Page 92 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
Making a run for it, Wyatt said.
We’ve got an avian escort, Oliver added. The crow-cloud was moving toward the back right corner of the hall, the birds forming a bubble around the trio to protect their bid for freedom.
Heading for the side door, Katya said.Out to the garden.
We’ll meet you there.Silva spoke to Dani without looking at her. “Miss Lionet, come.”
Dani turned to Kass, taking his hand in hers, gathering the strength to tell him she had to go with Silva. Even with all the plot twists and thrown wrenches, the group had made it this far, and she still had twenty-five thousand dollars to collect. If she bailed now, she didn’t think Silva would be volunteering to mail her a check.
But Kass beat her to it. “I’m coming with you,” he said.
“You can’t,” she said. “If they find us and you’re with us, your dad—”
“I don’t care about my dad,” Kass said. “I care about you. I want to come.”
Dani glanced at Silva, who misinterpreted the look as a request for permission. The woman nodded. “You might as well bring him,” she said. “He’s in it now, and we should keep an eye on him.”
There was something in her tone that Dani didn’t like but couldn’t name, a dark thread that gave her pause. She didn’t have time to work it out, though. She didn’t know how many of these animals were real—or, if they were illusions, how long they would last. They needed to move while McKenna’s diversion was still in full swing.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They followed Silva as she led them in the same direction as the crows, opposite the rest of the attendees, who were still clogged ina slow-moving bottleneck at the front doors. They made a diagonal cut across the exhibition hall, dodging scampering rodents and ducking when a hawk made a low pass over their heads. They circled around the dais, where a self-satisfied fox was cleaning its paws, crossed the second half of the room, and escaped into an empty side hall, at the end of which an exit sign hung above a door standing ajar to the night.
Dani gave a whole-body shiver as they stepped out into the cold air and relative silence of the sculpture garden. They were alone, or so it seemed. The black silhouette of the forest rose up on the horizon, outlined by the dull orange gleam of the city. Rain was falling steadily, and somewhere in the distance, sirens sang.
Where are you?Silva asked.
Gazebo, Katya answered.
A few statues down and to the left, Oliver added, their breathlessness coming through the telepathic link.
Gingerbread was waiting for them, perched on a sculpture of Janus that stood at a crossroads in their path, the god’s mirrored faces phantasmal in the darkness. The crow cawed, ruffled his feathers, and swooped down to land on Dani’s shoulder.
“Where is she?” Dani asked Gingerbread as she and Kass followed Silva farther down the path. He quorked and twisted his head to look at her, but she couldn’t read the answer in his beady eyes.
They took a left at an abstract statue and the gazebo Katya had mentioned loomed up ahead, its roof sheltering three silhouettes. The wrought iron fence around the garden stood between the gazebo and a meadow on the other side, the edge of the forest visible beyond. Kass whispered a soft word, and an orb of light appeared overhead, floating above him as he, Dani, and Silva stepped into the gazebo and out of the rain. The golden glow of the enchantment spread across the pavilion, illuminating Oliver, Wyatt, and Katya before them. They were dressed in nondescript black clothing, which did makethem look an awful lot like burglars in this context. Both Oliver and Wyatt were still half glamoured, but the rain had washed much of it away, leaving a jumble of the familiar and the fabricated. McKenna was nowhere to be seen, but Dani didn’t have a chance to ping her on the shell before Wyatt stepped forward and jabbed a finger at Kass.
“What the fuck ishedoing here?” Wyatt asked, dislike curdling the expression on his face. “Did you guys get back together or something?”
“You knew about them?” Silva’s tone was cold enough to shock Wyatt into realizing what he’d just admitted to.
“No,” he said hastily. “I mean, kind of—I saw them together, once. But Dani told me it was over, and that he didn’t know anything.”
“I didn’t,” Kass said.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Katya said. Dani had never seen her so visibly stressed. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Who?” Oliver said, confused. “Who do you think it is?”
“Lukas Gianakos Jr.,” Wyatt said, like the name left a bad taste in his mouth. “The son of OneiroLabs’s CEO.”
Oliver’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s who you were dating?” they asked Dani. “Why didn’t you tell me?” The mix of colors spilling into her brain told her that Oliver wasn’t sure how to feel about this— a little hurt, a little curious, and a lot perplexed.
“I didn’t know who he was at first,” Dani said, beseeching. “And then, once it was over…” She didn’t want to have to explain this again—not when there was so much else going on.
“Should he really be here?” Katya said. “Won’t he turn us in?”
“I’m on your side,” Kass said, irritated. “I didn’t know what was going on until recently. And now I want to stop what’s happening, same as you.”
