Page 64 of Elven Lies

“At least we’re on the right level,” Rebecca muttered, staring at the large metallic number five mounted on the wall in front of them in the same silver lettering as the Nexus sign over the building.

“Definitely a plus,” he said. “Wait, you’ve broken into one of these things beforewithouta key?”

“Yep.” Rebecca scanned the next much smaller lobby they’d entered but found no sign of company.

“How is that even possible?”

She shot Rowan a sidelong glance. “I told you. Trade secret.”

“Some tradeyouwere in.Múrg dah’lás.”

“We’re almost there.” Rebecca stepped out of the golden circle painted on the marble floor, which remained the same while everything else around them had changed. “Don’t go wandering off. If you get lost, I’m not stopping to look for you.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

The level-five lobby was quite a bit smaller, though it boasted the same decor as the entrance. The biggest difference, however, was that level five, just like every other level of a Nexus facility, had plenty more than one set of doors. None of them could be used to enter or exit the building.

Once fully out of the circle, Rebecca approached the closest door—a scratched-up slab of dark, well-oiled wood with a silver handle that matched all the others on level five. She stopped two feet away from it for a moment, then moved on to the next.

She did the same with four more doors around the circular room while Rowan trailed along after her, blessedly silent, until he couldn’t help himself any longer.

“How do you know which one you’re looking for?” he asked. “They’re all exactly the same.”

“Like I said, it’s easy if you have a key. Finding your way around Nexus vault without one is just a little more complicated. Naturally.”

“Naturally,” he said with a chuckle. “But don’t worry, I won’t infringe on trade secrets. Unless you wanna share some stories about how you—”

“Nope.”

“No. Right. Of course not.”

When Rebecca approached the sixth door around the room’s perimeter, a faint blue light flickered around the silver handle first. With every step closer, the blue light intensified and spread across the door until she stood directly in front of it, the entire thing had lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Oh,okay.” Rowan nodded and wagged a finger at the glowing door. “Very clever.”

“It’s supposed to deter theft and unlawful entry,” Rebecca muttered.

“But not if you stole somebody’s key.”

She frowned at him. “I didn’t. This one fell out of the desk that used to belong to someone else and now belongs to me. So does the key. Technically.”

“I guess you just better hope that Aldo guy didn’t write up a will that hands it all off to someone else before he kicked the bucket.”

“Since when doyouknow anything about Earthside laws and wills?”

Rowan shrugged. “Picked up a bit of light reading during my travels too. Humans really care about their stuff in this world. If you ask me, Xahar’áhsh could learn a thing or two about the—”

“Stop,” she muttered, taking a small step backward away from the door.

“No, I’m serious,” Rowan continued. “When it comes to inheritance on any real large scale—”

“Rowan, shut up,” Rebecca hissed and turned to scan the rest of level five.

“Aw, don’t get all old-school on menow. After all you’ve done to buck tradition and turn everything we know and love on its head, you’re thelastperson to care about changing the old laws for—”

Rebecca lunged toward him and clapped a hand over his mouth before whispering, “Just shut up for two seconds.”

His hazel eyes widened at her, and she felt a smile blooming on his lips beneath her hand.

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