He dropped her hand and saw her face go blank.
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
Ria was amazedby the room they called Mission Control. The Phoenix brothers sure had lots of high-tech toys to help them with their hunts. Not to mention the biocomp. No one hadbiocomps. At least not working ones. They were experimental tech.
They stood around the table, Dathan and Nik both busy making lists. Eos was carefully going through details on the derringer.
Ria kept glancing at the empty doorway. Zayn had been gone a long time.
“So,” Dathan said. “Where’s the derringer kept?”
“In the Guild headquarters.”
He winced. “I was hoping for a bank vault or maybe buried on a deserted moon.”
She shook her head. “They keep everything valuable close to home.”
“So, where in the HQ?”
She dragged in a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Come again?”
“They have tech that disorients and distorts reality. You can walk into a room and not remember what door you used. You turn left down a corridor, but when you come back out, you can’t find the way you came in.”
Niklas stroked his jaw. “Lucky we like a challenge.”
“So, are you all still up for this?” Her heart was a drum in her ears. They had to be. Zayn had to be. Her life depended on it.
“Yes.”
Zayn’s voice. She turned slowly. He stood in the doorway, his face unreadable, his gaze on her.
“We’ll need a blueprint of the facility.” He stalked forward. “If we can’t trust our senses, we’ll have to follow a map.”
Ria shook her head. “I don’t know if any exist. Headquarters is a fortress. A sprawling mass of concentric buildings, all protecting the central area where the treasures and important documents are kept. And the weapons.”
“Who built it?” Zayn asked.
Ria recalled all the Guild history they were forced to memorize as children. “The original design was done by the Tekton.”
Dathan groaned. “Secretive bastards.”
“But they keep records,” Nik added.
Zayn moved forward. “Can we buy the blueprints off them?”
Nik shook his head. “Nope. They’ve built their reputation by never, ever selling plans to their buildings.”
“So we’ll have to steal them.” Zayn leaned against the wall and popped a piece of gum into his mouth. “Nik, surely you and BEll can work some magic, get into their systems and steal the designs.”
Eos looked up from where she was tapping away at the table. “Problem. The Tekton don’t keep electronic records.”
Zayn frowned. “Come again?”
“She’s right,” Ria said. “Nothing electronic.”
“There are other options for keeping records?” Dathan asked.
