We surveyed the area. I didn’t realize it, not at first, until Theo hushed, “They don’t have any griffins.”
I double-checked before I realized Theo was right. The guards were all alicorns, wolvens, or dragons. Not a griffin in sight.
“It must be Eli’s policy,” I said. He was always prejudiced against the griffin Faction. Thought they were weak for having strong feelings. That poor judgement was going to bite him in the ass tonight.
“They have no other griffins to combat my powers, and my emotion magic is strong,” Alexei said. “I’ll piss them off, all right, but don’t take too long. Eventually, they’ll catch on.”
“We can be quick,” I said. “You two stir up a ruckus by the front. We’ll slip in the back door.”
Alexei nodded, and he and Kiara wandered off. We waited for a few minutes. A few curses rang out through the air, along with a couple of insults. Eventually, I heard the snarling of shifters as they began to battle, and the screams of sorceresses as they tried to break the fights up. Their torches lit the night as all the guards went running to the front of the building, leaving the backdoor exposed.
We took cover against the back wall. Delmare kept her battle magic ready, appearing as a lookout as I went for the window.
“This is very Robin Hood. Robbing the rich to feed the poor,” Stefan commented.
“Yeah, well, someone’s gotta do it, because we know Eli doesn’t give a shit.” I peeked inside. “All clear. Let’s go.”
The door was locked, but Emma put her hand against the lock. With her illusion magic, she commanded it to melt away at her touch. The door dissolved into liquid goo, and we stepped over the puddle and into the treasury. Emma threw a few blue balls of her illusion magic into the air. They lit the room, giving us light.
“Wow.” Delmare gasped. The treasury was packed. Boxes of Malovian currency, along with bags of gold coins, stuffed the room to the brim. There was hardly any room to walk. It was certainly more than we could take with us during one trip, but we’d have to make do.
“Take as much as you can carry,” I said. “We get what we can and leave.”
“Let’s just change. I can carry a million of these bags on my back if I’ve got saddlebags,” Stefan hissed.
“We can’t shift. If we do, it’ll blow our cover. We’re more identifiable as animals,” I said.
Stefan grumbled, but the rest nodded and began grabbing bags. I took three each in my hands. They were heavy, nearly twenty pounds, but that didn’t stop me. The rejuvenation potion did what it was supposed to, and bolstered what strength the demon had taken away. The leshane lashed against my insides like a whip— he didn’t like that I was using the Phantom persona for good instead of revenge, but I ignored the pain, taking an extra bag just to piss him off.
It wasn’t a few minutes before there were cries of panic. An alarm went off in the treasury, and the lights came on. Shit! They knew we were here!
“We gotta go!” I ran out the door. The rest followed me. By the sound of it, the shifters were still fighting, but the sorceresses had caught on that something wasn’t right. We slipped into the woods before they caught us, vanishing into the darkness. The guards immediately entered the treasury, giving us time to get into the woods and make our escape.
Branches cracked behind us. I bristled, thinking it was the guards, but as I turned back I saw it was only Alexei and Kiara. They were breathless as they ran for their lives.
“Where do we go now?” Stefan asked, his arms dragging as he tried to carry ten bags at once. Even with his shifter strength, the bags slowed him down.
“My lair. It’s underneath the university.” I took a sharp turn, and the others followed. My heart pounded as we left the woods and entered the grounds of the university again. I took the familiar path back to my lair, though I hadn’t used it in ages. We entered into the murky dungeon, and I used a match to light a torch on the wall for light. The only sound that could be heard was our ragged breathing as we all struggled to recover air, chests tight with the anticipation that we’d been followed.
Minutes passed, and there was no pounding against the door. If we’d been followed, the guards would’ve caught up to us by now, which meant we escaped— thank the gods.
“Do you think we got away?” Theo asked nervously.
“I think so,” I said. “They would’ve found us.”
“What about their shifter sight? Won’t they be able to follow the trail?” Odette asked.
“Alexei and I cast deception spells before we left, to throw them off. If they’re powerful enough, they should hold,” Kiara gasped. She wiped her brow of sweat and stood up slowly.
Emma strolled around the room, eyes puzzled beneath the mask of the White Rose. “So this is where the Phantom hides. It’s exactly what I expected.”
I was slightly offended. What was that supposed to mean?
“You know, Ethan, youreallyneed an interior decorator,” Odette squeaked as she observed the room. “The Batman look isn’t doing it for me.”
Thanks for clarifying, Odette.It wasn’t like I’d ever planned to bring people down here.
The sound of coins clinking against each other rang off the walls. “By the gods. There has to be thousands here,” Stefan said as he shuffled through the bags.
