Page 116 of Lost to Thievery
He was here. Grayson was here.
Was anyone else seeing this? Was Syntax still monitoring the cameras? I doubted it. She had her hands full trying to navigate the FBI through three different pursuits at once.
My trembling fingers clutched around the radio next to me. The agents behind me were swearing, cocking their guns.
“Owen?” I whispered over the comms, my eyes glued to the black screen.
“Ava? Talk fast,” Owen instructed.
“He’s here. In the viewing room. He’s in the trap.” My heart felt like it would explode out of my ribs. Grayson was in the next room. He was inside our trap.
“Jesus!” Owen hollered. “Stay calm, okay? Stick to the plan. Let him trigger the system. I’m on my way.” I could hear the tires of his car screeching. “Keep talking. What’s he doing?”
“I can’t see.” My voice was shaking. “He blocked out the cameras. I’m going out. We need a visual.” I motioned to one of the agents to hand over his earpiece.
“Don’t let him see you,” came Owen’s worried voice in my ear.
I made my way to the door, silently unclipping the latch, and pushed it open without making a sound. To the right,was the door to the viewing room. I kept my back to the wall and snuck up to a column, crouching down behind it.
I took a few silent breaths, regaining control of my thundering pulse. Rule number four.
I peered around the column, into the viewing room. Grayson was spraying some type of gas over the heat detection trigger by the pedestal.
I quickly sat back, panic clawing through my chest.
He knew about the hidden heat detector. He knew about every hidden camera.
I wanted to throw up. “He’s not triggering the system,” I murmured in disbelief to Owen. Grayson knew it was a set-up. I peered into the room again, watching him lift off the glass from the pedestal.
Owen was quiet. Probably coming to the same conclusion I was.
Grayson had us playing Snakes and Ladders, while he was always playing chess. “I can’t let him get away.” Adrenaline coursed through my system, making it impossible to stay still.
“Ava. Don’t do anything stupid,” Owen cautioned, but it was too late. My mind was already set on my stupid plan.
I jumped from behind the pillar and sprinted down the hall into the viewing room. Grayson already had the book, making his way to the opposite door. I skidded to a halt, right on top of the pressure plate, and the doors slammed shut, right in his face.
Grayson was trapped.
But so was I.
My heart stopped beating as he slowly turned towards me. His face was expressionless, but I knew better. There were storms in his eyes.
I jumped to my feet and ran to the door I came from. The other two agents were already there, yanking at the door.
Why can’t they open it? I slammed my fist against it.
Owen was screaming my name as the agent outside the door kept repeating, “It won’t open,” over the comms. But their voices disappeared, and I flinched away as Grayson’s reflection in the little window appeared behind me. He had ripped the earpiece from my ear. I whirled around as he crushed it underneath his boot. The Codex was back on the pedestal; his knife clutched in his hand instead.
I couldn’t breathe, my body frozen underneath his cold stare and his towering frame.
“My little witch,” his silky voice slithered up my spine.
He slowly lifted the knife to my face, trailing the tip of it over my cheek. I kept his stare, but something in me snapped—strings that had been pulled taught for way too long. I always knew Grayson would be the death of me, and finally, that day had arrived. It was almost a relief, standing in the moment I had anticipated for so long.
The fear left my body, replaced by acceptance. I lifted my chin higher as his knife came to a stop on my neck, right over the faint scar he left. “Make it quick. You owe me that much.” I had alwaysimagined that I’d be looking into those dark twisted eyes when Death came to fetch me. And if I was honest, it wasn’t a bad way to go. There was so much I wanted to scream at those eyes, but it was unnecessary.
I felt it around me—Fate had woven this moment together. And no one could escape Fate. We were always meant to end up right here—the devil and the witch, locked together in an inescapable room, forced to face each other.
