Page 100 of Victoria's Discovery

When the doors opened on the twelfth floor, Victoria expected Snitch to shake his head, indicating Thegan hadn’t been there. Instead, he gave a low trill and flew off her shoulder.

Heart leaping into her throat, she watched as he hovered for a moment before taking off to the right. Vi’kail was right behind him, moving in a fast, crouched walk with a blade in his hand, head on a swivel.

She hadn’t even known he was armed and couldn’t quite decide if the weapon made her feel better or added to her unease that he thought he might need it.

Thorn made a quiethuss, his version of shushing, before she could run after them, reminding her she needed to be quiet. Nodding jerkily, she drew in a calming breath and called on the training she’d gotten.

Focusing on expanding her senses, she strained to pick up the slightest sounds while forcing herself to slow down, walking in a rolling heel-to-toe motion to keep her steps silent.

They went down one hallway after another, following the scent trail, before Snitch paused, prompting them all to stop. She recognized this area. This was near the storage room to which she and Vi’kail had followed Catty. She knew he recognized it too when he glanced back at her with raised brows.

Confusion bled into her fear. Had Thegan seen Catty do something suspicious and decided to follow her? He knew about her and Vi’kail doing so, as well as the bad vibe she got from the female. Was that why he hadn’t answered his comm? Maybe, but that didn’t explain why the computer hadn’t been able to locate him.

Coming alongside Vi’kail, she whispered, “Is there surveillance on this floor?”

“There should be. It could be turned off being that it’s storage, but I mentioned your concerns for the female to Rellik. He said he’d check with the computer to get a report on her movements.”

“Shit. He probably didn’t have time, or it slipped his mind. He’s going with Aria tonight.”

Aside from preparations for the assault, she knew he’d also been preoccupied with wooing Aria, so it was more than possible he’d forgotten, but she kept that thought to herself.

After a moment, Snitch landed and began sniffing the floor, moving slower now as he led them deeper into the maze of hallways and passages on the twelfth floor.

Victoria was still trying to puzzle through why Thegan would be up there. It had to be related to Catty. Nothing else made sense. Sure, he could’ve run up here to grab something from one of the storage rooms, but that didn’t account for the amount of time he’d been missing.

Had he been caught snooping? Victoria recalled the men that had been with Catty the last time she saw her. They were big and looked like fighters, but Thegan was massive and strong and a damn good fighter himself. Could he take on those four males? She would’ve thought so, but his disappearance suggested the answer might be no.

Down another hallway, more turns, more minutes ticking by as Victoria tried and failed to stop her mind from conjuring up worst-case scenarios. Where was he? Was he okay? Was he hurt? Or worse?

Please, please, let him be okay.

Eventually, they came upon an area devoid of light, like someone had shut down this part of the floor, surprising them enough that they stopped in their tracks.

Exchanging a look, they slowed down further, the guys closing ranks around her while Snitch went invisible. She didn’t have to wonder how they’d follow him if they couldn’t see him. Vi’kail and Thorn both moved with the same slow, silent surety as if they had some way of tracking him that she didn’t.

Just before they entered the dark area, Thorn slid something into her hand. It was a long, curved dagger about the length of her forearm, made of matte black metal that almost seemed to absorb the light instead of reflecting it.

Victoria frowned up at him, a denial on her lips, even as her fist automatically tightened on the hilt. She wasn’t upset he was giving her a blade. She felt immediately better knowing she had a way to protect herself. But she didn’t want him to be unarmed. If one of them was going to wield a dagger, it should be him.

Before she could give it back, he gave a short shake of his head and showed her the much larger dagger in his opposite hand.

Blowing out a silent breath, she nodded and switched her grip, so the spine was against her forearm, the tip of the blade pointed toward her elbow. The weight of it in her hand felt comfortable and helped slow her frantic heartbeat. She may suck at hand-to-hand combat, but she’d done surprisingly good with blade work in training classes.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the inky darkness shrouding the hallway, but once they did, she saw that the walls were lined with crates, narrowing the walkway until they had to move in single file.

After a few minutes Vi’kail held up a hand, signaling for them to stop. Leaning around him, she spotted Snitch visible again and sniffing at a door. Thorn and Vi’kail moved seamlessly as a team, each taking up positions on either side.

Moving up to stand behind Thorn, she set her hand on the screen. As Aria’s Vice President, her biometrics were programmed to open most any door in the complex.

Except, apparently, this one.

Frowning, she lifted her hand when it flashed yellow, denying entry, and tried again with the same result.

She heard Vi’kail grunt before she caught the sound of rustling. He and Thorn switched sides so Vi’kail was standing in front of her on the side with the screen. Between the dark and his broad back, she couldn’t see what he did, but after a couple of minutes, the door hissed open.

Impressed and a little shocked at how quickly he’d broken into—hacked?—what was supposed to be high tech security, Victoria blinked up at the back of his head, wondering what else he could do that she didn’t know about.

Probably a whole hell of a lot.

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