Page 9 of Dragon’s Rogue

Unease curled in the pit of his stomach. There was something wrong here.

Slowly, carefully, he pushed the metal door with his fingertips. It slid smoothly open without a sound, making a space just wide enough for him to slip through.

Concentrating, he pulled the electrical field over him like a cloak, moving through the opening without interrupting the current and setting off the alarm.

Once inside the gallery, he could see the door to the office was open as well. On the far wall of the office was the door to the vault, and standing in front of it was a dim figure dressed entirely in black.

A woman.

She had an electronic device hooked up to the outside of the vault door, running combination codes. The digital readout continually moved, changing faster than the eye could follow. The thief was running her fingers across the front of the vault, almost like she was caressing a lover.

Damn it all to hell. Someone had nearly beaten him to the Seal.

Rebel waited for her expensive electronic gadget to find the vault combination, nostalgic for the good old days she’d never known, where top safecrackers cracked the best vaults in the world through sound and feel.

Electronic locks had ruined all that.

Normally she would have spent the time wandering through the gallery, feet sinking into the plush midnight-blue carpet, admiring all the juicy treasures in their fancy glass cases and figuring out how she might pocket one or two.

But knowing those other guys were outside was making her antsy. This vault was tougher than she’d been led to believe, and it was taking too long to breach it. She had to get out before they found her.

Finally the gadget did its electronic magic, and there was a soft metallic ‘thunk’ as the locking mechanisms disengaged. Rebel pulled the gadget away from the vault lock and stowed it in her vest, then opened the door and stepped into the vault.

The vault, like the gallery, was full of tantalizing goodies, but Rebel was a professional. She also didn’t want to waste time and get caught. She blocked all that out and concentrated on the picture she’d memorized. A lead-lined box of ancient wood, about six by eight inches, with two open eyes carved on the lid.

She scanned the shelves quickly with her penlight. There.

She pulled the box off the shelf. It tingled under her fingers, as if it were charged with electricity. Open the box, she heard in her mind. Make sure the item is really inside.

Her hand hesitated on the lid of the box. Surely opening it wasn’t a good idea?

Open the box.

That’s right, she thought. Those were the instructions. She was sure of it. You must open the box. You must take the item out.

She put her hand on the lid of the box and cracked it open.

Chapter 6

Oh, hell, it wasn’t the Seal. She was going to open the idol box.

Zane could see the defensive magic on it from where he stood. This was gonna get ugly…

He lunged forward, trying to get the box out of her hands before she set it off.

Too late.

Thick red dust exploded out of it, enveloping both of them. It prickled against the exposed skin on his face like a thousand fiery needles stabbing into him. Zane coughed and hacked, feeling the dust slither down his throat like dozens of tiny snakes.

Three seconds later, an alarm went off, shattering the silent house like a scream.

Lights flashed on in the vault. Zane grabbed for the thief, getting one hand on the box. The woman, still coughing, drove her elbow hard into Zane’s ribs, knocking even more breath out of him and loosening his hold. She twisted away from him, but the box tilted and the heavy gold idol fell to the floor, landing on Zane’s foot.

Even with his tough skin, that hurt.

Through eyes streaming from magic dust, Zane caught a glimpse of another very nasty magical rune glowing on the shelf where the box had been. The vault door began to close automatically, as the rune glowed yellow, then red.

Time to leave.