the
master bedroom should definitely be a safe area. We were told that the security
system as a whole would be turned off so we wouldn’t be given false alarms.”
“Interestingly, what the Tiens did say in the
briefing was that if the house was breached internally ‘we’d know’ about it.
The comment was strange, but it could just be their different pattern of speech
and my rampant paranoia raising its head,” Blade cautioned them.
“But you think there might be other internal security we’re
not aware of?” Liv guessed.
Blade nodded, his dark head bobbing seriously.
Liv swallowed hard and looked at Kelly, Matt and finally at
Julian. Their eyes met and held and she could have sworn his soft gray eyes
gently reassured her and told her not to worry, that they’d deal with anything
this mission threw at them.
“Well,” Kelly said briskly as a slightly morose silence fell
over the booth. “No job is ever easy. And this will just be sure to keep us on
our toes, which we’ll need to be anyway. Upward of two hundred rich, bejeweled
guests will be filling that huge mansion, and we’re not exactly on the
so-called ‘golden guest list’. We’ll just have to use caution and make certain
nothing happens to draw us to their attention.”
“The other interesting point,” Blade interjected, apparently
just having thought of it, “is that strictly speaking the second floor is also
off-limits to guests. Gilroy and Philyra will be making semi-frequent rounds
and patrolling that area. They’re supposed to gently remind curious folk who go
up to find a spare bedroom, or just a dark corner to fuck like rabbits in, that
they’re not supposed to be up there.”
“Which means the Tiens probably think that even though the
area is off-limits guests will still go up there,” Flame added. “They’re using
Gilroy and Philyra as a first line of defense to weed people out of the second
floor.”
“So we will need to make plans to circumnavigate them?”
Kelly asked as she pulled pen and paper from her handbag to make notes. Liv
watched as Matt laid a hand gently on her wrist to stop her.
“Gilroy and Philyra are…” Matt trailed off as he searched
for the right words. After a moment, when neither Blade nor Flame offered to
assist him, he continued. “They’re Enforcers, yes, but they are politically
appointed Enforcers. They are from rich, very old-school wizarding families
and they are the people assigned to the political balls, the charity
fund-raisers and those sorts of missions. They mingle well with their own kind
and know all the socially acceptable things to say to put the elite at ease and
make sure they don’t worry about a few armed security guards at such a swanky
dinner.”
“They get a secret little thrill when they tell their
cronies at the tennis club that they work for law and order and are Enforcers,”
Flame finished. “They never get their hands dirty and while they have their
talents, I can guarantee you that after their first few boring rounds up on the
second floor, they’ll be busy mingling with their friends down at the dinner
and decide to wait until the festivities have started to break up before going
back up there and evicting those having their trysts.”
“So they’re a low-risk problem?” Liv confirmed.
Both Blade and Flame nodded.
“I’d keep them in mind and watch out for them, but since
you’re planning on waiting until about halfway through the dinner, I think the
chances of you running into them are slim,” Flame agreed.
Liv and Kelly made a note of this in their notebooks and
they all looked at each other to see if there was anything else. An eager
silence settled between them and Liv could feel the anticipation of the evening
start to sing through her blood. It was similar to what she felt before a big
Retrieval, but it was also different at the same time.
Julian caught her eye across the booth and they shared a
wild grin. In a few hours she would be with this
master bedroom should definitely be a safe area. We were told that the security
system as a whole would be turned off so we wouldn’t be given false alarms.”
“Interestingly, what the Tiens did say in the
briefing was that if the house was breached internally ‘we’d know’ about it.
The comment was strange, but it could just be their different pattern of speech
and my rampant paranoia raising its head,” Blade cautioned them.
“But you think there might be other internal security we’re
not aware of?” Liv guessed.
Blade nodded, his dark head bobbing seriously.
Liv swallowed hard and looked at Kelly, Matt and finally at
Julian. Their eyes met and held and she could have sworn his soft gray eyes
gently reassured her and told her not to worry, that they’d deal with anything
this mission threw at them.
“Well,” Kelly said briskly as a slightly morose silence fell
over the booth. “No job is ever easy. And this will just be sure to keep us on
our toes, which we’ll need to be anyway. Upward of two hundred rich, bejeweled
guests will be filling that huge mansion, and we’re not exactly on the
so-called ‘golden guest list’. We’ll just have to use caution and make certain
nothing happens to draw us to their attention.”
“The other interesting point,” Blade interjected, apparently
just having thought of it, “is that strictly speaking the second floor is also
off-limits to guests. Gilroy and Philyra will be making semi-frequent rounds
and patrolling that area. They’re supposed to gently remind curious folk who go
up to find a spare bedroom, or just a dark corner to fuck like rabbits in, that
they’re not supposed to be up there.”
“Which means the Tiens probably think that even though the
area is off-limits guests will still go up there,” Flame added. “They’re using
Gilroy and Philyra as a first line of defense to weed people out of the second
floor.”
“So we will need to make plans to circumnavigate them?”
Kelly asked as she pulled pen and paper from her handbag to make notes. Liv
watched as Matt laid a hand gently on her wrist to stop her.
“Gilroy and Philyra are…” Matt trailed off as he searched
for the right words. After a moment, when neither Blade nor Flame offered to
assist him, he continued. “They’re Enforcers, yes, but they are politically
appointed Enforcers. They are from rich, very old-school wizarding families
and they are the people assigned to the political balls, the charity
fund-raisers and those sorts of missions. They mingle well with their own kind
and know all the socially acceptable things to say to put the elite at ease and
make sure they don’t worry about a few armed security guards at such a swanky
dinner.”
“They get a secret little thrill when they tell their
cronies at the tennis club that they work for law and order and are Enforcers,”
Flame finished. “They never get their hands dirty and while they have their
talents, I can guarantee you that after their first few boring rounds up on the
second floor, they’ll be busy mingling with their friends down at the dinner
and decide to wait until the festivities have started to break up before going
back up there and evicting those having their trysts.”
“So they’re a low-risk problem?” Liv confirmed.
Both Blade and Flame nodded.
“I’d keep them in mind and watch out for them, but since
you’re planning on waiting until about halfway through the dinner, I think the
chances of you running into them are slim,” Flame agreed.
Liv and Kelly made a note of this in their notebooks and
they all looked at each other to see if there was anything else. An eager
silence settled between them and Liv could feel the anticipation of the evening
start to sing through her blood. It was similar to what she felt before a big
Retrieval, but it was also different at the same time.
Julian caught her eye across the booth and they shared a
wild grin. In a few hours she would be with this
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