She had my grappling hook—the same one I used to climb out my bedroom window. As I swung past the roof, Gabriela tossed it, and it caught the edge of the gutter. She hung on to the rope as I kept flying, clinging to it as she slid off me.
Climbing down, she reached Ryan’s window. She had a rock to break it, but she didn’t need to use it. The window opened, and Ryan stuck his head out. “Gabriela? How did you—”
I dove toward the window.
With Ryan’s help, Gabriela climbed inside. I saw her explaining to him, but the wind was too loud and I was too far away to hear her words. Hopefully she was saying something along the lines ofGet back from the window.
I’d only practiced a midflight transformation in our backyard, a foot or two above the nice, soft, grassy lawn. But there wasn’t time to consider whether this was a good idea or not.
Flattening my wings, I picked up speed. Closer, closer, closer…Now!
Transforming, I shot through the window in human form. Skidding across his carpet, I crashed into Ryan. He caught me, and the momentum propelled us both back against the side of his bed.
“Ow,” he said.
“Hi,” I said. “Good catch. Thanks.”
“No.”Huff.“Problem.” He tried to catch his breath. Apparently I’d knocked it out of him. I couldn’t help grinning as I looked at him.
“Earpiece, Sky,” Gabriela reminded me.
I inserted it in time to hear Charles say,“Are you in,Sky?”
“Here,” I told my brothers and Dad.
I heard the buzz of other voices—my brothers should be making their way to the kitchen. For a brief second, I worried about them. They’d have to herd the cooks into the pantry, but what if they resisted? What if they fought? My brothers would fight back, but it could cause noise, raise an alarm, draw attention….There was a lot more that could go wrong this time around. I preferred sneaking into an empty house.
“What’s your plan?” Ryan asked. “How can I help?”
My earpiece crackled.“Everyone, we have a problem. Dad can’t find Mr. Keene. He’s not outside greeting the guests,”Charles warned.
The wyvern gathering always occurred outside, under the stars. In this case, in Ryan’s yard, between the manicured bushes. Waiters would be roving through the crowds, distributing drinks and hors d’oeuvres. All the reporters would be stopped at the gate, but the wyverns would be pausing for pictures before coming inside. Ryan’s parents should both be there to greet them.
“Your dad,” I asked. “Where is he? Why isn’t he outsideyet?”
“He’s just in his office, preparing his speech. He’s planning to present me to the council tonight—I told him I’d completed my first heist. Sky…once the wyverns start questioning me about your heist, the truth is going to come out. There’s no way I could have executed it on my own. They’ll know I’m lying. But I can buy you time.”
“Thank you.” To Dad, I said, “He’s in his office.”
“I’ll take care of it,”Dad said.“Sit tight.”
“How?” I asked. “Dad, he’s dangerous.”
“I will tell him that I am requesting a reevaluation of my family’s status. I’m challenging the council’s ruling. I want to be reexamined. That will get him down here.”
“Dad, are you sure you can do this?”Charles’s voice whispered in the earpiece.“He’s responsible for Mom, for Sky’s almost-death. If he figures out we’re on to him—”
“Trust me,”Dad said.“Like I am trusting you. I won’t fail you all again.”
Okay, it was only a slight change in plans. We could deal with this. “Ryan, any changes to security on the vault? Are the cameras back online? Any new spells?”
“Cameras are still out, but the other security systems are operational. He hasn’t added anything new—there hasn’t been time, and with you gone…Well, he didn’t expect you to come back.”
“Good. Counting on that. Anything else we need to know?”
“You need to know I love you. I should have said that before. Long time before. I should have said it to the whole gathering, instead of listening to my father.”
His words made me feel like a hundred balloons were attached to my arms. I felt dizzy but in a good way. I shook my head. “Your father is dangerous. I understand that now. You did what you had to do to protect yourself and me.”
