Proxy

Jeth turned toward the exposed pipe on the floor where the toilet had been. The dark hole seemed to leer at him as he leaned toward it. He carefully unfolded the pillowcase and then dropped the ruby down the hole. It made no noise as it fell, making the long trek through the pipes and down into the sewer system beneath the palace—the only way to get it out without alerting security.

“It’s done,” Aileen said from where she stood in the doorway, no doubt talking to Danforth. “We’ll meet you at the rendezvous point.”

“Farewell, Jeth,” Danforth said a moment later. “I’m quite certain our paths will never cross again.”

Jeth tossed the pillowcase on the floor. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Hammer will find you no matter where you go.”

“True.” Danforth sighed. “But just because he knows where I am doesn’t mean he’ll be able to get to me. Soleil will see to that.”

“Shut up, Danforth,” Aileen hissed.

“Soleil Marcel?” Jeth laughed at the absurdity. Soleil was one of Hammer’s biggest competitors, a crime lord with territorial claims to the Antares System. She was powerful, no doubt, but also ruthless and cruel, as vicious as a starving snake. “If you think Soleil will keep you in her employ after this, you’re even more of an idiot than I thought. She’s liable to turn you over to Hammer herself rather than risk trusting you with her business. You’re just a pawn, Danforth. A walking dead man.”

“That’s enough,” Aileen said. “Come on out of there.”

Jeth shrugged, judging by Danforth’s silence that his words had struck hard. As he stepped out of the bathroom, Aileen ordered him into the vault, where her partner had already put Celeste.

So they’re going to leave us alive, Jeth thought, not daring to believe it. It was the opposite of what they should do, that cold part of him knew. Death was cleaner, but he wasn’t about to point that out. He stepped inside the vault, then turned to face Aileen.

She beamed at him with that devilish glint back in her eyes. He wanted to gouge them out. “It’s been a pleasure, my little Peacock. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get to play again sometime.”

“If we do, I promise it won’t turn out like this.”

Aileen laughed. “Let’s hope not.” She pressed a button on the control panel and the door slid closed, locking Jeth and Celeste inside.

As Aileen and her partner made for the exit, Jeth pounded on the glass with his fists. He kicked it, slammed against it with his entire body. Beside him, Celeste did the same. But it was no use.

Sagging in defeat, Jeth ceased his futile attempts to break out. He walked to the back of the vault and sat down, resting his head against the glass. Then he closed his eyes and waited for his doom.

CHAPTER 06

MINUTES PASSED LIKE HOURS. JETH AND CELESTE TALKED only long enough to relay their stories. Hers was as Jeth had guessed: Aileen’s mountainous partner had ambushed her while she stood watch down in the hallway below.

They fell into silence afterward. Jeth wondered how long it would take before someone discovered them, and what was happening with Lizzie and Shady and Flynn. Maybe Danforth’s new crew would leave them alive, too. He clung to that hope. Alive, they had a chance of being rescued. The Malleus Shades were valuable to Hammer. He might spring them from whatever jail or prison they ended up in.

That is, if we don’t get executed first.

Jeth closed his eyes, swallowing down his fear. Of all the jobs he’d worked, none of them had gone this bad. There was no telling what Hammer would do when he found out.

Celeste nudged him hard in the ribs with her elbow.

Jeth opened his eyes and glared at her. “What?”

She pointed at the door, scrambling to her feet. He glanced that direction and saw a blond woman standing in the doorway. She wore an elegant red dress, the color marking her as a member of the Grakkian royal family. They’d been discovered at last.

Jeth braced for the scream that must surely be coming, but the woman only stared at them for several seconds, her expression more evaluative than alarmed. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. A moment later she hurried forward, the long trail of her dress fanning out behind her like a red banner. She stopped in front of the vault’s control panel and opened the door, keying the passcode with such quick efficiency that Jeth knew she had done it before.

“Come on,” the woman said, waving them out. “You must not get caught in here.”

“Who are you?” Jeth followed her to the door, with Celeste staying in step beside him. He was thrilled about this unexpected turn of good fortune, but he knew better than to trust it without question.

“That’s none of your concern.” She glowered at him over one slender shoulder.

He couldn’t pinpoint her age. Certainly a lot older than he was, but definitely not old. She wore her hair in an elegant coiffure that exposed a long stretch of pale, thin neck.

She turned back, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides as if she was struggling not to panic. “This couldn’t be worse. If the emperor finds out you work for Hammer, he might trace this back to me. What went wrong?”

Jeth winced at the alarm in her tone, guessing at once that she had been Hammer’s inside source. He wondered who she was. Someone very important to have such casual access to the emperor’s bedchamber.

His mistress, he realized, as he finally placed her face. The briefing he’d been given by Hammer’s research team before coming on the job had included a summary of the familial landscape of the royal family, just in case he bumped into one of them, but he hadn’t applied himself very hard to memorizing faces. The only reason he remembered her now with such certainty was because the emperor’s mistress had been a more interesting part of the briefing. The researchers seemed to think her place among the family had caused quite the scandal.