Page 54 of Flock This

Hilarious, and it went to show just how useless the vampires could be.

The security guards went through the room, chitchatting about mundane things until they left, seemingly pleased by their lackluster search attempt.

I exhaled after they walked out, then left my spot.

I needed to know who six-nine-six was. That held the first concrete answer to this mystery, and as much as I wanted to get out of here—especially after finding out that the council was meeting—I knew better.

Only, this building held the answer to that question.

Worse, I knew exactly where to find what I needed.

Well, why not visit an old friend while I’m here?

* * * *

Getting to the upper floor was far easier than it should have been. Then again, the guards were used to dealing with people for whom locked doors were a big deal. They weren’t for me, however, not with my pilfered keycard.

Normally breaking into Ruben’s office would have been difficult. He was always there, working hard, and I had a feeling even he’d notice if I snuck in while he was there. Right now, though, he’d have to go to the meeting, which would leave his office available for me.

My idea swung between brilliant and incredibly stupid—which was pretty much what I came up with most of the time.

Still, if I didn’t go for it now, I couldn’t think of another opportunity. By the end of it, they’d have their warrant to bring me in and an official trial date. That felt suspiciously like a noose tightening around my neck.

I couldn’t just sit back and wait for it to fully close.

Which had me hiding in a utility closet on the top floor, trying to avoid any passers-by.

Luckily, once a meeting was called, there was little traffic. Those authorized to be here at such a time were in the meeting, not wandering about outside.

I pressed my ear to the door and waited, listening for signs of anyone. When I heard nothing, I slipped from the closet and jogged down the hallway, keeping my steps light. I passed by all the closed doors, heading toward Ruben’s office.

He had his office on the same floor as the council meeting room, a smart choice given his position. He was a workaholic from what I’d seen, which meant he probably saw the time it would take to walk from point A to point B as wasted effort.

Large double doors sat on one wall, the surface of them intricately engraved with a huge tree. I knew what it was, of course. The Tree of Life. The story of where all living things came from, across all the realms. At least, for those who still believed in the old stories.

I didn’t. Faith was for the lazy, for the one who needed answers to live their little lives. I knew better, though. There were those who were strong and those who were weak, but gods didn’t exist—at least not the way people liked to think.

Powerful beings? Sure. But they weren’t anything special, nothing wise and caring and worthy of devotion. Instead, what we thought of as gods were just the biggest bullies around—and I didn’t care for bullies.

I turned my gaze from the doors, rushing past them and toward the door just past. I swiped the card, and it lit up. It seemed that his keycards worked for his office still, at least. Then again, Ruben would never want to lose access to his space.

I closed his door behind me, then peered around the dark room. I left the lights off, not wanting to draw attention to my presence. If guards saw a light turn on, they might call it in.

I’d been in his office before, but always properly supervised. This felt like sneaking into a candy store after it had closed, and I planned to make the most of it.

Thankfully, I knew exactly where to find what I needed. All current information about couriers rested in a leather-bound book I’d seen Ruben write in before. On a table in the corner of the office sat a wooden box.

From inside, I pulled the book and opened it, resting it against the corner of the box. The leather was warm against my fingers, and so soft I had to wonder if he moisturized the thing. Part of me wanted to check the desk drawers to find whatever lotion he used.

Focus!

I shook my head and flipped through the pages of the book. It held most of the information a Justice in Ruben’s position might need when it came to the couriers and delivery service.

And as much as I’d love to pore over every last bit of information—imagine the hijinks I could get into with this!—I kept myself on task.

I used the nicely written tab with Couriers printed on it, flipping to that area. On the first page of that section was a table of contents, and for a moment, I pictured Ruben in here creating this like the bullet journal Vloggers did.

I imagined him picking the right colors, the right washi-tape, talking to the camera about what theme he’d go with for this section.

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