Page 172 of Heartless Legacy

I hurry down the backstairs and find her in the dean’s home office. I dart into the powder room across from it to watch. Biting down on my knuckle to keep back a moan when she cracks his safe, leaving it slightly ajar so that he’ll question if someone opened it or if he just forgot to close it. Next, she pulls a book off of his bookshelf and flips through it before returning it. She does the same with a few more. She finally grabs a book on a lower shelf and pulls what looks like a credit card out of it, then pulls a machine out of her backpack, running it over both sides of the card.

Her head whips around towards the door. I back further into the powder room. I realize it’s not my presence she’s sensing when I hear the front door close. She scrambles out the office window, while I wait for that fifth step to creek. When I hear footsteps on the floor above me, I slip out the back door and around the side of the house to hide behind the hedges.

A light comes on in an upstairs bedroom. It’s the one I hid in and belongs to bitch boy Timmy Gibson. While Thea was re-accessorizing the dean’s bedroom and bathroom, I was going through old Timmy boy’s things. I took a picture of a copy of the math midterm I found in his closet. He likes to charge people for the answers. I send a picture of the first page to a few people and make it look like it came from Tim.

Oops. How clumsy of me. I accidentally included the teacher on the Prospectus alert. Once I’m done, I hurry to the parking lot, because my gut tells me Thea’s not heading back to LJs after playing cat burglar.

I catch her as she climbs into the SUV that transports her to and from school. Rushing to the garage, I jump into my car to follow, hanging back in traffic so they don’t spot me. We drive to the industrial area of downtown LA.

I park on the corner and watch as the SUV pulls into a warehouse. Armed guards follow it inside. When I exit my car, I walk around to the back of the building and climb on top of a dumpster to get a look inside. Before I can even set my feet good, a voice says, “Why are you scurrying around back here like a little mouse?”

A red dot appears on the dumpster as I reach for my knife. The guy behind me says, “I was lying about the implant, but not about voting to kill you. Looks like we need to vote again.” He yanks me off the dumpster, and shoves me towards, and then thru the back door.

Thea takes one look at me and rolls her eyes. “Really, Finn? You just insist on trampling over my boundaries?”

I counter with, “You wouldn’t feel like I trampled over them if you were really at girl’s night like you said you’d be.”

“I didn’t lie about my plans. I hung out with LJ.”

“For what? Five minutes before you broke into Dean Gibson’s house?”

The guards move around us, ignoring our squabble. Good. Everyone in Thea’s security detail gives me the impression that they’d shoot me without hesitation and not spend a second worrying if they’d get away with it.

“So, what’s going on here?” I ask, taking it all in.

“A challenge.” Thea says, slipping on a jacket. I want to ask her another question, but I’m distracted by her outfit. My girl looks hot, all decked out in black. Deacon comes into the room, takes one look at me and shakes his head, clearly unimpressed by my presence. The guards would kill me, but Deacon would probably lead the clean-up efforts, tell Thea I ran off, andhelp her look for me knowing I’m buried under concrete at a construction site.

“What do you want to do about him?” One of the guards asks.

“Kill him.” The trigger-happy one answers.

“We’re not killing him.” Thea sighs. “Finn, you really shouldn’t have followed me.”

“Maybe, but I did and whatever you’re about to get into, I can help.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

She looks at me, unblinking, and says, “This isn’t a league challenge, Finn. I’m breaking into the Kolper Gallery.”

“Thea, if you want a private showing, I can arrange for us to have one. No crimes needed.”

“Not that gallery, and what I’m looking for is something that won’t be on a public showroom floor.” As she walks away, she asks, “You still wanna help?”

It’s a no brainer. I immediately answer, “What’s the plan?”

I sat through an hour long mission brief listening as Thea’s guards outlined the plan. This is so much more than your average prank. Pissed doesn’t adequately explain the reactionThe League is gonna have when they find out this item is missing.

“Are you sure about this, Finn?” Thea asks, sliding yet another knife into her vest. God, she’s sexy, all bladed up like this. I wonder if we have time for a little good luck sex. Deacon’s forearm slams into my chest when I take a step toward her. I give him a questioning look.

“We don’t have time for whatever you’re thinking, Finn. She asked you a question.” He says, tightening the straps on his shoulder holsters.

Question. Right. “I’ve got this, Pet. It’s a simple breaking and entering. I could do it sleep walking.”

“Yes, but if we get caught, you’ll be sanctioned.”

The card Thea cloned is Dean Gibson’s member card to a poker club. The building is listed as an overflow facility for Kolper Gallery. According to Thea, the top floor of the building is a staging site for challenge items. “Trust me, Thea, if this helps you get closer to claiming the fourth bloodline, then I’m in.”

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