“I cast a haze around this room. It won’t interfere with the surveillance monitors as long as no one comes looking.
At the appearance of a glowing white light, Eve spun around, her heart in her throat, and saw the small orb leaving Reynner’s palm to hover above them. The ball immersed them in a circle of light. As they headed for the crates, the thing followed.
Of course, he’d be able to do things like this. First the sword he’d summoned in that alley, now this light. She still had to wrap her mind around the fact that he was an angel, one who was hell-bent on getting her in trouble.
She glanced about, taking in the enormous storeroom. Towers of crates of different sizes loomed above them. “Are you going to open everyone?”
Jeez, they’d be here the entire night—if not the week.
He passed several open crates, avoided the bubble wraps and polystyrene bags, and stopped to look around him. “No. It will take too long. Go—just touch the boxes.”
He had to have lost his ever-loving, ancient mind. “My abilities only work on living things.”
“Eve, there are dozens of crates here.Iwill have to open each one, but you just need to touch the lids. Even if I do find the scroll, I can’t touch the damn thing, it will disappear again and we don’t have the luxury of waiting centuries for it to reappear.”
When he put it like that… She touched the wooden box closest to her. Waited. Nothing. She tried another.
“Why did it disappear in the first place?” she asked him.
“It’s linked to the Stones. Seems it has to co-exist for harmony.”
“What if the scroll tears or burns?”
He cut her a terse look. “It’s mystical. It will disappear when it senses treachery or danger.”
Okay, then.
“You need to concentrate,” he said, hovering like a menacing shadow next to her, his attention on her hands while she stroked a lid. The brightness from the orb made all the flaws of her puckered skin visible. The urge to hide them grew. Instead, she headed for another crate and laid her palm on the covering.
Reynner followed.
She spun to him, her fingers curling into fists, and snapped, “I can’t do this with you hovering over me.”
He narrowed his eyes at her tight expression. “Very well. I will wait here.”
A half-hour later, she let out a rough breath. This entire venture had failure stamped on it. She felt nothing but rough wood, literally. Reynner would see soon enough that they were wasting time. Heck, he could have just opened the boxes with his mind, but no—
He startled all holy hell out of her, hauling her into a dark corner, her front plastered to his.
“What is it—” His palm shot over her mouth. The orb vanished. The room plunged into darkness. He held her tightly against him. Eve was too terrified to enjoy the contact. She could see nothing, then she heard the voices. Footsteps came closer.
Her grip tightened on his shirt, her heart thumping wildly while his continued its steady beat.
Flashlight zipped around the room and right across where they stood. Eve froze.
“All’s good here. Was so sure I heard a noise,” one of the security guards said.
“Nuh. Probably a rat or something.” Their steps receded, and the door closed behind them.
Christ!Eve collapsed against Reynner.
His arms tightened around her. “You okay?” he murmured against her ear.
Eve pulled in a deep, shuddering breath, nodded, and pushed away from him for the sake of her sanity. A little unsteady from the shock of near discovery but more from being crushed against Reynner’s body.
He summoned the orb once more. She started on the boxes again.
Eve worked her way through several more crates. Except for adding to her collection of splinters, she sensed nothing. And she really, really wanted to get out of here.
