As they moved to the entrance, Lucius hung on her, and she smiled as they walked, pretending that she wasn't holding him up.
“Are you okay? What's wrong?” she asked, but he seemed dazed, lost.
They had made it this far, and they were so close to the end, but he didn't seem like himself. His gaze was distant, and it was taking all her strength to keep him upright. She could only hope that the night air would awaken him.
“Have a good night,” she said to the butler at the door.
Many people were perusing the gardens, and she knew they had to pay attention to the front door to watch Travis leave—the next part of the plan.
She found a bench under a tree hidden by shadows; the willow hanging low enough that it would keep them encased in darkness, but her fae sight allowed her to see the front entrance.
As she placed Lucius on the bench, he slumped on her.
She patted his cheek. “Get it together. What's going on?”
“I'm all right,” he breathed, but his words were hoarse. “I just need a moment.”
Pained, she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him, rubbing his leg, trying to get him awake and shake off whatever lingering effects there were from dream walking.
Something was wrong with Lucius.
Not too long after, she spotted Travis leaving in hurried steps.
“There he is,” she said. “Come on.”
But Lucius wasn't moving.
“Lucius, he's leaving.”
“I don't know if I can go,” Lucius said, his voice horse and distant.
Lucius didn't know that Tavia had prepared herself, because her magic black bag was in the pocket of her gown. Underneath her gown, she was already wearing her leather pants.
Hiding behind the tree, she took out the black leather bag, trying to keep her gaze on Travis. She pulled at all the strings, slipping out of the dress, and then pulled the magic bag to take out her leather top, quickly putting it on, pulling out her weapons, andthen tying the black magic bag to her belt.
She ripped off the mask and left it, then ran back to Lucius quickly and kissed him on the forehead. “Stay here. I got this.”
Lucius went to grab her, but he didn’t seem to have the strength to stop her.
“Tavia, no,” he said, but she was already moving across the shadows.
Travis hurried through the streets, never once looking back, never once even assuming he was being followed. She followed him, trying to stay out of the moonlight, dipping behind carts in alleyways, trailing him to the human quarter, past the housing where a river curved under a bridge and an old stone building with an odd emblem at the door.
Tavia stepped into the shadows, hiding and waiting. If everything Lucius had planned worked, Travis would go in there and get whatever it was they had stolen from Lucius.
She waited, hoping Lucius was gathering himself and that his mind was okay.
The moonlight shone on the river. The night too serene for what was taking place.
“Where is he?” she thought to herself.
She had practiced the art of staying still when she needed to, but there was so much emotion running through her that her knee bounced, her foot tapping. She had to hold her leg still and calm herself, not wanting to alert anyone to her hiding place. She hid behind a boulder close to the stone bridge that arced over the slow-paced river.
Travis walked out, his gaze dazed, and went over to the bridge. He tossed a golden object out—it landed in the river. Tavia waited until Travis turned around and walked down the street. Then, she ran over the bridge, down to the bank, and jumped in. It was night, and if she hadn’t been fae, she didn’t think she’d be able to find anything.
Using her power of wind, she funneled through the water, making whirlwinds, focusing on moving through to where she saw the object drop. The river had moved at such a slow pace that it didn’t move the item from where it had fallen into the bank. She dug through the algae and the mud until her fingers grasped the cool polish. Grabbing it, she pulled it from the muddy water and then swam to the surface, using her wind to propelher forward. She smiled, breaking the surface.
She crawled out onto the bank and caught her breath.
