Page 26 of The Twilight Theft

Again, I wanted to snark at him or tease him about the way he was talking like it was some magical fairyland.What romantic sap’s stolen your body, Drew?

Instead, I took an even larger bite of my pastry and scanned the restaurant’s exterior. As we descended the stairs, a drop of at least twenty feet, the building’s profile became more imposing. Four stories grew to five, but the walls weren’t smooth. Around the square, protrusions and balconies dotted the second and third floors. Plenty of handholds to go up, not far to fall if you made a poor choice, and each balcony meant additional access.

I mentally reviewed the floor plan.

The ground floor was under construction, being converted into a whiskey bar. Mosaic took up the second and third floors, with a multi-tiered patio climbing gradually from ground level outside up to the restaurant’s main floor. Above that, two floors of offices. The restaurant walls facing the square and the river were floor-to-ceiling windows with too many doors. “They’ll have a lot of security working the doors and the ground-level patios, won’t they?”

“They will.”

“Numbers?”

“Wyatt and Scarlett will have the head count once they’re finished. There’ll be at least one person near each door and others floating through the crowd.”

As I stepped off the bottom stair, I ran into his outstretched hand. A kid darted in front of us on a scooter—I’d been too preoccupied with the upper floors. Drew didn’t budge, just watched the kid go by, with the back of his hand against my abdomen. I didn’t move either. I was frozen mid-chew, with the ant army skittering over my skin again.

I took a step back.Chew your food, girl.

Drew continued talking like nothing had happened. “But each of the special pieces in the banquet room will have their own security. Liana’s been tight-lipped on those details.”

I nodded, bracing my water bottle against my body, fumbling to open it with my free hand. The croissant wasn’t going down my throat properly.

He took the food from me, carefully wrapped it in its napkin like he was doing me a favor, and I gulped down a third of the bottle.

That’s better.Now move. Do something. Clear your head.“I need to check out the roof.”

“The roof?” His brows pulled down behind his sunglasses so I couldn’t see them, but his tone was obvious.There goes crazy Jayce again, he must have been thinking.

“Yeah.” I held out my water bottle, which he took under his arm. “But I need to see it close up.”

Enough people milled around that anything truly bizarre would be too much of a spectacle to be suspicious.

I strode across the square, craning my neck up as I visualized my path. The first floor would be easy. Hop onto a tall concrete planter, one foot onto the pillar next to it, spring back, grab the edge of the awning—it looked sturdy enough—and a simple kip would have me on top with access to the second-floor balcony.

From there? I’d figure it out once I was on the second floor. But there were lots of architectural details I’d be able to use as foot and handholds.

Or I’d look like I didn’t know what I was doing.

Andthatwas not about to happen.

I took a few steps toward the restaurant with Drew, then removed one shoe, a few more steps, and the other shoe. I curled my toes against the paving bricks, dragging along the gap between a red and white stone with my right foot. “Nice and warm, just the way I like it.”

“What are you doing?”

We made an even more entertaining sight now. Him with his fancy nitrogen coffee, my water bottle under his arm, and my croissant in his hand; me enjoying being out of shoes.

I took the croissant back and scarfed down the last few bites—just what I needed—and handed him my black sneakers. “Hold on to these for me.”

“There’s broken glass over there.” Drew jutted his chin toward a garbage can nearby.

“Kevlar.” I extended my leg so he could see the gold threads woven into the bottom of my socks.

“Will design those for you?”

I nodded, pulling my knee to my chest for a stretch. “He thinks of everything.”

“Still, you should be wearing shoes when you meet Gideon.”

“Meh.” I stretched the other knee and bounced on the balls of my feet a few times. “They’ll appreciate my thoroughness more than they’ll care about my footwear.”