Page 44 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“It’s completely private,” Katya added. “Our messages will vanish after twenty-four hours, and the app itself is set to self-cannibalize after December fifth.”
“Please only use that app to contact either myself or one another with regards to this endeavor. I’m counting on all of you,” Silva added after a beat, “to bring your best attitude, skills, and complete discretion to this project. I cannot overstate the severity of the consequences if we are found out.”
Dani glanced at the others, gauging their reactions, but their faces didn’t change at the reminder of how much of a risk they were taking. She wondered what had driven Katya and Wyatt to accept Silva’s offer—how they would use the money.
“In the event that things should escalate, I will do my best to protect you, but you should understand that only so much is within my power. That being said, I have the utmost confidence in our abilities as ateam.” Silva looked significantly at Katya and Wyatt when she said this. “You have your assignments. Please update me as soon as they’ve been completed, or if you run into any trouble. We’ll be having regular meetings here every Monday starting next week—I’ve booked us as a recurring group project for the entirety of the month. We can add extra meetings as needed. Ah, and I almost forgot.” She clasped her hands together. “We are still missing one crucial member of our team. Do any of you know someone who’s well-versed in illusion magic and might be willing to join a mission of such risk as this?”
Dani laughed out loud, catching herself and everyone else off guard. Silva’s eyes slid over to her.
“Did I say something amusing, Miss Lionet?”
“Yeah, no, sorry,” Dani said. “It’s just—well, I think I might know the perfect girl for the job.”
Sixteen
McKenna didn’t require much convincing to lend her talents to the cause.
“Of course I will join your illustrious heist,” she told Dani. “As if I needed more incentive to make mischief during my time on this mortal plane.”
“Are you sure?” Dani asked. She’d just gotten back from her Tuesday night shift, and McKenna had still been awake, finishing up an assignment for her psychology class, so they were sitting on her bed together. “I know it’s a lot to ask. If we get caught—”
“Babe.” McKenna leaned over and grabbed her hands. “I know what that money means to you.” Dani had finally vented to both her and Oliver about her pending scholarship review during their sleepover last night. “It certainly won’t mean nothing to me, either. Twenty-five thousand dollars will go a long way in purchasing the materials I need to turn my portfolio into a real collection. Plus, I want to help Oliver as much as you do. More to the point—we won’t get caught with me on the team. I shall assume this irresponsibility with the grace, finesse, and badassery that I do all things.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
“But.” McKenna’s smile flattened, the mischief in her face turning serious. “Let it be known that I’ll be keeping an eye on Silva every step of the way. I haven’t decided whether to trust her.”
“I think I do,” Dani said. “She can come off a little cold sometimes, but she really seems to care about what happens to Oliver—and all of us.”
“Then she won’t mind a little extra scrutiny. So,” McKenna said, squeezing Dani’s hands before releasing them. “Not to change the subject, but have you decided what you’re wearing for your daaaate on Thursday?”
“About that,” Dani said, trying to ignore the inevitable blush that McKenna’s teasing brought out in her. “I may have overbooked my schedule just a little bit…” She and Katya had been messaging back and forth on the secure app and had come to the inevitable conclusion that Thursday was their only opportunity to swing by the OneiroLabs haunt Silva had told them about. They’d agreed to meet at the bar at ten o’clock that evening, which meant that Dani would have to make sure her date with Kass had wrapped up by then.
“That’s bad luck,” McKenna said once she’d heard the pickle Dani had gotten herself into. “But it just means that we’ll have to make certain you lookextrairresistible to make up for it, won’t we? Let’s take a peek at our options.”
Thursday night arrived on a glittering Gulf Stream of confused emotions. One minute, Dani would be thinking of Kass, warmth filling her belly and coaxing butterflies into flight—then the sword of Damocles hanging over her would catch the light, and her joints would lock up with dread. She was used to doing illegal things, but she’d been a minor then, and it would’ve been her parents held responsible, not her. She tried not to catastrophize about what would happen if things went wrong, reassuring herself that Silva had their backs. But even her mantra ofYou’re doing this to help Oliver—or the thought of twenty-five thousand dollars at the end of the tunnel—didn’t do much to soothe her.
Come time to primp and polish for her date, Dani was a nervous wreck.
“I don’t know why you’re in such a state,” McKenna said. She was pinning a butterfly clip into Dani’s newly softened and curledhair, which, thanks to her inability to stop shaking some part of her body—currently her hand tapping against her leg—was something of a moving target. “You’ll have three and a half hours to enjoy your date before you have to meet Katya downtown.”
“That’s not why I’m nervous. Well, I mean, it is, but not really.”
“So it’s the date, then? I’ve been telling you all along that Kass is into you, that he’d be silly not to be, and not even you can argue it now, when he’s gone and asked you out properly.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? The scholarship review?”
“I don’tknow,” Dani said, more exasperated with herself than with McKenna. Comfy up in his nest, Gingerbread croaked his agreement. “Just that this thing with Kass feels real, I guess, and that makes it extra scary.”
McKenna finished securing the sparkly insect to the indigo part of Dani’s hair, and her hands landed in a firm grip on her shoulders. Gently but sternly, she rotated Dani to face the full-length mirror on her side of the room.
As always, Dani was indebted to her friend’s stylistic expertise; Kass’s vague instructions of “come as you are” had had the opposite effect from their comforting intent. One look in the mirror, though, told Dani that McKenna had worked her magic yet again. She’d struck the perfect balance of casual and dressy with a pair of dark-wash jeans embroidered with flowers, a chenille off-the-shoulder sweater dyed a deep cabernet, and a rose-gold eye shadow Dani would never have had the guts to attempt herself. It shouldn’t have worked with her hair, but somehow it did.
“You’re magnificent,” McKenna said softly over her shoulder. “And I’ve never known you to back down from something just because it scared you. I mean, the first time you talked to me was when I was in the middle of a screaming match with my mom. And we’re literally planning on breaking into a multimillion-dollarcompany, for the Morrigan’s sake. You can handle a night out with your crush.” She studied Dani’s reflection for a moment before her eyes brightened. “Hang on, I’ve got the perfect finishing touch.”
She went to rummage through the jewelry box on her desk. Dani, meanwhile, practiced standing in non-awkward poses in the mirror. “What the fuck are you supposed to do with your arms?” she murmured to herself. “Why do I even have arms?”
