought I was called here.
More than one looked like accomplices and the last thing we needed was to be detained right now.
All I had to do was grab the braid, toss it back in the bag I found it in and make a run for it.
I could call Kinden and Sorrel when I got far enough away.
So I reached down to grab the braid and do just that.
My fingers closed around it, yanking out a few strands, but not dislodging the braid from whatever it had wrapped itself around when it took the tumble from the bag to the floorboards.
I jammed those in my pocket and went back for the whole braid.
