Valentine's gray eyes narrowed. "I saw an opportune moment."
"So did I."
"Okay, enough arguing, guys. We have DNA to corrupt, remember?" Lachlan said, his ears still red. Apollo smirked because, for all his sexy talk, Lachlan Ironwood was a blusher. He also had an O face that would haunt Apollo's dreams for the rest of his life.
"I've found the door that was on the plans, but you might need to get Layla on the phone to get us through it," Valentine said as they walked down the corridor and back under the velvet rope. No one seemed to notice them.
Apollo looked sideways at his brother. "Val, did you put a glamor on us without permission?"
"No. I put a glamor on the masks, and I don't need your permission for that." Valentine didn't look the least bit embarrassed. "What? We don't need anyone to recognize us, so I made sure they wouldn't. And lucky I thought of it because you two weren't exactly discreet."
"I didn't know you could do glamors at all. Something your friend in Uncle Taran's court been teaching you?" Apollo asked because he knew his brother well enough to know that he would never apologize.
Valentine smirked. "Maybe."
"Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to talk to our uncle about what play dates he sets you up with," Apollo replied.
Behind him, Lachlan chuckled. He didn't seem bothered by the idea that Valentine had used a glamor on both of them. However, being related to Imogen probably made him impervious to sibling nonsense.
They followed Valentine up the stairs and passed the gleaming display cases, which were set up to showcase the items that were being auctioned that evening.
Apollo bit back the burning questions on his tongue about how his brother had managed to steal anything locked undersecure glass. Sometimes, it was better not to ask too many questions about Valentine's methods.
Now that he knew that they were under a glamour, Apollo noticed how people's eyes seemed to slide straight off them. It was oddly freeing because he had spent most of the night worried about being recognized.
It's fine. It was just your paranoia. You knew Valentine would take care of this, and that's why you called him.
Beside him, Lachlan took a black earpiece from his pocket and slipped it over his ear. "I'll call Layla, and she can talk me through whatever I need to do," he said, keeping his voice low. He looked at the cameras and security, taking in every person. Apollo caught sight of a huge hulking brute, and he went cold.
"That's him," he said, panic starting to burn at his neck. Both Valentine and Lachlan turned to see where he was looking.
"Who is it?" Valentine demanded.
"That's Kovacs. The creepy fucker who taught Jean the blood spell. He's Bellerose's dog," Apollo whispered.
Lachlan's hand brushed over his. "Look away from him, Apollo. We will get him, but not here. Not now. We can't risk him spotting you," he said, his voice deadly calm.
Valentine looked Kovacs over. He was wearing a plain black mask, and it didn't do much to hide his smashed nose and scared face.
"Don't worry, little brother. I've got something special in mind for him. Don't risk catching his eye. He's a battle mage, and we aren't ready for that fight now," Valentine said and kept moving through the crowd.
Lachlan gestured for Apollo to go in front of him, making sure he had someone between him and Kovacs. It made something in Apollo relax. Lachlan would have his back, no matter what. His dragon was flicking its tail in annoyance atseeing his kidnapper, but Apollo tried to soothe it with thoughts of what he would get up to with Lachlan later.
His lips still burned with the feel of Lachlan's stubble. He could have spent hours just kissing him, savoring the perfect weight of his body pressing down on him. He and his dragon had been in complete sync for once, and it felt like regaining his usual strength and confidence.
Someone laughed loudly, and Apollo flinched. He hadn't been held captive long, but it was enough for him to be nervous and jump at shadows. He shouldn't have stepped into this stupid fucking building again.
Lachlan's hand went to the curve of his lower back, bringing him out of his spiraling thoughts. He was a powerful alchemist, for fuck's sake. He should be furious that Sanguis Vitae had the audacity to think they could take a goddamned thing from him.
Valentine led them through a door the waiters used to bring in drinks and canapés. They avoided the kitchen and went to a door marked 'Security Only.'
Lachlan had his phone out and was calling Layla. Valentine made a complicated hand gesture, and a warm bubble of his magic surrounded them.
"Another glamor?" Apollo guessed, his eyes never leaving Lachlan.
He was speaking in a low voice, his knife out, and doing complicated things to the security keypad. He wasn't nervous or hurried because he had probably done things like this on hunts before. It was damn sexy to watch.
"It is like a mirroring spell. I took a magical snapshot of the empty door before, and I'm projecting it in front of us to trick eyes and cameras," Valentine explained, drawing Apollo's gaze off Lachlan and back to his brother. "And before you ask, this was one of my spells, not Caelan's."
