Page 93 of Even Angels fall
“Where did you get all of this?” I ask her, and I can’t keep the wonder out of my voice. If everything is accurate, and I believe it is, based on the information about my own building, this means we have a way into Versailles’ palace. We might have a way to stop her father, if this wasn’t planted with fake information just to trick us.
“Ariël, my etiquette teacher, gave it to me the day I left, with a cryptic,‘Not everything is as it seems,’which he managed to say without even opening his lips. It made me feel like it was a secret code and that he had to be careful because people were watching us. So, I don’t know what it’s worth. It might be fake, for all I know. Or he’s a spy and gave me everything he knew in hopes that I would free the world,” Angélique finishes flippantly. “I’m no savior, that’s for sure.”
“I’ll give it to Luc. He’s the most tech-savvy of my men. He’ll know if we can trust this,” I tell her as I grab her hip. We need to get going, and that won’t be possible without a shower. Not that I mind my wife parading around smelling like me, but it ought to get sticky and uncomfortable for her at some point.
“Not that F girl that came for Léandre?” she asks me, surprised. “I thought she was the best or something.”
“Or something,” I answer. It wasn’t supposed to be her. Stéphane should have been the one coming to our rescue, but she seemed to be competent, so I won’t bother the old mechanic about the fact that he sent someone else instead of coming himself.
“I don’t trust her enough to give her this. I would really prefer if that media key stayed with someone I know. At least until I know if it’s real or bogus.”
At that, Angélique nods and doesn’t ask any other questions, so I circle her hips and force her to come with me to the shower.
61
Angélique
Ithought the shower was just another way to get us to have sex, but Elhyor actually behaved. In just a few minutes, we were both clean and ready to start our day. Or as ready as one can be when they have to find a way to save their best friend and the obvious choice can’t be the one.
Not going there again.
The first thing Elhyor does when we arrive in his office is to ask Luc and Brice to come see him.
Luc comes, picks up the media key, and leaves right away. Brice stays and informs us that Cassiopé is with Léandre because she didn’t want to leave him alone. I agree with that, and I would love to be the one staying with him, but if we’re going against my father to save Léandre, I need to be here while everything is planned.
Brice and Elhyor are discussing what can be done to enter without being seen when my stomach begins to growl. It is so loud that Brice turns to me with a weird look on his face.
“You didn’t feed her this morning?” he asks his friend with a pointed look.
Come to think of it. I didn’t eat last night, either. No wonder my stomach is screaming bloody murder.
“He had breakfast,” I say pointedly, “or so he says. But he didn’t think I needed one and brought us here first thing out of the shower.”
“I see. Someone is cranky when they don’t eat,” Elhyor says with a chuckle.
“Well, I would be okay if I only missedonemeal…” I answer him.
“Wait, did you not eat yesterday?” he asks.
“The last thing that went into my mouth was the alcohol at the wedding party, and I don’t think you can count that as food,” I answer back with a saccharine smile.
I’m not ready for his answering smile, though. It’s carnal and devilish. I can read on his face exactly what he means.
That is not the last thing that went into your mouth…
I’m probably flushing at the thought, but Elhyor saves me from thinking too much about it when he picks up his holo and asks for someone in the kitchen to bring breakfast to his office.
We don’t know exactly how long we have until my father activates Léandre’s brain chip.
Time is of the essence today.
It doesn’t take long before a young guard comes to drop off coffee mugs and pastries and disappears right after.
Elhyor and Brice are discussing the blueprints of Versailles’ palace—that Elhyor saved on his holo-puter, before giving the media key to Luc. When Luc comes back, he’s wearing glasses that I don’t think I’ve seen him with since I arrived at Notre Dame. Paired with his messy blond curls, it gives him a boyish look that looks very cute on him.
Luc doesn’t knock; he just lets himself in, and the two men stop talking altogether.
“I don’t know where you got that, boss, but it’s legit. None of the files on there have been tampered with. They are originals from the archangels archives. They are fresh, too. The time stamps on them are from two weeks ago. I didn’t have time to get them all through my programs, but it’s insane what I managed to get. There are delivery hours, tracks, and even the names and addresses of everyone in the companies that deliver the food, the companies that do the cleaning, the gardens. I think there is even a list of all the people living inside of Versailles’ palace and all the buildings around. They have biometric information for everyone. Fingerprints, retina scans, and even ear shape prints,” Luc says in one go.
