elyssa called justin. her call went straight to voicemail.

"i'm sure they're doing their job," stacey said. "probably leading kassus and his blokes on a merry chase. let's not dawdle and waste their effort."

despite the dread clinging to her heart, elyssa knew the felycan was right. she nodded to bella. "let's do this."

bella flicked on her arcphone and accessed the image of an office. she'd posed as a potential client for darkwater and toured the offices, taking pictures as she went. they'd determined this particular office as the best point of insertion. the dhampyr concentrated on the image for a long moment. nothing happened.

"strange," bella said. "the omniarch isn't activating." she studied the structure for a moment. "do you hear that hum? it seems to be coming from the center of the arch."

stacey walked the perimeter of the silver circle banding the base of the arch. "i hear a faint buzz."

"me too," elyssa said.

the portal abruptly flickered on. a man with a slice of pizza clenched in his hand screamed and flipped over the back of a couch. the image winked out before elyssa could process anything else. the three women looked at each other, confusion wrinkling their foreheads.

"what in the bloody hell was that?" stacey asked.

"did i imagine that?" bella asked.

elyssa shook her head. "maybe the office picture isn't working like we thought it would."

"i know it works," bella said. "i opened a portal there the evening after i made the pictures to be sure it worked."

"are you jonesing for pizza?" elyssa asked.

bella raised an eyebrow. "no, i'm not. let me try again." she concentrated on the image again.

the inside of the omniarch flickered, and an office with a large oak desk appeared. bookcases lined the wall behind it, awards, plaques, and even an occasional book populating it.

"i told you it works," she said, shrugging. "i just hope harry didn't decide to use the portal for a pizza break after they escaped. especially without calling me."

"bloody men," stacey said with a languid smile. "they don't communicate very well."

"no, they don't," elyssa said, checking her phone again to see if justin had returned her call and she'd somehow missed it. he hadn't.

meghan appeared at the bottom of the stairs cellar, breathing heavily. "sorry i'm late. i was held up at the clinic."

"thank goodness," bella said. "i was worried you might not show up."

"so, you just want me to hang around in case the portal closes?" meghan said.

"if you see anyone besides us coming to the portal, close it," bella said. "and use the image of this office i gave you to reopen it on our signal, should it be necessary."

"if we need to evac from anywhere else, we'll send you a new picture," elyssa said.

"got it," meghan said, pulling up a chair someone had brought down earlier, and made herself comfortable with a thick romance novel and a glass of wine. "be careful."

"we will," elyssa said with a faint smile.

bella stepped through the portal and into the office. she motioned the others to follow. this particular office had no windows facing the interior of the hallway, making it the perfect place to open a portal since nobody in the hallway could see it. the only downside was its location on the top floor of the four-story building. the lower offices, filled with cubicles had presented too much of an opportunity for discovery.

stacey opened the office door, and peered up and down its length. she gestured with her hand to signal the all-clear, and vanished down the hall. elyssa removed two tiny spy-bots from her satchel, and sent them floating down the other corridors to monitor in case someone came.

"these floors are lightly warded," bella said. "but things will change when we go downstairs."

elyssa nodded. "it's time."

the two women went down the hallway after stacey. the felycan had just finished removing a small vent grate about one square foot in diameter from the wall. the vent was far too small for a human to fit through. stacey touched a symbol on the nightingale armor at her waist. the material retraced to a thin belt, revealing stacey's naked form. she flexed her body, drew in a deep breath, and her body twisted, claws springing from her fingers, and fur rippling up her fair skin. her face lengthened into a muzzle lined with sharp teeth while a tail grew from her backside. within seconds, a black panther stood where stacey had, its body shrinking even smaller until a small black cat remained. the thin belt of nightingale armor shrank to accommodate the new size.

the kitty looked up at elyssa and bella, one of its green eyes winking before it slid through the vent. bella closed the grate behind the feline, and they moved down the hall to a thick diamond fiber door which led to the staircase. it was locked from the other side, though a rune reader on the wall allowed anyone with the proper access to pass.

"i hope it isn't locked from both sides," elyssa said.

bella examined the rune reader. "these look complicated, but you don't need much technical know-how to break them if you're good with deciphering runes."

"are you good with runes?" elyssa asked.

"not particularly. i mean, i can do it, but i'll need a piece of paper and some time."

"good thing adam gave me a decryptor for my arcphone then," elyssa said, chuckling despite the tension.

bella sighed. "that's good, because rune decryption gives me a headache."

a faint clang sounded in the stairwell. a minute later, the door handle clicked, and the door swung inward. stacey grinned at them, her body once again covered by the nightingale armor.

"it's a bloody maze in there," she said, retrieving the grate from the floor, and pressing it back into place.

the trio padded down the stairs, the nightingale armor muffling the sounds of their feet as they descended to the bottom floor of the three-story building. the darkwater arcsys datacenter likely lay in the basement, close to the large ley lines necessary to power it. at the first floor, the stairwell ended at a door and a blank wall.

bella scanned the area with her wand. she muttered something in spanish and tucked the wand away. "no hidden entrance to the basement. the darkwater consultant told me there's a levitator down to the datacenter."

stacey raised an eyebrow. "i hate it when they make things difficult. did he show you where the lift is?"

she shook her head. "he said it he couldn't show it to anyone for security reasons."

elyssa removed a small clamshell case from her satchel. "stand back," she said, opening the stairwell door a crack and peering through it. the door opened into a clerical office. cubicles provided ample cover for her and the others to slip through unnoticed, but they had to know where the entrance to the basement was first.

she opened the case. red roaches scattered from within, their tiny forms racing across the floor in all directions. she closed the door and opened an app on her arcphone. as the roaches scattered, they mapped the surroundings, relaying it to the app.

"disgusting but effective," stacey murmured as she crouched next to elyssa and watched the map appear.

someone in the office beyond shrieked.

"holy crap!" a man cried in panic followed by the sound of more screams and shouts of alarm.

elyssa opened another app on her phone and directed the screen at her armor. a web of lights danced up and down the surface, and the black armor turned white, loosening until it resembled arcane robes complete with a patch that read, "magic mike's pest control". she aimed the phone at the other two women, adjusting their armor to match hers.

"you templars are sneaky people," stacey said, regarding the loose-fitting robes. "i like sneaky people."

elyssa checked the mapping app on her arcphone and saw the roach army had discovered two levitator shafts. one was located in a lobby just behind the front security desk. the other was tucked into the back corner of the first floor. "that's our destination," she said, pointing to the second lift.

"brilliant," bella replied. "let's go."

elyssa opened the door without attempting to be quiet. the traumatized eyes of the clerical people met hers. she walked up to a woman who'd climbed atop her desk, hair frazzled, and eyes wide with horror. "we're eradicating a roach infestation. you didn't happen to see any on this floor did you?"

"hundreds of them!" a man said. "please tell me they're not the flying ones." he shuddered. "they're the most terrifying thing in the world."

elyssa felt certain the man had never ventured far from home if flying roaches topped his list of horrors. "don't worry, we'll take care of them," she replied, making a show of aiming her arcphone at the floor, as if scanning for bug prints.

they walked down a hall, passing supply closets and other rooms with cubicles. elyssa pretended to scan as they went. a man in black robes walked around the corner, his eyes narrowing at the sight of them. "who the hell are you?" he asked, reaching for a staff at his side.

elyssa blurred to him, striking him at the base of his neck with a quick chop. he dropped like a wet noodle. she caught him before he thudded to the floor, and carried him inside a nearby closet filled with magical cleaning potions. elyssa poked him with a lancer dart to keep him knocked out long enough for them to finish their business.

"why didn't you let me try to sweet talk him?" stacey asked.

the thought had popped into elyssa's mind, but the expression on the man's face told her instantly he'd seen right through the deception. "i didn't want to take a chance, especially with a battle mage."

"elyssa did the right thing," bella said. "these men are trained to kill first and ask questions later."

stacey shrugged. "i've often found a pair of these"-she cupped her breasts-"will get you past just about any man. even if i have to knock them out while they're distracted."