Page 468 of Shadowblood Souls
I smile. “Good call. That’s perfect.”
As I retrieve the package from my bag, Zian pulls out a few of the books to make room for me to slide it into place. I tuck it behind the rest of the row, he replaces the removed books, and I run my fingers over their tops to confirm that the package won’t be seen poking up over them.
For now, the package is as literally invisible as we are. But from the recent experimenting Andreas has done with his powers, he said Matteo has determined that if he uses a softtouch, the invisibility will fade within several hours without him needing to intervene.
I step back to take in the wider view and raise one of my wrists to my mouth. “First bookcase on the left, four shelves up,” I whisper to the manacle.
Balthazar wanted confirmation of where exactly we left his little present.
The job is done. We could leave now. But as I turn around, my gaze lingers on the desk—the papers and folders piled in the stacked desk trays off to one side, the laptop closed on the thin mat in the middle.
There’s no hope in hell of me hacking this guy’s computer password, but the documents he’s been dealing with might give us more of a clue of his recent activities. Activities that could have prompted Balthazar’s hostility.
I’ve got to take my chances when I can.
Zian says nothing while I guide some of the papers out of the top rack. I shuffle through them carefully, making sure to keep them in their original order.
None of it tells me anything enlightening. They’re reports full of numbers and abbreviations I don’t know, followed by a few memos that sound like mundane business-speak, not anything controversial.
Gritting my teeth, I set those back and grasp the stack from the next tray down.Come on, there’s got to be some little tidbit…
I flip open a folder and find that tidbit—but not at all the way I expected it.
The page on top is a color printout of an article about innovations in clean energy. And right below the headline is a graphic I recognize.
It’s the stylized wave and cloud symbol I saw in one of the photos in the scrapbook I assumed his wife put together. Themetal fixture that Balthazar looked so proud of, attached to the front of a building.
My eyes dart over the page, squinting against the dimness. It’s a business logo—StreamCycle Enterprises, the tech giant that’s long been the forerunner in the energy revolution…
Does Balthazar work for that company—ownit? He’s got to be making the money to maintain that villa and all his vehicles and staff somehow.
I lean closer, wanting to absorb every scrap of information I can out of the article—and Zian grabs my arm.
In the instant as I freeze, the noise his sharp ears must have picked up reaches mine too. A distant but steady hiss of footsteps over carpet.
It’s getting louder even in the few seconds I’m listening to it. And it’s heading this way.
My heart lurches. I duck down by the desk, feeling Zian move with me.
The footsteps thump closer. Is it a security guard? Or an employee?
What if it’s Rodney Milner himself, come to do some urgent late-night work?
He won’t be able to see us—but I left the papers out on the top of the desk. If anyone comes in, they could realize we were here.
Another flare of panic races through me, twanging in the base of my throat. I adjust my position to dart upright and shove the papers back into place, but in the same moment, the floor creaks just outside the office door.
My body tenses, a quiver of power shivers up my spine—and a choked yelp breaks through the door.
A shard of agony wafts into me in the same moment.
Oh, shit. I hurt him—I used my power with my mind without even realizing it.
Drowning under a deluge of icy horror, I lock down my hunger for pain with all the will I can bring to bear.
What did I do to him? I was too startled by my panicked reaction to get a clear sense of the injury before I absorbed its impact.
We weren’t supposed to leave any mark.
