Page 7 of Emperor of Wrath

This is going to be a two-step process. The first involves the little device I have in my clutch. It’s how Freya will remotely crack the electronic lock. After that, there’s an old-school manual three-digit combination lock.

I pull out the hacking device and magnetically attach it to the keypad of the safe.

“You’re up,” I mutter.

“Hang on,” Freya says, completely focused. “Take it off for a sec and let me see the keypad. I want to make sure I’ve got the right model.”

I do so.

“Okay, I wondered about that. It’s a newer version of the Cryo 7000.”

My brows tense. “Can you still open it?”

“Obviously. But I need you to switch two wires on our device first.”

Freya walks me through unplugging a green wire from a red port and plugging it into a yellow one, then reattaching the yellow wire to a red port. I feel like I’m defusing a bomb.

“Put the device back on the keypad.”

I watch as the digital numbers on Freya’s hacking tool blur and flip. Suddenly, I hear an electronic click.

“We good?”

“Golden, baby,” she says, grinning audibly. “Your turn. To quote Ru Paul, don’t fuck it up.”

I roll my eyes. “Bitch.”

I pull out the earpiece out and slip in my electronic headphones so I can have both ears tuned to the clicking. I taught myself this old-school cracking technique long before I met Freya, and fourteen years later, I’m a fucking pro…if I do say so myself.

I clamp the stethoscope part of the listening device to the front of the safe, and the whole world goes silent around me. I love this moment, just me and the lock I’m trying to open. I let my pulse slow; let my breathing deepen as I tune into the slight clicking of the dial.

The first number falls into place with a metallic drop. Then the next. I smile to myself as I slowly go back around the dial.

Number three clicks into place.

I’m fucking in.

Pulling the headphones off, my pulse heats as I turn the handle and pull the heavy safe door open to claim my prize.

Then my heart drops as I stare into the completely empty safe.

What. The. Fuck.

Damian’s intel is never wrong. Ever. Not once in the years I’ve worked with him; he’s meticulous like that.

I can feel my pulse quickening as I reach for the earpiece again. Even before I bring it to my ear, I can hear the frantic muffled sound of Freya’s voice coming out of it.

“—RIGHT FOR YOU!!!”

Her voice screams into my ear.

“Frey!” I hiss. “We have a prob?—”

“RUN!!!”

Something cold rips up my spine.

“KENZO IS?—”

---