Page 111 of Night's Fall
But he was indicating he needed space, needed to retreat to doing something he enjoyed, like work, and my instinct told meIneeded to let him make that play.
Thus,Irounded the desk and knew how upset and distracted he was because that was all we did.
A quick kiss.
And thenIwent.
Chapter18
Candlelight
InsiderRSknowledge (or maybe justAntheme’s): the way she was able to “secret” people was using some of her dark fae magic to throw a glamour over me.
Strictly speaking, this was highly illegal.Youhad to register the use of a glamour so the authorities could trace any appearance you might assume back to you.
It was awesome magic, but if people could change their appearance whenever they wanted, they could rob a thousand banks (and get up to other bad stuff), and maybe never get caught.
ButIguessed it was okay for theRSto use it whenever they wanted.
This meant, that evening, even if the street had been cleared, there were still quite a number of people loitering outside the front door (and they weren’t lining up to go to thePinkandBlackClub), we were able to nip in her craft to the back door in the alley without a cavalcade of paparazzi chasing us.
And although there were others who were skulking in the alley to catch me orAlekseiout, they didn’t recognize me orAntheme(she’d glamoured herself too), as we ducked into a back-alley door.
As an aside:Iwasn’t having pleasant thoughts about all this attention.AlthoughAlekseiandItalked about it, andI’dwatched him run the gauntlet to the door to the gallery, being in the thick of it (or, more accurately, taking such care in trying not to be), was an altogether different, and alarming, thing.
Once we were in a lift that was tucked into a private vestibule that had stunning gothic damask, black and silver wallpaper and an impressive chandelier dripping with crystals (oh, and anRSagent at the entry to it), she dropped both our glamours.
“He’s programmed you in, but he wants us to test it,” she said after the doors closed. “Putyour hand on the print pad.You’llfeel a slight prick.Itreads print, but it also testsDNA.”
And this would explain why we didn’t hit the landing pad and came in at the back alley.Alekseiwanted to test to make sureIcould get up to his penthouse without delay.
I glanced at the silver plate gleaming against the matte black of the lift interior.
“Are you serious?”Iasked.
She nodded shortly, all business, which was whatI’dlearned that day wasAntheme.
“Also blood oxygen and adrenaline levels so if someone cut off your hand, dragged your dead body in here or forced your hand to the plate under duress, it’d know you weren’t actually the one operating the lift.”
I’d never heard of tech like that.Iwas impressed.
And boy, one could saythatwas thorough.
I put my hand on the pad, felt a minor prick, and almost instantly, my stomach dropped due to the speed with which the lift started racing up.
“Nifty,”Imuttered.
“Secure,” she replied.
Mm-hmm.
All business.
“Thanks for looking after me today,”Isaid.
“I’d say you’re welcome, butIget paid a lot to do it.I’vebeen made head of your detail, so now,Iget paid a lot more thanIused to.Thismeans, if you keep thanking me, you’re going to be saying that to me every day.”
“Right,”Imumbled.
