Twilight Siege

21

“Was it a silent alarm?” I whispered at his back. “It would have been, had the alarm been armed.” “It wasn’t armed? Could workers still be here?” It was after nine at night and the museum should have been empty but there could have been an after-hours event or simply someone working late. The museum housed a countless number of priceless works of art and there was no way someone simply forgot to arm the system. I could tell by his tense features that Lochlan understood the implications. We walked silently toward a back stairwell, me following his lead down the dimly lit corridor. As we neared the bottom of the stairs, Lochlan froze. I wondered what had stopped him until I heard a small shuffling noise, just barely audible, along with a light shining in from the basement hallway. Lochlan’s form visibly relaxed before he continued around the corner and we were met by a woman and two men in all black. Our appearance caught them off guard but they quickly pulled out weapons and settled into defensive stances. Holy crap. What were the chances that someone else was robbing the museum the same night as us? This was absurd. “You will turn around and go home and you will not remember anything about this night.” Lochlan’s voice resonated in my ears and made the hairs on my neck stand at attention. “It’s not gonna work on us, but it was a nice try,” quipped one of the men in a self-satisfied tone. Double crap. They were druids and they were outing themselves in front of Lochlan! I didn’t think they were in danger but I didn’t want Cat or any of the others to think I had anything to do with the Hunt learning that the druids still existed. “That’s too bad, I don’t think you’ll like the alternative.” Unaffected by Lochlan’s menacing words, the man started to whisper a chant but was cut off as the woman with them grabbed his arm in alarm. “This was not the plan—you know we can’t, let’s go, now.” She pleaded but her efforts were wasted. The man’s eyes were lusty for a fight and there was no way he was going to back down. “Once we have the sword, we won’t have to live in hiding anymore. Then we can defend ourselves against their filth.” He spat his words with venom and the gleam in his eyes was almost feral. “You know that was not our purpose in retrieving the sword, it was simply to keep us safe, not to wage a war.” The woman’s face turned to mine briefly and I could see panic and fear etched in her features. These people were after the sword, which meant Cat had ratted me out. There was no way a group of druids just happened to be at the museum to steal the sword one day before I told Cat we would be doing the same. She was the only person I had told that we had located the sword. The leak hadn’t come from Lochlan this time because he had intentionally misled everyone about our plans. Equal measures of frustration and anger made me want to lash out, but I didn’t want Cat’s people getting hurt. I had promised her my protection and I would not fail her, regardless of her transgressions. I placed my hand on Lochlan’s back and pulled myself close to his ear. “I need you to occupy them, but please don’t hurt them. I’ll get the sword.” His gaze never left the druids but after a moment of consideration, he whispered, “It’s in the archives room behind us, bin E25.” As soon as he finished speaking, he sent a blast toward the druids but the leader crossed his arms in an X before him and deflected the blast. The second man, who had remained a silent observer throughout, lifted his arm to reveal a small pistol. I watched in horror as he pulled the trigger and Lochlan’s shoulder flung back with the impact. The scene stirred up memories of him being shot with arrows when we were attacked by the Red Caps and a fearful cry escaped my lips. “Go, Becca, now!” he ordered on a growl as he turned back to them with murder in his eyes. “Please, don’t kill them,” I pleaded in a frenzied voice. “You had better bloody well hurry before my patience runs out.” He sent another vicious blast in their direction and I stepped back toward the wall. The two men stood their ground but I watched as the woman fell back and disappeared around the corner. I raced down the hall, reading the labels on each door I passed until I came to the archive room. When I bounded inside, directly across from me the woman flew into the room from an alternative entrance. We both froze, eyes locked in a moment of surprise. The room was filled floor to ceiling with rows of metal shelving, each full of white plastic bins labeled with a combination of letters and numbers. In my peripheral vision I could just see inside the lower bins containing unique artifacts or collections of similar pieces. I darted toward the shelves just as she did the same and when we met in the middle at E25 the woman swung her fist at my face. I ducked just in time but wasn’t quick enough to clear her uppercut to my gut. Her strike must have been magic laced because it sent me flying backwards gasping for breath. As I attempted to suck air into my burning lungs the woman pulled down the large white bin from an upper shelf and lifted the sword into her hands. I couldn’t let her take the sword. An angry growl echoed down the hallway and I knew Lochlan was struggling—had I not asked him to go easy on the druids it wouldn’t have been a problem, but I knew my request had made his job harder. Rising to my feet I chanted in my head with my eyes squeezed firmly shut. IneedtohideIneedtohideIneedtohide. Unlike my previous attempt at the trick, this time I felt a tingling stir inside of me, provoked by my heightened emotions. When I opened my eyes and looked down, there was nothing. No arms, no legs, no body. Nobody. I was invisible. “You’re Fae too,” the woman hissed. She stood in shocked horror, the sword set precariously in her hands, as she scanned the room in search of me. I lunged at her and ripped the sword from her hands and it instantly disappeared in my grasp. She screeched out in frustration and I tore past her out into the hall and raced for Lochlan. The woman chased after me but I kept as quiet as possible and with no visible target her pursuit was limited. “She has the sword, stop her!” She screamed from the far end of the long hall, not wanting to come close to Lochlan by herself. As I neared Lochlan my stomach tightened at the beaded sweat on his brow and the blood coursing down his chest. I started to tell him that it was time to go but my nearness caught him by surprise and he almost leveled me with a left hook. “Jesus, Lochlan, it’s me! I have it, let’s go.” His hard eyes turned back to the druid men and he sent one final blast their direction that leveled both to the floor a good distance away, despite their attempt at deflecting. We took advantage of their brief incapacity and rushed up the stairs and back toward the loading dock.