“Killing you would be counterproductive,” she replied smoothly, then glanced down, severing a tension Kane hadn’t realized was between them.
He cleared his throat. “Okay. Let’s say that, for all intents and purposes, it works without a hitch. We release the explosives, and you make me a key that’ll open the lock. Will the aleuite smoke be thick enough to conceal me from view?”
“It should be.”
Fletcher cut in. “Not good enough.”
Guilt stabbed through Kane’s chest. He didn’t deserve Fletcher’s concern. It made him feel small, unworthy, and he longed to shrink and shrink until he could crawl inside himself and disappear. Eventually, one way or another, Fletcher would find out what Kane had done. When he did, he would regret each and every time he’d bothered to care about Kane. How could he not?
Zaria set her jaw. “I might be able to adjust the concentration so the resulting reaction is more intense.”
“Good,” Kane said, trying to steady his voice. “Do that.”
“What I want to know is, how are we going to get the explosives into the Exhibition? They’ll have to be relatively large if the smoke needs to be powerful enough to fill an entire section of the palace. Certainly far bigger than anything we could reasonably smuggle into the building in our pockets.”
Fletcher shot Kane a meaningful look, tapping a mischievous finger against the square line of his chin.
Kane turned to Zaria. They’d already accounted for this; it was merely a matter of ensuring all the pieces came together. “Luckily for you, we’ve already orchestrated a plan to ensure everything we need will be at our disposal.”
“Of course you have,” Zaria grunted.
Kane ignored that. “I have one more request: What kind of weapon can you put together to disable anyone who gets in our way?”
Zaria was nonplussed. “You both have guns, don’t you?”
“I saiddisable, notmurder.”
“Since when does it make any difference to you?”
God above, she was exasperating. Maybe he was being overcautious, and it certainly wasn’t a crucial element of the plan, but why not take advantage of Zaria’s skills while he had her on board? “Royalty is going to be present at the grand opening. Diplomats. Innocent civilians. We’re trying to steal something, not start an international conflict. And I don’t know about you, but if somethingdoesgo wrong, I don’t want to go down for homicide.”
Fletcher nodded in agreement.
“Again,” Zaria intoned, “since when are you opposed to homicide?”
“I didn’t say I was opposed to it.” Kane made the words clipped, short. “I said I don’t want to getcaughtfor it. And you can drop the judgmental act—it’s not like you’re some kind of pacifist.”
“I’ve never murdered anyone, Kane.”
“Maybe not directly. How about this for a hypothetical? Pretend a man asks you for your gun. He says he’s planning to shoot someone in the head with it. Do you give it to him?”
Pink was rising in Zaria’s cheeks. “Of course not.”
“Except that you do. Youhave. It’s quite literally your job.” Kane drained the rest of his drink, knowing his show of apathy rankled. “So don’t act like you’re opposed to murder. If I wanted to put a magic bullet through someone’s skull, you’re stop number one.”
“I amnotresponsible for what people do with the weapons they commission.”
Kane shrugged. “Technically true. But you could always say no, Zaria, and you don’t.”
The charged silence that followed was agonizingly uncomfortable. Fletcher shook his head in exasperation.
Zaria appeared to be trying to collect herself. She released a long, unsteady breath, lifting her chin to look Kane in the eye. “Fine. You’re right. I never claimed to be a good person, and maintaining a degree of separation doesn’t make what I do any better. Now, tell me why the aleuite explosives aren’t sufficient for disabling anyone who gets in our way?”
“That’s not easily controllable,” Kane said, shoving down the surprise he felt at her admission. “I want something like the dark market gun you made for Saville. Small and easily concealable but not lethal. We want this to go as smoothly as possible.”
“What about a dart gun?”
“No. Causes far too much pain and would result in a scene. I want to incapacitate, not harm.”
