Page 73 of Elven Lies

Rebecca would have to explain the fault lay with an errant Blackmoon Elf with no concept of how these things worked in this world or how to follow orders.

Likethatwould go over well.

Now more than ever, Rebecca wished Rowan wasn’t around so she could hear herself think and come up with a decent plan in solitude. She couldhearhim standing across the room, watching her, waiting for her to decide what came next.

He’d been a major annoyance since his arrival at Shade. True, he’d been playing games and driving Rebecca nuts the whole time, but never deliberately endangering what she’d attempted to do, even if his methods were unorthodox.

But now?

This little stunt of his—a misinterpretation or not—had just bumped him up from a pain in her ass to a legitimately dangerous liability.

She’d managed to ignore him before, but this would have to be officially addressed and in a way that forced Rowan to take her seriously.

Later. Right now, Rebecca had two bodies on the floor and a key in her hand.

She’d come here to open Aldous’s private storage in Nexus, and nothing would stop her from achieving that now.

Not even Rowan.

Without a word, she spun to face the door to Aldous’s vault. The blue glow had faded after her recent distraction, but when she approached it now, both the door and the key brightened again with the growing illumination that proved she was in the right place.

Ignoring Rowan somewhere behind her, she slid the key into the lock like a knife through butter for a perfect fit, then turned it in her hand.

Time to see what was so damn important that Aldous had to lock it away at a Nexus storage facility and keep it secret from the rest of Shade.

She just hoped it wasn’t something rigged to blow in the face of anyone who wasn’t Aldous.

Only when her hand slipped a little on the doorknob did she realize they’d grown clammy with the thought of what waited on the other side.

There was always a chance Aldous had emptied out his private storage vault or never used it in the first place, but more than the disappointment of finding nothing, Rebecca was more worried about whatever traps a changeling might have laid in a place like this. Aldous had never been a careful changeling, but he’d certainly been paranoid enough to put something in place.

She couldn’t help holding her breath as she turned the knob all the way and the glowing blue door swung inward to reveal the vault’s contents.

At first, after a few seconds of processing what she saw and noting a lack of explosions or other booby traps, she didn’t know what to think.

By the Blood. Aldous Corriger had been one busy son of a bitch. And here was the evidence of it, right in front of her, now in her possession. Just like everything else he’d inadvertently left her.

Bor hadn’t been lying the day he’d shared his suspicions that Aldous had been siphoning far more than a little off the top from Shade’s profits and resources during his time in command. Rebecca had had no problem believing it was possible, but now she’d found an entire room of proof.

The enormous vault behind the door was filled nearly to overflowing with valuables.

Stacks of bound cash littered the old desk against the left-hand wall, while several other piles of hundred-dollar bills covered the floor beneath the desk. Sacks bulging with coins. Mountains of gold bars along every wall. And that was just the beginning.

Against the righthand wall stood two display cases, each of their shelves laden down with so many pounds of gaudy jewelry dripping with gemstones and precious metals, it was a miracle the glass hadn’t already broken beneath the combined weight. An antique armoire in the corner, both its doors thrown open, revealed a scattered and disorganized array of expensive bespoke suits, fur coats, and black-tie attire, including ballgowns.

Rebecca was positive the changeling had never wornthose.

Everywhere she looked, priceless goods and glimmering valuables littered the floor, every item with its own inherentworth in dollar signs and practically screaming at her from every direction.

Thick Turkish rugs. Two grizzly pelts with claws and heads still intact. Original paintings of nearly every era of human art propped up against the walls or pieces of furniture, without anyone having bothered to hang them. He’d even installed a glimmering chandelier, its thousands of pieces cut from flawless crystal and casting shimmering flecks across every surface beneath the light that had switched on automatically as soon as Rebecca opened the door.

All that in the first few seconds of her exploration, and she hadn’t even taken more than two steps into the vault.

A low whistle rose behind her, and she stepped aside, unable to take her eyes off the literal treasure trove spreading out before her.

“Well I’d callthisouting a success,” Rowan muttered. “Our earlier little mix-up notwithstanding.”

“Worth it.” Rebecca blinked, wondering when the illusion would fail and she’d find what existed in this room, but it never did.

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