The thieves. They were gone.
Sable circled the lobby to confirm, but they’d vanished. They must have used the archway’s distraction to slip away from the group.Making sureno one was watching, Sable backtracked until she found the hallway where she last saw her competition and scanned the surrounding areas. They were long gone, but it was the restricted sign that told her all she needed to know about their whereabouts. She silently reprimanded herself for letting the arch distract her. It had only been a few minutes, but thieves were notorious for vanishing at a moment’s notice. She probably wouldn’t find them, but that didn’t mean she wouldn't try.
Noting the security cameras, Sable waited until she was alone and then slipped into the restricted area. She pausedjust inside the door and surveyed the large storage room, letting her thieving senses take over as she searched. Where would she go? What would be her first move? Walking down the main aisle seemed a foolish idea, so she veered toward a row of looming crates.Fareasier to hide behind wooden boxes than behind open shelves.
The room appeared empty, but she only made it about twenty paces before she realized her mistake. She wasn’t alone. Soft footsteps fell into step with hers, and a voice echoed behind her.
“What are you doing in here?”
Sable froze, her mind flipping through her arsenal of convincing lies, when the voice finally registered. It was… young. She’d been caught by a child, and a smile tugged at her lips. Children were far easier to lie to. Plus, there was a good chance the boy wasn’t supposed to be in a restricted-access storage room, either.
“My mom called me,” she said, twisting around to show the kid her cell phone. Parents were serious authority figures for kids, so she hoped he would take her plight seriously. One did not simply ignore a call from their mother. “I was looking for a quiet place.”
“I didn’t hear you talking to anyone,” the boy said, and Sable fought the urge to glare at him.
“I missed her call,” she said. “I put my phone on silent when I walked through the Underworld Archway, so I was looking for somewhere private to return her call.”
“In the restricted area?”
“Is that what this is?” Sable looked around as if she suddenly recognized her surroundings. “I hadn’t realized. I was staring at my phone and just walked through that door… if this is restricted, what are you doing here?” She shoved her cell into her jeans’ back pocket and pinned him with her best stare of disapproval, which she knew was intimidating. She’d learned it from her mother after all, and as the mom of ten rowdy children, most of whom were sons bigger than her, the woman had perfected the Mom Stare.
“My dad works here,” the kid said, and to his credit, he tried to maintain a brave face, but his answer was far more worrisome than her disapproval. Sable spotted his pointed ears for the firsttime. This boy wasn’t just some employee’s son. He belonged to a security guard. Of all the people to catch her, it had to be the child of someone who could destroy her.
“Well, if your dad works here, shouldn’t you know better than to wander into a restricted area?” Sable said, hoping to play the conversation her way. “I walked in by accident. What’s your excuse?”
“Please don’t tell my dad.” The kid’s face transformed from wary to nervous. “I don’t start at my new school yet, so he had to bring me to work, but I’m bored. I’ve already seen every exhibit twice, and I just wanted to see what was inside.”
“It’s okay, kid.” Sable relaxed.Seemedthis child would be in bigger trouble for trespassing than she would. She’d lost the thieves for now, butat leastthis wouldn’t derail her mission. “I’m not going to snitch on you. How about we both leave, and it’ll be our secret?”
“Really?”
“Really.” She smiled at him. He was anawfullycute Fae with his curly brown hair and small glasses, and she couldn’t fault him for sneaking into places he shouldn’t. She’d made a career out of it.
“I’m Clover, and I’m ten,” the boy said as they exited the storage room.
“I’mSable,and a lady never divulges her age.” Professionally, she was known only as The Rabbit’s Foot, so she didn’t mind admitting her real name.
“Nice to meet you, Sable,” Clover said. “Do you still need to call your mom? I can help you find a quiet room.”
“Thanks, but I’ll just go outside. I shouldn’t disrupt the other guests.”
“Oh okay. Well—oh crap. My dad’s coming.” The boy’s eyes pleaded with her. “Promise you won’t tell him I went into a restricted area.”
“I won’t if you don’t.”
“Deal.”
“Hey, Clover, I’ve been looking all over for you,” a deep and sultry voice sounded behind her, and everything within Sable went cold. A voice that rich and masculine, that sinfully delicious, could only belong to a man equally devastating, and she was afraid to greet the owner.
“I’m helping my new friend, Sable,” Clover said, seamlessly slipping into a little white lie. “She was lost.”
“That was nice of you,” the intoxicating voice said.
“Yeah,” Clover said. “Sable, this is my dad. He works here.” He stared at her expectantly, and Sable gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to see who that seductive voice belonged to, but it seemed she had no choice.
“Hi.” She turned and extended a hand. “I’m Sable as I’m sure you’ve figured out.”
“My name’s Cash,” the security guard said as he took her hand, and Sable’s stomach dropped, leaving her hollow and off balance. She’d seen handsome men before, but this man wasn’thandsome. This man was a god. He was so exquisitely beautiful that it hurt to gaze at him, but it was impossible to turn away. He towered over her with his brunette hair, his chiseled and stoically muscled body, his elongated ears, and his glasses that made him look both incredibly intelligent and impossibly filthy. They gave him the air of a calm professional who turned into a freak the minute the doors were locked, and the image of her bent over his desk with her bare ass on display for him flashed into her mind before she could stop it. She couldn’t find this man attractive. He was the enemy, a Fae soldier tasked with thwarting her mission, and what’s more, she was fairly certain Cash was the special forces guard Peter had warned her about.
