Blade's Edge || Deception Book II ||

Chapter 36: Feline Fiasco Pt. II

My shadows wrapped around me, making me invisible to the eyes of all, I followed Percy as he trailed Thorn towards the museum. I sighed quietly as I entered the building and a warm rush of air enveloped me.

Gods, it was freezing outside. But maybe that was my fault for only wearing a thick sweater.

"Washington is a lot colder than 'Frisco, okay?" I hissed as Ava eyed me with round, amber orbs. "Easy for you to say. Your coat is thicker than a Canada Goose jacket!"

I whirled into the shadows behind a pillar as Thorn's clicking footsteps against the marble floor halted, and cursed myself for my thoughtless action. You're stalking them, Clari, I reminded myself. Shut. Up.

"What, did all common sense fly out of your head?" I heard Hermes scold in my head. "Are you asking for them to become aware of you?"

I wasn't in my right mind, and it was starting to show. Godsdammit, I cursed in my head. Put. Luke. Out. Of. Your. Head.

Stop getting distracted, and FOCUS.

Taking a deep breath, steadying my mind again, I peered out from behind the pillar.

"Fuck," I muttered as I beheld an empty corridor. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

Cursing myself for the millionth time in the last minute, I scurried through the hallway, trying to stop myself from taking a second look at every exhibition and the items displayed in the arching chambers of the museum. There were dinosaurs, mastodons, and all sorts of skeletons of long-extinct animals, then a hallway full of ancient artifacts, golden sarcophagi, clay urns, and beautifully decorated accessories from ornate necklaces to headdresses.

Focus, I ordered, tearing my gaze away from the display shelves. You can ogle at these later. Find Thorn.

I hurried onward, though I knew in my gut that I'd never come back again. My feet silent on the tiles, Avalanche padding behind me, I rounded a hallway and saw a set of heavy oak doors, two guards standing next to it.

Looks like I've found them, I thought grimly and ducked back into the adjacent hallway. Reining in my shadows, I stepped around the corner again.

With my stalking gait and the flat, icy look in my eyes, the two guards didn't dare question who I was and swung open the door. I walked in without giving them a second glance, Avalanche at my heels.

"Oh, just in time, Rianna," Atlas boomed from his seat in the centre. "We can talk later. Come, join us."

"Yes, my lord," I murmured and bowed in deference. I risked a glance around the room, tallying up the number of mortal guards surrounding the balcony on the second floor of the circular room, and quickly walked to Luke.

"Thorn's in the middle of his debrief," Luke muttered to me quietly as I joined him. "Did you find the monster?"

I shook my head, "Sorry."

"As I was saying," Thorn interrupted, the annoyed look on his face deepening into a scowl as he glared at me. "I can finish them off."

"No," Atlas rumbled before Luke could say anything, the flare in his eyes telling me that I had walked in on an argument. "You have already failed us."

"But-"

"No excuses!" Atlas snapped, causing Thorn to flinch back, the smug look on his face disappearing in an instant. "I sent you to capture a child of the Big Three, and you brought me back a pathetic worm of the wisdom goddess! I should throw you into Tartarus for your incompetence."

Ah, so that's what this was about. Perhaps, I mused, a monster shall be eliminated if I play this right.

"It was only thanks to Luke and Rianna that we managed to move forward with the plan after your miserable failures," Atlas continued, glaring at Thorn in disgust. "Now get out of my sight until I find some other menial task for you."