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A couple of hours later, I heard the music change as the performances started. Guests had been wandering through regularly, many of them stopping to admire Dio’s essence. The last of the observers left for the entertainment, and I got ready to make my move.
I did a quick check in the shadows and, to my surprise, noticed a new presence. This person strolled into the gem room once everyone else had cleared out.
A sharpness about her attitude set off alarms in my mind, but she wasn’t from Dream, so I didn’t suspect I was in any danger of discovery. Curious, I watched. She wore a silver dress with a long slit up the side, showing muscular legs. She opened her purse and slipped an object out.
I watched her go up to the case containing Dio’s essence, point the long thin device at it, then somehow, she removed the gem, dropped it and the device in her purse, and left. Her actions were smooth and practiced. I stared, shocked.
What in the hell? Stunned, it took me a minute to react, and by then the woman had wandered out of the exhibit area. I slipped from the shadow I crouched in to another one with a better vantage point.
She looked over her shoulder, as if sensing a pursuer, though I was well shrouded.
After a moment, it became clear it wasn’t me she was worried about. A man in a suit strode toward her, disbelief warring with anger on his face as he spied the woman.
She grinned, gave a quick wave, and dashed toward the stairs.
Feeling like I was on the set of a heist movie, I slipped into another shadow, not wanting to lose track of the woman who had casually taken Dio’s essence. I needed to stop her, but Ember’s worry about dealing with the authorities kept me from acting inside the museum. It might have been a mistake, but I didn’t think I would lose track of her.
Adding to the heist movie feel, she casually pulled the fire alarm as she slipped out of the building, leaving the man in the suit fuming in her wake.
Torn between wanting to protect Ember and needing to follow the woman, I had to remind myself that she had Robby and her knight. Ember would be okay, and if we lost that essence, it might be impossible to find again.
I slipped into the shadows of the parking garage and trailed her until she hurriedly got into a non-descript sedan, again conscious of the likelihood of cameras. That would have been an excellent opportunity to relieve her of the gem, but she got the car in motion before I could slide into a shadow inside her vehicle, and I didn’t want to spook her into an accident. The man with the suit was running now, and he reached a sportier car than the woman drove. I had half a mind to text Robby and make sure there wasn’t some sort of movie filming going on at the same time as the gala.
She sped out of the parking garage, and the guy in the suit gave chase.
If her purse with Dio’s essence hadn’t been on her lap, the strap still over her shoulder, I would have taken it and slipped away.
Then it occurred to me I’d seen that man in the suit before. He’d toned down his powers to slip past the librarian, which is why I hadn’t recognized him. Maybe this woman was working for Dream?
Either way, I didn’t feel right leaving her at the mercy of the clown.
Ember
The confusion and the panic of the fire alarm finally abated, and we were allowed back inside to retrieve our equipment.
Wondering how Nic was, I helped Robby tear down our rig. I didn’t feel my connection to the prince as strongly as when he was close, and I wondered what that meant. Was he in trouble? Who had triggered the alarm? Surely Nic wouldn’t have needed that kind of distraction.
As soon as we had the school van packed, Robby touched base with the gala organizer and then we headed back for the hotel, none of us speaking about Nic because of Casey’s presence.
“Well, that was weird,” Casey said once we were away.
“Very,” I agreed.
“It’s a bummer you and Knight didn’t get a chance to perform.”
“Yeah,” I said. Though I was of mixed feelings about that. Part of me was disappointed, the other part of me was glad that we were done with that portion of the evening.
“Your performance was mesmerizing,” Robby said to Casey.
She visibly melted at the jester’s praise.
“Lay it on a little thicker, Robby,” I said with a smile.
I caught Robby’s lips quirking into his own smile in the rearview mirror.
“I’m not lying.”
“I know. Casey is phenomenal with a lyra,” I said.
