Page 53 of Client from Hell

Nice. I preened over my skills having captured the incubus’s attention. “I’m just warning you I haven’t shrouded other people before. I usually use these on me, so I don’t want to make a mistake. The cameras are easy. I developed this to hit that damned mini mansion. I also have a few runes good for some internal scouting. That’s how I checked to make sure nobody was inside.”

“Including the pets,” Jonas stated.

“I would have totally torched the place if only Lucifer had been inside. I’m not an angel, and a little flame would have tickled.”

“He would have gone even crazier had you done that, especially since your shrouds are that good.”

“Did you know I considered them to be just illusions, not actually shrouds? To me, I was just hiding things with illusions. I know what they are now, but I swear I had just been working with illusions.”

“A shroud really is just a really advanced illusion, but one that manipulates magic as well as sight. But that’s probably why you didn’t even skirt the line on the universal laws. You weren’t trying to create a shroud. You were creating illusions, and the intent really matters. But now that you’re converting—or have already been converted—you no longer classify as mortal. Shrouding is no longer forbidden. He would have made certain you could work your shrouds without violating the universal laws.”

He would drive me to the limits of my sanity. “How close did I get to getting eradicated from seeing through the shrouds, do you think?”

“Unfortunately, you were pretty close. It leaves a mark when someone begins to see through the shrouds. Lucifer confirmed you were marked, although unlike Diana, you were naturally resilient to the consequences of the mark. Diana came within a hair of eradication. You had a way to go, although you were getting closer than Lucifer likes thinking about. Part of why He intervened, I presume. The first time you see Lucifer without his shroud, you’ll get the shock of your life, but you’ll survive it. And it gets easier to tolerate with additional exposure. Lucifer is still training Diana. She’s hilarious when he removes his shroud. She positively freaks out, and then she needs some time with Darian, because Lucifer is her type and she hates admitting it. Darian is also very much like his uncle, which does not help her in the slightest. She loves tall, dark, and ridiculously handsome men, which both Lucifer and Darian are. Darian is smart and asks the Devil to drop his shroud when he wants a good time and doesn’t want to nag Diana about it.”

Giggles built in my chest, and I fought to keep them contained while I worked on the illusions we would need to infiltrate the former warehouse. “That’s fucking hilarious.”

“For someone with his reputation, Lucifer really likes making sure everyone is happy in his house.”

“Happy or just frequently laid?” I asked.

“The answer is both. But with the equines? If they aren’t frequently laid, nobody is happy.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Not really. Should everyone around you be concerned? Definitely. I think you’re going to be true to form, considering your current behavior and drive. How are your shrouds going to work for this?”

“I’m going to give you a sheet of paper, which you’ll put in your pocket and leave there. The paper will maintain the spell, gradually eating away at it until the magic breaks. It will last two hours. If you tear the sheet in half, it will break the illusion. I’ll use the same type of illusion. A second sheet I’ll give you will make sure all recording devices fail to capture your image. It basically neutralizes all forms of cameras and loops a recording of where you were the moment before you stepped into the camera’s view.”

“This is what you used at Lucifer’s place?”

I shook my head. “I created an illusionary loop of about thirty seconds of ‘recording’ so the camera was constantly working until I burned the place down and the cameras broke from the flames.”

“The next time Lucifer is about to move out of a mortal residence, I’m tipping you off so we can do another hit.”

I giggled at the idea of having an accomplice to help me attack Lucifer’s wallet again. “Deal.”

“Anything else I should know about these shrouds?”

“Not that I can think of. If the rune is destroyed, you’ll become visible. It’s generally okay if it gets wet, but it won’t tolerate being torn or burned. The paper will degrade from the edges and work its way in.”

“Is there a reason you didn’t use a larger sheet of paper?”

“The magic only lasts two hours in this form, give or take ten minutes. It doesn’t matter how large or small the paper is. It’s probably some form of limitation of using paper as the foundation for the illusion. I recommend we get out of there within an hour and a half, else we might end up in a rather uncomfortable position.”

“Can neutralizer disrupt it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried neutralizer. Too expensive.”

Jonas nodded. “We’ll have to experiment later with this. Diana has to place her shrouds directly onto the object. She can’t create portable shrouds like you can. That’s pretty impressive. Of course, she can summon Lucifer on her whim rather than his.”

I stopped my work to stare at him. “Did you just say she can summon Lucifer?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Remind me not to piss Diana off.”

“I will endeavor to do just that.” Jonas transferred most of our stuff to the trunk. “Can you put a ward on the car so people avoid her?”