“There’s an actual Underground base set up in this little place,” Rod was saying as he walked along. He had led us around the edge of town, in and out through a few side-paths and roads, and now we were passing by what looked like houses. “They’ve heard rumors of my work, so they asked me to come in for a trial period.”
“You?” I snorted. “Work for someone else?”
“I know.” He flashed me a small smile. “It’s cute.”
“Wait,” Layla said, “don’t you want to work for them?”
“I don’t work for anyone but me, kiddo.”
She gave off a grunt. “Won’t they kill you once they figure out you’re not going to work for them?” Layla asked, a sour look on her face.
He stopped to turn and give her a stare. “Uh, no. They’d fire me.” He glanced at me, eyebrows raised before giving a slight shrug and moving on. “Once they found out I’d been using the trial period to bug their system and drain their resources, then yeah, then they’d try to kill me. But it’s not like I’m going to stick around long enough for them to figure it out. I’ve got at least another week to go before I ditch this place.”
“You must have great confidence in their stupidity,” I commented, glancing around. “You don’t think they’ve got someone tailing you?”
“Not really,” he responded, ignoring my paranoia. “It’s more like I made sure they have full confidence in me. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that a successful scam relies on absolute trust.”
“I don’t want to know what you did to gain their trust, do I?”
“It’d be nothing new.”
“So wait… ” Layla spoke up again, “you took time and effort to gain the trust of a company so you could scam them?”
He considered his response. “Sort of,” he finally said. “It’s more like I’m utilizing their name and building as a sort of alias. Everything I steal from someone else, I steal under their name. They don’t know I’m not telling them everything I’m doing, and by the time they figure it out, I’ll have wiped all my data from their files and skipped town. I’ve been doing this for years.”
“You can do that?” Layla asked, giving him a suspicious look.
He flashed a devilish smile at her. “Why do you think your friend here wanted to find me?”
We turned the corner and headed towards one of the small houses. Rod pushed open the door like it was nothing. As we followed him, my skin began to crawl and a cold sensation passed over us. Magic. Shifter magic. I shook it off and looked around again, not surprised by a sudden intense transformation. With the passing of a magical barrier the small one-story house in front of us was now a five-story building. The red brick turned into sleek reinforced glass, and all the doors warped from aged wood to a smoothed and polished metal.
Layla stammered a little, making insecure noises as she looked around, drawing a chuckle from Rod. “Glamour,” he said to Layla, answering her noises. “Magic can make for a wonderful camouflage.” He strolled right in, unperturbed. Layla took a deep breath and tried to puff herself up before walking after him.
Everything in the lobby was sleek and modern, including the staff. A dark marble desk sat off to one side, a flat screen monitor perched on the desk. The floor was polished to an absurd sheen with no rugs or carpets to block it off, and the lamplight from the street outside was dimmed so much, each shaded floor-lamp and sconce were the only points of light in the lobby. There were three active elevators on each side with a small huddle surrounding the entrances, and each had a guard in a sharp suit standing nearby.
The characters waiting in the lobby were a mixed bag. Most looked to be non-humans, like us, with a few human-seemers scattered about the crowd; as in, something that used to be human and still acted like it. Tell you the truth, I don’t care what they looked like. Any human setting foot in a Non-human Underground office like this one wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen.
Rod strolled up to the receptionist who barely noticed him. “Hi,” he said with a smile. He fished out a small ID card from his pocket and laid it on the desk, drawing her attention to it. “I need access to the upper levels. Bounties to look over.”
Without missing a beat the claw-like fingernails slid the card closer and began typing information into the computer, stopping once it blipped. An eyebrow cracked the leather-like face as sharp eyes slid over to actually look at him. “You seem to still be on trial. No access.”
“Right, I’m just double-checking my track record. I heard a Keeper might be on his way here and I don’t like surprises. Didn’t think the company did either. Want to make a good impression, you know? Double-check to make sure my room is clean and all that so there’s no extra messes for anyone.”
The keyboard began clicking again, the sharp eyes taking in him, me, and Layla in one sweep, eyebrow still cracked into a skeptical arch. The pointed tips of fingernails slid the card back towards Rod as the computer beeped again. “You’ve got thirty minutes once you scan into the room. Your visitors can wait here in the lobby.”
Rod took his card back and smiled, nodding to me and Layla. “Sorry, can’t bring visitors up past the first couple of floors. Company rules.” He gave a helpless shrug and heading for an elevator with a wave. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
It didn’t take long at all before trouble came and found us. Again.
One of the lobby-crawlers was the match to light the fire. He was staring and shuddered when I gave him a look, looking away quickly before sliding his gaze back over to Layla. Layla noticed my lack of conversation and turned to see what I was staring at, eyes widening before she turned and rushed to get behind me.
“You,” he said aloud, loud enough for us to hear. “That…you’re…” he looked around for a moment before pointing. “That’s the half-blood.” He pointed. “You’re the half-blood!”
Layla shook her head behind me, holding herself and shaking. “What do we do?” she whispered. “What do we do?”
“You know him?” I asked, standing very still while his accusations grew to shouts that drew the attention of the guards.
“I…I think so. I think I saw him once. He saw me when I…When I…The humans.” Ah. He was a witness to the crime she confessed to me. But his stare was directly at me. He may have seen her. He may have been set off by her. But she couldn’t see the white scars on his face, marking him as a mask-wearer. She couldn’t hear the slight bend in his voice that I recognized from home. She couldn’t see that the crooked finger was pointing at me.
A couple of the guards were now making their way over. I slid my hand over the handle of my knife. One of them grabbed the one making the racket while the other came over to us.
“Come with me, please,” he said, holding out a hand to try and direct us outside.
Layla peeked from behind me and shook her head. “We’re waiting for someone.”
“You can wait outside,” he said. “Both of you can follow me.”
“No.”
“Layla,” I snapped, bumping her with my elbow. “Not now.”
“Come with us. Now.” Two more guards began to make their way over. The first guard grabbed her wrist in a firm grip. Layla immediately began pulling back. I began to draw my knife and count exits, obstacles, and strategies.
But all that crumbled to a halt as Layla’s free hand shot forward and shoved the guard back. She twisted her wrist free as he stumbled, grabbed him and lifted the man over her head. A guttural roar shook the room as she threw him across the lobby, her body shaking as she turned to the other guards and let out another full-body scream.
