A servant deposited the invitation into Morell’s hand. The baron glanced at it. “I see Kaleb Green will not be joining our auction this time around.”
The butler stepped aside, and Helena strode into the ballroom. She wore the midnight blue uniform of the Gaulish Empire. Her green eyes searched the crowd unerringly and found Kaldar.
Helena d’Amry smiled.
GEORGE closed his eyes. Kaldar paced back and forth. He’d been trying to raise Audrey via the transmitter, but she didn’t respond. George and his birds were his only hope. He stopped and peered out of the open window. Their quarters were luxurious and tightly guarded. Their windows presented a beautiful panorama of the mountains, and below them was a thousand-foot drop straight to the distant woods below.
“I’m there.” George opened his eyes.
“Is Audrey there?”
“Yes.”
“Tell her to activate the barrette.”
“She says she doesn’t have it. It must’ve fallen out. During the dancing.”
No, she’d had it during the dancing. It must’ve been during their other dancing. He recalled her raising her hair. He couldn’t remember the barrette being there. Kaldar almost slapped himself. Such a simple thing, and they had both missed it.
“Tell her we have to take the diffusers tonight.”
George whispered and turned to him. “She says you are crazy.”
“Tell her the auction is tomorrow. If we bid, Helena will outbid us, and we never intended to bid in the first place anyway. We have to retrieve them tonight.”
George whispered and paused.
“She says what do you think will happen when Morell discovers that they are gone? All the wyverns are grounded, and the giant men with very sharp swords will mince us into tiny pieces.”
“Tell her I had a replacement made. We substitute the replacement for the real thing.” He’d had the Mirror make the replicas before he had ever set out for California. They were real gold, just like the bracelets themselves.
“She says we did that once, and let her think, oh, it didn’t go very well, did it?”
“Tell her we have no choice. Tomorrow it will be all over.”
“You suck. Do you even know where the vault is?”
“Yes, I do. It’s in the northern turret on top of the keep. I looked at it from the balcony. It’s full of guards, it’s warded, and if the castle were to fall, its contents could be quickly moved by landing a wyvern on the roof next to it.”
George looked at him. “She is walking around the room mumbling to herself.”
“Tell her to mumble faster; we’re short on time.”
“Ummm, I’m not going to do that,” George said.
George frowned. “She says when?”
“Half an hour. And tell Cerise to give Audrey her claws. I know she packed some.”
KALDAR stood by the window. The Mirror’s night suit clung to his frame, turning him all but invisible in the darkness. He checked the pack on his back. Secure. The claws came next: thick solid bands of steel and leather, laced with veins of wires, they clasped his palms, extending up his arms to wrap around his shoulders. His shins sported the second pair. A small coin powered each claw. He pressed the coins one by one. They flashed silver, sending thin currents of magic through the wires.
“What are those?” Jack asked.
“Climbing claws.”
Kaldar pressed his hand to the side of the window. Barbs shot out from the claws, biting into the stone. He hung on it with his full weight, testing. It held. He pulled his hand away, and the claw automatically retracted the blades.
“Make sure the door stays locked,” he whispered.
The boys nodded.
“If someone knocks, don’t open it. Let them break it down if they have to. If it comes to that, send a bird to William and Cerise for help. George, keep a bird on me at all times. If I die, go to William right away.”
“Understood,” George said.
Kaldar leaned out the window. Audrey was in Cerise’s room, two windows to the right. Below him, the sheer drop yawned. No guts, no glory.
He climbed onto the windowsill and planted his right-hand claw on the wall. The blades clicked. He pressed his right shin against the stone. Claws pierced the wall. Climbing was never his favorite. In fact, heights weren’t his favorite altogether. Swimming, that he could do.
Kaldar exhaled and stepped off the window.
The claws held.
He planted his left shin, then his left claw, and began crawling up the wall, slowly, like some sort of insect. His heart hammered against his ribs. He knew not to look down, but he didn’t have to. In his mind, his claws failed. He slid down the wall, hopelessly scrambling to find purchase and failing. The wall ended, and he plummeted down, turning in the air as he fell, and smashed down on the sharp rocks below with a wet thud.
Sometimes, an overactive imagination was a curse.
A shadow crawled out of the window to the right and began making its way to him. Audrey.
Kaldar hung in place, waiting for her.
She drew even with him, her eyes thrilled, and whispered. “This is fun! The Mirror has all the best toys.”
“You’re scared to fly on a wyvern, but this is fun?”
“When I’m on the wyvern, it’s out of my hands. I can’t do anything about crashing. I can control this.” She leaned closer. “Are you okay? You’re looking green.”
“Bet me something that we can make it up this wall.”
She detached her right claw and fished a coin out of her pocket. “I bet you this coin we can’t make it.”
“You brought money on the heist?”
“It’s small and easy to bet in case we get in trouble.”
He really did love this woman. He swiped the coin and slid it under the collar of his suit next to his skin. The familiar surge of magic burst through him, snapped to Audrey, and returned to him. Kaldar began climbing.
“So how does this betting thing work, anyway?” Audrey asked, climbing next to him.