Page 120 of The Succubi's Choice

“It’s much easier.”

Now in her uniform, she starts to feel something...different. Strange. A kind of eagerness, a kind of thrill in her bones, a kind of chaos that feels...right.

“Thomas will clear your ID to get in without issues, but that won’t be easy to maintain,” he says, again, like Thomas hadn’t just shown her exactly how he’s going to do it. “I’ll text you if anything comes up, if anything happens, but everyone who actually knows you should be...elsewhere.”

It’s like now that she knows what she’s going to do and that she’s on the course for her life changing forever, that she can’t wait for it to happen. That she’s not going to have to report all her hunting, that she’s not going to be tracked, that no one can decide she’s worthy of arrest or torture or or…

Or threaten her friend’s livelihood without her knowledge.

“Yeah let’s do this,” she says.

He grips her arms and there’s a tug of air and a tug behind her navel...and they’re in an alleyway only a few brief blocks away from the Organization.

The rune against her rib cage briefly burns hot, reassuring, a small distraction from the stink and the air chill around them.

“The teleportation barrier is one building over,” he says, as if she is judging him. “I’d get you closer, but...”

She leans forward, wrapping her arms around him, and he falls silent.

“I’ll be done before you know it, and I’ll just catch an Uber back,” she jokes, before seeing his face screw up at the thought.

“Once it’s unplugged, the runes should go down, and I can absolutely teleport in,” he says, as if it’s a personal affront. “Be safe,” he presses a kiss against the crown of her head, then turns and disappears, leaving her with the lasting impression that he is scared shitless.

“Well, that’s comforting,” she mumbles, wiping her sweaty palms against her khakis and setting off on a brisk walk.

It’s downtown, she knows it well, though she is much more used to approaching it from the underground parking garage, and more used to walking with Lundy or Katya. Being guided in, as someone who needs to be supervised.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket, and she gives herself the time to breathe, the time to pull it out, the time to calm her hands.

K (8:21 PM): This is K. Are you safe?

She breathes hard, through her nose, at it, before thumbing a response.

MIRI (8:22 PM): I’m safe.

K (8:22 PM): Good.

K (8:23 PM): Vincente intercepted Jacqueline today. She checked in with Gabriel after, but we don’t know where she is now. Gabriel’s checking with her family, but they haven’t seen her today. I’m checking the college.

Miri blinks at the phone, then looks up at the skyscraper obscured sky.

MIRI (8:25 PM): I’ll see what I can do.

K (8:25 PM): They blocked Gabriel’s phone from calling you.

And that sounds about right, and a small part of her solidifies into something ugly.

MIRI (8:26 PM): They’ve taken Jacqueline. Can you find her?

BLOCKED NUMBER (8:26 PM): I’ll have Thomas keep an eye out in the system.

And it’s just non-committal enough that she shoves her phone into her pocket, and steps onto the sidewalk from the alley.

She knows it’s not true, she knows it’s her paranoia, but her skin crawls with attention. Even though she’s been here so many times, even though she knows the camera system isn’t terribly advanced, she can just feel herself being watched.

She shrugs into herself, makes herself smaller, makes herself unnoticeable. With her polo and her khakis, tries to be as unwatchable as possible. Her blending in doesn’t prevent cameras from seeing her, but maybe...maybe it can camouflage herself enough so the person watching the feed won’t pick her up.

If they even know what they’re looking for.

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