Page 11 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

Well far go.

Didn’t take a genius to know she was talking about the bank. It was simple, and she didn’t attempt to obscure the name or make a riddle out of it. No one other than Kenzi would have known what those numbers referred to. You had to have the book to decipher it, and not just any version ofThe Hobbitwould have gotten the job done. It needed to be this specific edition.

If it was a bank she was leading me to, that meant that the numbers she listed below were a bank account. 1974762095230091. Were the remaining numbers, 091322, the passcode? Or something else? And what did the hastily scrawled name ofDemetermean?

A passphrase?

Ugh. I closed the laptop screen and leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes as I rubbed my temples. Libby could have left clearer instruction. Like what Wells Fargo she was talking, for example. Since there were approximately fifteen in Seattle. If it was just a bank account, then it wouldn’t matter which I chose, but if it was a safe deposit box, it would. Luckily, only a handful of Wells Fargos had safe deposit boxes.

“Everything okay in here?”

Cracking an eye open, I looked at mySovietnikand shook my head, letting out a rough breath.

“That bad, huh?” he asked, taking a seat in front of me. We were in Matthias’s office. His old office, since it was now mine, but everything in it was still exactly as he’d left it. I couldn’t bring myself to change anything. It still smelled like it. The light scent of tobacco hung in the air, mixing deliciously with the warm spiced aftershave he always wore.

“Libby’s secret code leads to a Wells Fargo bank,” I informed him. “But she doesn’t say which one or whether it’s an account or a lockbox. Nothing. I’ve got the account number, but that’s it.”

“What about the name and the other set of numbers she listed?” Vas questioned. “Any clue what those mean?”

I shook my head. “The six digits could be a passcode.” I sighed. “It couldn’t be a historical date because it’s dated for September of 2022, and it’s February.”

“What if it’s not a date?” he suggested.

“Then it has to be a passcode.”

Vas’s mouth turned up, and his shoulders shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“How very clear of you, Vasily,” I told him dryly. “Please, be as vague as you possibly can. It thrills me.”

Vas grunted his amusement, his eyes shining. “Could it be another cipher?”

“If it is, then it isn’t with this book.” I gestured to the battered copy ofThe Hobbiton my desk. “There aren’t thirteen paragraphs on page nine, and she wouldn’t have mixed up the cipher.”

The man before me tapped his chin lightly as he contemplated what to say next. “What if it is a date?” he wondered aloud. “What if the numbers are mixed up? Instead of September of 2022, what if it was September of 2013?”

“We’d have to assume that whatever it was took place in Seattle,” I pointed out. “There would be too much data to go through if we included every event that happened that year worldwide.”

Silence fell over us.

One would think that the six digits were a passcode of sorts. Or a password. However, a password for a bank account wouldn’t be simply numbers. It would need to contain letters as well. The passcode theory was applicable, but only if it was for verification. If she had been pointing me to a lockbox, then she would have needed to lead me to a key, not a bank code.

What was Libby up to?

“Here.” Vas’s deep voice interrupted my thoughts. When I looked up from where my eyes were glued to my desk, he was standing in front of it, holding out a whiskey-filled tumbler. Not my favorite, but I would take it.

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking the glass from him. The ice clinking around in the glass sounded heavy in the enclosed space.

“I love how you redecorated,” Vas drawled as he looked around. “It’s really you.” The teasing smile he held at the edge of his lips was infectious. His bright eyes lit up when I smiled at him from behind my glass.

“Couldn’t really bring myself to touch anything,” I admitted. “There’s this…gut feeling I have that says he’ll be back. Stupid, I know, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to change anything.”

“Ava—” Vas began hesitantly.

“Pfft.” I waved him off. “I know it’s stupid. Just humor me, okay? I’ll get around to changing it sooner or later, but right now…right now—” I let out a sigh and shrugged. “I just like how it makes me feel.”

“And how is that?”

“Like at any moment he’ll walk through that door.”

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