But even the most humble of fae had a role to play, didn’t they? I wasn’t done writing my own destiny.
By the end of this, we would have Tammy safe and a gemstone in hand. Assuming we survived, of course. So far, we’d been pretty lucky in that regard.
“How did you manage to get a floor plan of the hotel?” Jon’s voice carried across the room.
He stood at the dining room table, flanked by Delilah and Lee. Delilah had opted for comfort today with an unassuming, cropped black tee and bootcut jeans. She looked sonormalthat it was hard to remember the power dormant under those manicured fingertips. Maybe that was the intention. In contrast, Lee still wore a crisp button-up shirt and slacks as though not looking expensive for even a day might literally kill him.
Frustratingly, he looked phenomenal in whatever he wore.
“It wasn’t me,” Delilah said, lifting her eyebrows at Lee.
I flew over to join them, wishing I could have brought my spare clothes from the car. Luckily, our earlier brawl had left my outfit largely unscathed, other than a few tears from Ben’s earth magic. The long sleeves and high collar of my winter blouse kept the worst of the nippy hotel air at bay.
Spread out over the table was a large map, blue ink outlining a labyrinth of interlocking rooms.
“It was easy,” Lee said, his hands braced on the edges of the map to hold it flat. “Almost too easy, honestly. Nabbing things is hardly a challenge anymore thanks to our signature two-punch approach. The clerk at the architecture firm practically shoved it into my hands thanks to a little persuasion from Benny.”
Perched on Lee’s shoulder, Ben gave a stilted chuckle in response, his eyes sliding to me nervously. I couldn’t disguise my grimace at the implication of glamour, but I supposed there was some comfort in the fact that he didn’t look nearly as proud of it as Lee did.
The master bedroom door clicked open. Delilah hummed with intrigue as Cliff entered.
“I’ll admit, you clean up well,” she said, throwing a glance at Jon, too. “Our previous muscle wasn’t packaged half as nicely. You’ll fit right in with this crowd.”
Cliff tossed his jacket onto the white sofa, pushing fingers back through his short hair with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, try not to cream yourself.”
He took a seat at the table, frowning at the blueprint.
“Commit this to memory,” Lee said. “The only way inside isthroughthe event itself, where security is spread out, and the crowd offers cover.” He tapped the ballroom on the map. “It should come as no surprise that the place is armed to the teeth and all the main rooms are warded against witch and warlock magic.”
“What about fairy magic?” Jon asked.
“Warding entire rooms against fairy magic is next to impossible without heaps of iron, so we’re in the clear,” Delilah said.
My relief wavered when I remembered how my ice attack at Lee had fizzled out of existence before it could even touch him. “What if Eros’ security has those magic-blocking cuffs, like the one you had in the storage room?”
Lee’s easy smile stiffened. “That’s not possible, seeing as I have the only one in existence.”
“How can you be sure?” I insisted.
“Because I know for a fact there used to be two. One was destroyed, and I have the other,” Lee said. “Tech that creates an invisible iron field around your body isn’t made overnight. If it had been duplicated, we would have heard whispers of it by now. Normally, I wouldn’t risk wearing something so sought-after, but I had a feeling I’d need to be prepared for some less-than-warm reactions from captive fairies.”
Lee shot me a wry smile, as if to saycase in point. My lips thinned, thinking of how my spell had been effective dissipated when it neared him in the storage room.
I shared a terse look with Jon and Cliff as Lee moved on. He pointed out two of the major hallways branching from opposite sides of the vast ballroom.
“Our plan hinges on two teams executing simultaneously,” he said. “The first team’s goal is to infiltrate the shipping dock where the main trucks with inventory are being dispatched.”
“Inventory being monsters,” I muttered.
“You guessed it,” Ben said.
“How many trucks?” Cliff asked, frowning at the length of the shipping dock.
“It’s not entirely clear, but most likely a dozen tactical transports,” Delilah said. “My contacts tell me these are being sent to large clients. Politicians, the Dons, and the like. From what I understand, these fuckers can withstand a landmine. Not to mention the armed squadron that will be surrounding it. Theycannotbe permitted to leave the dock.”
Jon folded his arms over his chest. I could see his mind turning the plan over, strategizing. I allowed myself the briefest reprieve to admire how tight his white tee was over his arms, how the faintest smell of soap clung to his skin. His eyes flicked to me momentarily, catching my stare. I flushed, snapping my gaze down intently to the map. Jon's gaze lingered on me long after I had looked away.
“So, team one has to kill the monsters and stop the dispatch from leaving the building,” I ventured, refocusing.
