the next room on the right contained a bed with white comforter and dresser, but no occupant or other signs of habitation. four more doors remained, including the closed one at the very end. the room across from the first looked much the same, as did the next room on the right. two more rooms to go. my heart pounded. the thudding sounded in my ears.

jeremiah conroy might be right behind that door. ivy might not even be here.

i took a slow quiet breath to calm myself. if jeremiah caught us snooping around his crib, i had no hope of leniency from him. i tapped out an emergency escape text on my phone for shelton, ready to hit "send" in an instant should it be necessary so he could open the portal.

i heard a change in the tone of conversation from below. a third voice joined them. elyssa grimaced. motioned back toward the stairs. we crept to the balustrade and saw a third man. if the number if wrinkles on his forehead were any measure of stress, this man was near the breaking point. unlike the others, he spoke just loud enough for us to understand.

"you need to let us know if the old man is going anywhere," he said.

"are you crazy?" the man from the dossier-i remembered his name was bob- hissed. "he said we weren't supposed to-"

the new man waved him off. "kassus said he's senile. doesn't know what he's doing."

"how does he plan to do it?" the second man asked. "i don't think guns are going to work."

the third man shrugged. "says he has a plan. your part is simple. let us know if the old man goes anywhere. we'll take care of the rest."

"not good," bob said. "i'm scared of him."

the third man poked him in the chest. "you should be more afraid of kassus."

"are you kidding me?" his face widened with fear. "jeremiah conroy is way scarier."

"just do it. kassus is convinced he can get past those monsters." the third man sighed, as if he wasn't all that happy with the plan despite his outward bravado. "anyway, i got to go. do your job, or kassus will have your head."

elyssa and i shared concerned expressions. the only thing those men could be talking about were the cupids. kassus was going against jeremiah and doing his own thing.

"when?" asked the second man.

"not tonight, but soon," the third man replied in a harsh whisper. "i'll let you know." he turned and walked down the hallway, toward where i imagined the kitchen was located.

we listened to the two men for a while, but they failed to offer any other useful nuggets of information, aside from how they were terrified of pissing off either of the powerful men they found themselves caught between. i sure didn't envy them. we were just about to turn away, when one of the men mentioned something about a break-in. i touched elyssa's shoulder. she stopped her backward momentum.

"they think it was the slade kid," bob said. "that's how he figured out the route for the package."

"makes sense," the other man said. "they know he's in queens gate. only a matter of time before we get him."

"do we really want to mess with this slade guy?" bob gave the other man a concerned look.

"don't worry. there's a lot of us and only one of him."

"only one? i heard he has templar support, man." bob shuddered. "they disabled four escorts, hijacked a special transport, and air-lifted it away."

"doesn't matter how strong or protected he is." the other man shrugged. "you can kill anyone if you surprise them at the right moment."

"slade killed victor, and i'd say the kid was more surprised than we were." bob slashed a finger across his throat. "victor was nearly as badass as maulin and the kid beat him in a fair fight."

the other man chuckled. "wasn't all that fair. we had slade outnumbered-" he broke off and blinked a couple of times. "you know, maybe you're right. if that kid took out victor in one shot, maybe we should leave him be."

bob nodded encouragingly. "i'm with you."

"if only we had a choice."

the men exchanged dejected looks before going their separate ways, one out the front door, and the other toward the kitchen. i presumed they were making their rounds.

elyssa backed away, smoothly pushing herself from prone to standing with a single pushup. it looked cool, so i did the same, and nearly fell backward into a table with a vase. she caught my arm to steady me and gave me an admonishing look with a raised eyebrow, somehow managing an amused smirk at the same time. i didn't know how she stayed so calm.

as for the conversation, it was clear kassus's men now had a healthy respect for my abilities. on the downside, it also meant they wouldn't be half-assed about trying to kill me. being underestimated had its advantages.

we crept back to the last door on the left. it and the door at the end were the only two closed. in my mind, that meant they had to be occupied. still, we'd followed protocol to the letter, clearing the open rooms because it would have really sucked if someone who was scared of closing their door at night saw us creeping past.

elyssa touched the knob. slowly twisted it. the latch made a click, which would have been faint to normal ears but sounded quite loud to me. she eased open the door. from the dim light of the chandelier in the central stairwell, i made out a pink wall. as the door opened further, the light fell onto a king-sized four-poster bed straight out of a fairy tale. stuffed animals adorned the shelves. a huge fluffy dragon sat atop the bed. pink and purple dominated.

definitely ivy's room.

except ivy wasn't there.

the bed looked as though someone had been in it, but unless she could turn herself invisible, or had hidden herself because she heard us coming in, i didn't think my sister was around. we went inside and closed the door anyway. ivy had quite a bag of tricks, and we had to be sure the room was empty.

i turned on a lamp sitting on a table next to a stuffed bunny. the room was as large as the others we'd seen, but cluttered by comparison. a bookshelf sat against one wall, filled with fairy tale books and several classics by mark twain.

elyssa's eyes went soft as she pulled a yellow book from the shelf and showed me the title: being a good sister for dummies.

i smiled. maybe i needed the corollary book for brothers.

we spent the next few minutes combing the room but failed to turn up my sister. the windows in the room were closed, the locks engaged. i had little doubt window locks would prove much of an obstacle for ivy, especially since she could presumably blink through a closed window so long as she had line of sight. elyssa directed me out of the room, and eased the door closed behind us. she pointed toward the last door and gave two sharp shakes of her head.

don't have to convince me.

going into the master bedroom would be like hopping into an alligator pond with chicken strapped to our faces. creeping back down the hallway, we made our way to the stairs. elyssa made a fist, indicating i should remain. she flipped over the balustrade, hanging upside down by her legs so her head hung just below the ceiling on the first floor. she dropped, flipping and landing on her feet without a sound, thanks to the nightingale armor. she vanished, returning a few seconds later, and gave me the signal to proceed.

since i wasn't nearly as smooth as her, i hurried down the stairs, grateful for the stealth armor. white marble tiled the hallway below. the sound of shoes tapping on the hard floor reached our ears. elyssa pressed her back to the wall behind a table in the middle of the hall. i flattened myself beside her. the footsteps drew closer. i felt a bead of sweat trickle down my face. whoever it was would only have to glance to the side to see us.

then again, if it was one of the human guards, one dart should take care of them. elyssa touched her collar. a black mask spread from her neck up, covering her head. i did the same with mine. the material was so light, i hardly noticed as it covered my face. despite the outward appearance of a solid black mask, i could see through it as though nothing covered my eyes.

the footsteps stopped. i heard a man talking to himself in a low whisper. "maude, i may be a battle mage, but you're the real magic in my life. will you marry me?" the voice sounded like bob's. "good, but not good enough," he said after repeating it once more. a pause. "maude, you set my loins on fire. i want to light you up for the rest of my life."

i wondered if elyssa wore a grimace like the one i felt contorting my face. we had to knock this guy out if for no other reason than to prevent another atrocious marriage proposal escaping his mouth.

the footsteps resumed and faded. elyssa peeked around the table. she blurred to the corner where another hallway intersected this one, and looked down it. she crooked her elbow at ninety degrees, holding up a fist. her hand flicked open, fingers waggling forward, indicating i should follow. i was really starting to feel like a secret agent, if not an outright ninja with the way she led.

i poked my head around the corner and saw bob standing a little way down the hall from us, looking into one of the ornate mirrors hanging on the wall. his lips moved, but i intentionally tuned him out to avoid a brain hemorrhage. elyssa's head remained turned toward the man, though the mask prevented me from making out her expression. she finally pointed down the hallway we were in, apparently deciding not to put bob out of our misery.

maude, whoever you are, i feel bad for you, girl.

we slinked down the hall. bob's partner abruptly walked around the corner. he had just enough time to make a frightened face before a silver dart sprouted from his neck. he fell into elyssa's arms. she motioned toward a closed door a few feet down from us. i opened it to reveal a small library. a moment later, i found a closet inside the library and opened it. elyssa deposited the man in a sitting position against the back wall of the closet, and concealed him with a dust cover i found on a shelf.

"how did we not hear him?" i whispered.

she inspected the man's shoes. "rubber soles."

i wondered why bob hadn't worn quieter shoes, but figured if his ideas for good marriage proposals were any indication, he wasn't the kind of guy who even thought about that sort of thing.