Page 45 of Fanged Desire
I took a small step closer, plastering an easy smile across my face as I leaked charm and persuasion in their direction. “It’s a last-minute thing. You know how she is.”
Their suspicion wavered, the subtle tug of coercion weaving into their minds. The one who had spoken first shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting toward his discarded jacket, but he didn’t reach for it.
The other guard frowned, but his stance relaxed and his eyes took on that familiar hazy hue. “Right. Make it quick.”
“Of course,” I murmured, flashing them a grateful smile and forcing the full brunt of my power into their heads. “You won’t even know I was here.”
They opened the gate and I slipped inside, heart steady as I made my way toward the mansion. Once out of sight I quickened my pace, sticking to the shadows as I navigated through the neatly trimmed hedges. The mansion loomed ahead, dark andquiet except for the faint hum of security systems buried in its bones.
All things considered, my mission was going relatively well. I allowed myself a moment of smug satisfaction, especially considering how Dylan, ever-so-serious spymaster, had drummed into us how stealth missions were precise and difficult tasks, requiring intense training and discipline and blah, blah, blah.
I was nailing this one with a bit of charm and a pretty girl waiting for me in the car. My mind drifted as it so often did and I fantasized about Addison’s wide, admiring eyes when I pulled everything off without a hitch.
The fantasy was cut short, however, when a sharp click echoed in the still night.
“Shit.” I hissed it through my teeth, backpedaling as the concealed motion sensors flared to life, flooding the grounds with harsh, white light. “Fantastic.”
I ducked behind a hedge as footsteps thundered toward the side entrance. Voices barked orders in a language I recognized – Elvish. That all but confirmed Cathy’s true nature, but there wasn’t much time to pat myself on the back about it.
Two guards rounded the corner, dark, oval eyes scanning the now brightly lit area like they were auditioning for a low-budget action movie. I watched from behind the hedge as one of them barked an order at the other. The second guy nodded and peeled off, heading – of course – in my direction.
I stayed crouched, watching him approach. He was methodical, eyes sweeping every inch of the ground, his hand resting on a baton at his hip. I waited until he was almost on top of me before slipping out from the hedge.
“Evening,” I whispered, flashing him an – I’ll admit – unnecessarily smug smile before delivering a swift jab to his throat.
He went down with a strangled gasp and I followed up with a quick wallop to the back of his head. The poor guy crumpled like a deck of cards, sprawling face forward into the dirt. Grabbing the unconscious man by the collar I dragged him back into the hedge, tucking him away for a good long nap and a headache in the morning.
The other guard was further down the path, his back to me.The front door was out of the question now, not with the whole place on high alert and the sweeping lights framing me like a stage performer. My eyes flicked upward instead, catching sight of an open window a few feet above.
With a running start, I vaulted up, grabbing onto the ledge as my feet scrambled for purchase on the bare brick wall. Hauling myself through, I landed softly on the polished floor of what looked like some kind of grandiose study.
The room was dimly lit, heavy drapes blocking out most of the spotlight patrolling outside. It was just as fancy and over the top as the exterior, shelves lined with books no one would ever read, a decanter of some overpriced whiskey, and a desk that probably cost more than my car. And it was a really, really nice car.
I moved quickly, boots scuffing on the polished floor. The desk was my first target. I rifled through the papers on top – boring invoices, a pretentious letter addressed to “Ms Catherine Raine,” and a pamphlet for an exclusive wine-tasting event. Because of course.
A locked drawer caught my attention, and without hesitation I yanked at it – to no avail. There was no time to finesse this, no lock-picking kit in my back pocket. Instead, I grabbed a fancy-looking letter opener from the desk and jammed it into the edge of the drawer.
With a grunt, I leveraged every drop of my strength, forcing the mechanism to give way. The drawer splintered and whatever contraption was keeping it closed let out a god-awful screech,like nails on a chalkboard but a hundred times worse.Well, that’s subtle.
Voices rose outside the study, and thundering footsteps told me it was about time I got going. I yanked the drawer open, grabbing a fat stack of papers inside. There wasn’t much time to stop and scan them – whatever was in there, it was coming with me.
Vaulting back out the window, I landed in a crouch on the stone walk below. The chaos behind me was growing louder, but I couldn’t afford to look back. I bolted for the gate, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I reached the outer gate and vaulted clean over it, rolling to my feet on the other side.
One of the guards I’d charmed earlier glanced up, still static and hazy under my influence. He gave me a small, absent-minded wave like it was perfectly normal for someone to exit the property like an Olympic gymnast.
“Thanks for the hospitality,” I muttered as I sprinted toward the car. I threw myself into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut as Addison and Ethan stared at me, wide-eyed.
“What the hell happened in there?” Addison demanded, clutching the dashboard as I revved the engine and jerked the car forward.
“Little mishap in the study.” The wheels screeched as I spun the wheel, angling the car back onto the road. “No big deal.”
“No big deal? You tripped an alarm, didn’t you?” Ethan groaned, slumping back in his seat.
“Hey, we’ve got what we came for,” I shot back, flooring the accelerator. “Try to appreciate my multitasking.”
As we sped away from the mansion, Addison shook her head, half in disbelief, half in exasperation. “Well, so much for sneaking! Did you at least find anything useful?”
With my eyes on the road, I handed her the stack of papers I’d swiped and Addison snatched them from my fingers in aheartbeat. Over the roar of the engine I heard the frantic rustle of paper as she flipped through the documents, scanning each page with laser focus.
