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“I think the light did burn out,” I said. “Could you check it, please? I need to get changed.” I pushed open the cottage door.
Just inside, I nervously noted the pile of stripped clothing I’d made minutes earlier. The two white masks were close by. I walked in and hurriedly kicked the devil mask under the couch, then bent over to retrieve the clothes and the wolf mask.
Anyone paying attention up to this point should be wondering how this guard snuck up on me. Believe me, I wondered, as I anticipated hearing his footsteps on the stairs leading up to the deck behind me. But there wasn’t so much as a whisper from him, a squeak or a squawk from the wood decking itself. Still, I felt his movement, sensed his presence through my gift, as he came toward the house. But I deliberately closed the cottage door without a glance in the guard’s direction and pretended to not notice anything unusual.
This was something new, and I’ll admit, it excited me. I knew I’d figure out the cause in short order, but I had to set the stage first, and do it quickly.
I hoped to buy myself time, and to my relief the guard didn’t knock on the door or call out. I risked a glance through the small window at the top of the door and could make him out as he reached for the exterior light’s glass enclosure. He’d soon discover the bulb wasn’t burnt out, assuming he bothered to unscrew it and give things a shake.
A small screech of metal-on-metal, and I knew this was it—unless I somehow altered things and fast. I also noted the noise he made. Whatever his ninja aspect was, evidently it didn’t apply to his hands.
Beyond that first nervous appraisal, and all my efforts to avoid eye contact, my brain ultimately registered one more critical point about this guy.
He was wearing a tux.
I turned on the shower, then went back into the living area and closed the bathroom door behind me.
Then there was the wolf mask. I wore it and swung the front door open again. The guard quit twisting the light bulb and gave me a surprised glance.
“I bet there are bulbs in here somewhere,” I said. It was easy to talk below the half-mask of the wolf.
The guard smiled crookedly. “You’re right, sir.” Light from inside streamed past me enough to glint off the man’s blue eyes. He wasn’t quite my height, but he was big.
Big enough, I decided. I needed pants.
He took two steps into the guest house and then, just as I’d feared, looked around and said, “Excuse me for having to ask, sir, but isn’t there another VIP here?”
I responded with as much calm and pomposity as I could muster and thumbed my hand at the bathroom. “No, that’s quite all right. He’s taking a shower.”
The guard gave me a sheepish half-grin then nodded. “Ah. Yes, sir. I’ll just find those bulbs and be on my way.” He moved to the kitchenette in the corner and then opened cupboard doors below the countertop.
I could have taken my chances then, clobbered him from behind with a table lamp or something, but I opted against more unnecessary violence. There was no telling how wired this guy was, how many alarms he could set off. Not to mention there was still the peculiar way he moved that needed figuring out.
I was curious. It was like watching a video with the sound off every time the man took a step. Surely those he worked for would have noted this amazing ability.
Then I knew.
This was innate. It had to be an artifice controlled by some object, or some natural or, yes, I’d gotten used to the idea, a supernatural condition.
I really was intrigued. I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask. “How do you move so silently? I mean, I’m not imagining that, right?”
The blue-eyed guard chuckled, closed a cupboard door then turned. He held a fresh light bulb in one hand.
“You’re not crazy, sir. Only, I’m not at liberty to discuss it. Security protocols. You understand?”
I understood perfectly, but I wasn’t satisfied. I focused my mind on the man and looked straight into his eyes from about eight feet away.
Again, I had no real idea what I was doing. No control yet. I simply went with it and let my feelings flow. In seconds, I was rewarded with an awareness that the air in the room had changed—like a crackle that might snap if it were a taught string. But this ‘string’ was the energy that moved between my mind and the guard’s.
I risked a command with a deliberate tone. “You can tell me. I’m sure I’m important enough that nobody will mind.”
To my amazement—and relief—the guard responded to my Jedi mind trick like my newest, best friend in the whole, wide world. “I’m not sure why, but you’re right,” he said, then his face relaxed. The guard swapped the light bulb to his left hand and then placed his right inside his collar and fished out a silver chain necklace. Hooked onto the chain was a silver icon in the shape of an old weather vane. A bird perched on its top, but it wasn’t a rooster. It resembled a crow or possibly a raven.
I pressed my luck. It’s what I do.
“I’m confused. That? It’s a shiny necklace, sure, but...”
The guard puffed up and for a millisecond I thought I’d blown it, but then he replied, “It’s a gift. From the Lady.” He emphasized ‘lady’ as if that answer cleared up the entire affair.
Obviously, I didn’t get it, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
Silana had warned me for a reason about her sister. Not a coincidence. The reverence with which this man held his silver bauble. The occult nature of it. The elemental symbolism.
“Ah, the Lady. Say no more,” I said and smiled.
Then I did something really dumb. Well, dumber than normal. I asked, “Can I hold it, please?”
The guard’s eyes shifted away from the necklace and straight to mine. The ‘string’ between our minds gave a tug as his brows dropped into a glower. “No,” he answered.
I wasn’t done. “I’ll give it straight back. I just want a closer look at the craftsmanship,” I lied and pleaded.
The blue-eyed guard carefully placed his necklace back inside the collar of his tux, shifted his stance, then dropped his right hand under his left shoulder.
Our ‘string’ snapped, and I sensed nothing at all from the guard after that. Not that I didn’t know what would happen next with plain old eyes and ears.
There wasn’t time to consider. I rushed the guard and brought up my fist into the air like a mallet. He looked surprised. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was that he didn’t expect me to anticipate his move. Didn’t think I’d attack. Or it was just how fast I moved for a big man. Maybe it was the pop the light bulb made on the floor when he let it slip.
Once more, I was full of energy, overflowing with a fresh jolt of adrenaline. My fist swung down.
And missed.
The guard rolled to his right and came up deftly to his feet.
I was impressed. And a tad humbled.
The big man went for his shoulder holster again. If he got his gun free and fired off a shot, I was as good as dead. Either from him or from the horde of security that would surely descend onto the lake house.
I didn’t fully lose my balance when my punch failed to connect, but it left me in an awkward position that ensured another charge would be too slow. I had to stop him from getting his weapon free.
To my right, I pulled what I presumed was an obscenely expensive stainless-steel espresso machine off of the kitchenette countertop. It wasn’t crafted to be wielded in such a manner—just imagine—and there was a ripping of metal and loud snaps from the wall as I tore the appliance away from the counter and hurled it.
The poor bastard got a machine pistol out of his shoulder holster and was swinging it in my direction when I watched his eyes go wide as a combination of stainless steel, spilling coffee grounds, and water smashed into his chest.
The impact landed with a sickening crunch.
The guard’s muscled body flew past the entrance door, crashed through a wooden chair and ended up propped into the corner of the room. There was blood on the wall from where his head had impacted. His stunned face looked at the ceiling briefly before his eyes rolled closed, and he collapsed in a heap toward the floor, pulling a long brush of red along with him.
It left the wall cracked and dented.
I blinked a few times in awe and horror at what I’d just done.
My senses returned, and I ran over to examine the mess. The guard’s machine pistol had dropped quietly out of his hand without firing a shot. He wasn’t breathing. I’d crushed his sternum, the espresso machine lodged in the cavity it formed on impact. I could make out a bulletproof vest beneath his tux shirt where buttons had popped open or torn away. There was almost no blood except for where his skull smashed.
I knew I was strong, but this—this was otherworldly power. I struggled for a few moments with the concept. I almost triggered my hidden comm unit to ask Silana and Conrad what had happened, but thought better of it, and instead pushed the guard flat on the floor to remove his tux coat, pants and necklace.
He had a cell phone in a pocket. I didn’t dare turn it off. Odds were someone would call, and just as likely it was being tracked via GPS. I didn’t have his security code to get into the phone, but I could set it to silent mode.
I risked another look out the entrance’s peep window. All still appeared clear. I opened the door then stepped outside onto the wooden deck, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. I sensed no one nearby and didn’t feel eyes on me. That would have to do.
I got dressed, including Devil’s cloak, turned off the shower, made damned sure I wasn’t sporting any blood on myself and then wrapped the guard’s body in a blanket I’d found in a closet. I straightened up the kitchenette, replacing the espresso machine but was unable to reconnect it to the mangled wall from where I’d ripped it. I kicked the shards of the broken bulb into an alcove to the side of the stove. I also checked the machine-pistol’s full magazine before shoving the gun into the small of my back.
The blood smeared on the wall was another problem, but I dragged a bookshelf over that. I knew any security worth a damn would figure out something was wrong, but all I needed was enough time to get to Vicki and get the hell out.
Once more, I checked the guest house exit, and with the exterior light still off, I slunk down the deck stairs with the guard’s body and his phone.
The phone I tossed into the rowboat moored to the docks beneath the house. I shoved the body under a tarp that was meant for firewood, out of the way and in no immediate line of sight. Damned near made to order.
Then I untied the rowboat and shoved it out onto the big pond. It scooted with a rippling wake, taking the guard’s phone toward the center of the water.
I’d wasted too much time. I brushed off the sleeves of my stolen tux, walked calmly back to the house, and switched the exterior light back on.
The roll I’d made from my leathers still lay on the floor of the boathouse. Not only did I not want to throw them away, I also knew it would be stupid to leave my DNA at the scene of my growing list of crimes. So, I scooped up the roll, made sure the house was closed tight, then went down to the edge of the woods.
“Sky, you there?”
“I am,” Sophie replied.
I tucked my GPS into the roll. “I’ve got a package for you. I’m putting my tracker inside and will try to make it easy for you to find, but in this dark...well, no guarantees. Can you grab it?”
“I can carry up to a twenty-five-pound load in this current unit and fly, but are you sure your GPS would not be better kept on your person?”
“Y‘all know where I’m at. I’m taking a big chance walking into this place armed. I’d rather leave as little behind as possible and doubt you’d be able to find this stuff without the electronics, am I wrong?”
There was a few seconds pause. “No, you are not wrong. There is still the possibility I could trigger radar or laser trips, but considering you apparently have not—”
“Means that this little valley and pond should be safe for you to reach. Just fly low and I’ll try to throw this package as far as I can to the south. Hold on.” I placed a suitably large rock from the pond’s beach into the ‘package.’ My boots I still wore.
Making like a quarterback, I moved up onto solid ground, planted my right foot, brought my left hand down to my hip and heaved.
The roll soared up and out over the nearest treetops until I lost sight of it.
Some seconds later I heard snapping branches, the rattle of leaves, then a distant thump.
Guards wouldn’t find that bundle anytime soon, even if Sophie didn’t retrieve it.
I thumbed the comm again. “It’s away.”
“I see the signal. Won’t take me long,” Sophie replied.
“Good. Thanks.”
My wolf mask had remained on through the entire ordeal. I looked up at the Moon, tinged in red, then I huffed out a low chuckle.
Pure insanity.
I adjusted my mask. “I’m heading to the party. Wish me luck.”