Page 76 of Anchor

I had heard right. A guard wearing his black uniform was pulling the door open all the way, blue light dancing at the tip of his wand, a big gun in his other hand, pointed at me.

It was over, I realized. It was over—he’d caught us.

And strangely I wasn’t even afraid.

Goddess, I wasn’t afraid, but I was thankful—so thankful and relieved for a lot of things. That Taland could do magic. That Taland was alive and well and not at all like the Taland he had been while he’d carried me through the Drainage.

ThatIwas here for that guard tocatchand not him. That I could take the fall while he hid and then got out the moment this guy took me away.

“What the…” the guard said, blinking his eyes slowly as he took another step into the room. He whispered under his breath and the light at the tip of his wand grew bigger, brighter, and it separated from the wood and hovered in the air, much like Taland’s light was doing, still near my head.

“Busted,” I said, slowly raising my hands in the air, perfectly calm. Not nervous in the least. My hands weren’t shaking, I wasn’t sweating, and I wasn’t even thinking about how I could make it out of this alive—my instincts were not to protect myself at this point. I could do that later. Right now, I just needed to get this guy out of here so Taland could run away.

“You caught me,” I added, while the guy looked around the room as if to make sure I was alone, and the sound of my voice guided his eyes back to me. “You caught me. I am all alone. I came down here to steal something, and I turned the lights and the cameras off, and I was going to just walk out, but you caught me.” I stepped closer. “What I took is in my pocket—you can search me yourself.” And once he saw that I was telling him thetruth, that I had, indeed, taken something from the Vault—the bracelet—he would have no reason to suspect I was lying.

“I won’t resist. You can take me upstairs right now.”

The guard shook his head. My stomach fell all the way to my heels—what if he didn’t believe me? What if he called for his colleagues, for a lot more guards to come search this entire room before he even let me out?

Goddess, no,I thought. I would never allow it. So, I took another step toward the doors as spells went through my mind—which one could I use against this guy right now? Which one could I use if more came running any second?

Now I had sweat on my brow, but…

“Is it just me or are you trying tosacrificeyourself to the IDD on my behalf, sweetness?”

Just like that I was back to wanting to scream my guts out again.

Instead, I grabbed my gun and pointed it at the guard, cursing under my breath. “What the hell, Taland?!” I hissed because he was out of his fucking mind. He was going to get us both killed in this room right now—he was out of his damn mind!

I was moving toward the guard slowly, and I was going to shoot him in the face the moment he moved, but…

“It’s okay, friend. She’s with me. I’m almost done.”

I blinked.

The guard shook his head again, looking at me likeIwas the crazy one here.

LikeIwas the one out of my fucking mind.

And he said, “Just move it. You only get ten minutes.”

Then he turned around and walked out of the Vault and closed the door behind him.

Just like that.

The guard walked away, left us—me, an agent who’d just admitted to theft, and Taland, a wanted fugitive—he leftusin the Vault and walked out.

My gun was still in my hands. My magic was at the ready, the spell to call up a shield around myself at the tip of my tongue, and my eyes were glued to the door still. I couldn’t blink, couldn’t look away.

Then Taland stepped in front of me, in front of my gun, so that the barrel kissed his chest right in the middle. Right where I knew his tallarose tattoo was.

He was smiling just a little. “I want to devour you like the big bad wolf,” he whispered, running his hand over the top of my gun and up to my hand. “Too bad I don’t have the time right now. Drop the gun, sweetness. And get out of here—now.”

I shook my head, but my body had a mind of its own when Taland was around, and it always obeyed his every word. So, my hands lowered and I was already putting the gun away, and my thoughts were still a bloody mess in my head as I watched him putting the empty box in its place, then zip his jacket all the way.

“You bribed the guards?” I wondered in half a voice.

“I did a little bit more than that. Come, sweetness. Let’s go.” And he was walking backward to the doors now, both hands raised toward me, that smile on his face—such a beautiful smile.

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