Page 24 of Mastering Mayhem

Her gaze darted about the room, her brows drawing inward until deep wrinkles formed above the bridge of her nose. “I can’t stay in here. I have… I have a job to do.”

Ember closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. “We don’t have time for this to turn into an Agatha Christie novel.” She looked at me. “What should we do?”

I had no answer of which the team would approve.

“At least we have food. It could be a long night, so we might as well settle in.” Hazel shoved her phone into her pocket, her nervous expression contrasting the calmness of her words.

“You have to find a way out,” Ash said. “Miles is tapping into your phones to track you, and then he’ll guide you to the amulet.”

“The—” Ember began before making a face at me. We couldn’t speak freely while Hazel remained within earshot.

“How’s your vim?” Shade asked, sensing the issue. “It must be draining to use your active power of seeing through shadow for so long.”

Hazel laughed dryly. “Right? I’ll have to sleep for three days to recover.”

With Shade distracting the guard dog, Ember and I stepped away and settled at a small table far from the crowd and any other prying ears.

“There are armed guards at all the exits,” Ember whispered. “We aren’t going anywhere without causing a scene.”

“Perhaps a scene is exactly what we need.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “If the crowd were to break out in a mass panic, we could slip out the door during their distraction.”

“Absolutely not.” Ember laid her hand on mine, stopping my drumming.

“That could work,” Ash said, at least one sister agreeing with me.

“How many people would we inadvertently kill if Mayhem did his thing in here? For once, violence isn’t the answer.” Ember squeezed my fingers and let them go. “We can’t make these people start fighting each other, especially not with all the assault rifles in the room.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” I asked.

“Both. As much as I’d loved to kick some ass right now, we can’t be the cause of anyone else’s death. I’m done leaving a trail of bodies in our wake.”

Aclunksounded from above, and the chandelier rattled, turning lopsided before swinging violently from its base. A shimmering disturbance dropped to the floor, and a man let out a gurgling scream.

I rose to my feet. “It appears we have our distraction.”

9

EMBER

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I shouted over the blood-curdling screams as I scanned the room, searching for anything I could use as a weapon.

“It’s the fae. They’re here for the amulet.” Shade said as he rushed toward me.

“No shit, Captain Obvious.” I grabbed a handful of fruit kabobs from the buffet, but the wooden skewers were as light as balsa sticks. If steel broke upon impact with giant insect armor, these would turn to splinters. I shoved a melon ball into my mouth and tossed the rest into a yogurt bowl.

“What is happening?” Hazel pressed a hand to her chest and backed up until she smacked the wall. Her gaze bounced around the room, her brow furrowing in concentration as if she were attempting to see through shadows that didn’t exist.

“Those are fae.” A growl rumbled from Mayhem’s chest, and his talons protruded from his fingertips.

I grasped his hands, covering his built-in Freddy Krueger knives, and whispered, “Put those away, Wolverine.”

He growled again, but he did as I asked. “We have no weapons.”

“Yes, we do.” Shade tossed me a butter knife he’d snagged from the buffet. It had a rounded tip and a dull blade, but it was better than the fruit skewer I’d found.

“What the hell?” a man shouted.

“I can’t see them,” another one said.

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