Page 82 of Tempting the Tiger
When I step back and show him, he scowls. “Under where?”
I rub the back of my head as I stare at the messy writing, trying to clear my mind enough to think straight. My head snaps up, my tiger snarling. “The warehouse.”
Ethan growls. “We searched every inch of that place last night. No way we’d have missed a hidden door or access hatch.”
“We must have. I know we dismissed the idea of an underground tunnel, but what about a basement?”
Modern British warehouses are invariably built on solid concrete slabs, but there’s an exception to every rule and a basement level would explain everything.
“Assuming it’s glamoured, Bryn would have still seen the entrance, so where has he never been?”
My stomach clenches when I realise our mistake. “He didn’t go into the ladies’ toilets last night, and Ember and Aire both came out of there.Bollocks. Hang on, let me make a call.”
I stand and pull out my Dhiren phone, ignore the eighty-seven messages on the group chat with the cat shifters from work, and call Felicia. It rings twice before she answers.
“Why haven’t you been replying to messages, ya big twat? This is not a day to ghost us!”
I put on Dhiren’s Cockney accent because even though I’m no longer undercover, I don’t have time for explanations. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a terrible friend. Listen, can you describe the women’s loos at work?”
There’s a pause. “What for, ya fucking weirdo?”
“I promise I’ll explain later. Please, Felicia.”
“You’d better.” She sighs. “They’re fairly standard. Fourcubicles, four sinks with dodgy taps, soap dispensers that are always broken or empty, two mirrors above the sinks, and dodgy pink tile from far too many decades ago. The paper towels have usually run out, and there’s a storage cupboard with mops and shit.”
My heart starts pounding, my grip tight on my phone. That has to be it.
“Thanks.” I hang up before she can question me, my heart racing. “The storage cupboard,” I whisper to Ethan as heavy footsteps approach from the landing, the scent of humans reaching my nose.
He nods sharply. “Agreed. Let’s gather everyone for an update and if that’s still our best lead, we’ll gear up.”
“Fire brigade! Vacate the premises,” a firefighter calls out as two of them appear at the front door.
Both are human, so I carefully step on Bryn’s message and smear it with my shoe. We’ve found out all we can here.
Chapter Twenty
RAJ
“Hold still,” Ayo says as he stares at the black tourmaline on a leather cord around my neck.
“Why don’t I just take it off?” I reach for the clasp.
He knocks my hands away, giving me an exasperated look. “Because from the way Skye is driving like a World Rally champion we don’t have time for that, especially if this doesn’t work first time. It’s still a new thing for me, okay?”
I swallow my impatience and dutifully wait, the buzzing sensation under my skin making it hard to stay still. We’re fully geared up and in a Soldati Security SUV this time, not giving a shit about the element of surprise. Ayo insisted on giving everyone else personal shield charms as well—we don’t know exactly what we’ll be walking into if there is a basement level below Far Out Freight’s warehouse—and now he’s adjusting the spells on mine.
He muttered something about needing to tweak the prototype based on the magical blueprints Bryn gave him outside Lance’s office last night. I’m not sure if something’s changedin the way the spells in the warehouse have been set up, or if he’s making adjustments now that he’s felt the magic for himself, but either way I appreciate the added protection.
“Done,” he says just as we’re flung sideways, our seat belts locking as Skye wrenches the SUV around a sharp corner, the tyres squealing. We actually achieve lift-off as we hit the speed bump into the deserted Far Out Freight car park, landing with a hard crunch and a screech of brakes.
It feels like déjà vu as we spill out onto the tarmac, rifles raised. Kit and Skye head off to secure the perimeter per Ethan’s orders, and the rest of us burst through the front doors into the foyer.
I try my security pass to access the main warehouse floor but I’ve been locked out of the system, so at Ethan’s nod he and I both ram the door with our shoulders. It cracks but doesn’t give so we try again, then a third time until we’re spilling into the deserted warehouse.
Jet and Cal split off from us to check that the warehouse floor is clear while Ethan, Ayo, and I race for the ladies’ toilets. We burst through the outer door, then the inner, and head straight for the door cracked ajar on the far wall, a mop and bucket visible through the gap.
“So is it a glamour?” I ask, unable to keep my impatience from leaking into my tone.
