Assuming that wasn’t a direct threat (she hoped), Rose leaned in to look at the plans, brushing her breasts against his arm. Although he did a good job of pretending not to notice, Rose caught the little tick of a muscle in his jaw. God, he was fun. Trying to suppress her smirk, she asked, “What am I looking at?”
He tapped a finger at the edge of the plans. “The vault is underground. Far underground. We must be inside the hotel to travel to that level. Once there, you’ll travel into the vault.”
“Why am I traveling in?”
“Because according to the information Bran has sent over, the vault is alarmed with a spell that will trigger if a man, other than Schneider, steps foot inside it.”
“Again, why am—”
“Man, Rose. Not woman. Man.”
Indignation flooded. “That sexist asshat. What? He thinks a woman can’t steal from him?”
“The only person he’s expecting to steal An Breitheamh is me. A male.”
“Yeah, who could, and is, enlisting a female to help him. What is this guy’s problem? He thinks a woman can’t best him?”
“Yes.” Fionn turned his head to meet her eyes. “From everything I’ve heard of the man, he thinks exactly that.”
She was affronted. “Misogynistic dipshit. Chauvinist pig. Bigoted dickwad. Sounds like someone needs a good kick to the jewels, if you ask me.”
Fionn studied her a second. They stood so close her breath caught. Then a definite glimmer of amusement crept over his face. “Let’s leave the jewel-kicking out of it. At least physically. Metaphorically,” he said, looking down at the drawings, “we’re about to show the bastard that you never underestimate a woman.”
18
The plan itself was simple.
What wasn’t so simple were the people waiting to kill them at Hotel Saber.
Well, not exactly at the hotel.
Schneider had banned any supernatural from entering the hotel until after eleven thirty that evening. As a powerful warlock, he’d spelled the entire perimeter of the building with an alarm like the one inside the vault.
This meant that neither the Blackwood Coven nor the Garm would be inside the hotel, waiting to kill Rose. According to Bran, her parents’ coven was unaware of the auction for the dagger and was still fumbling around in Europe trying to pick up her and Fionn’s trail.
So that was something at least.
However, the Blackwoods and the Garm would be in the vicinity. They would see Rose and Fionn coming if they approached the hotel by foot. That’s why they weren’t going to. Fionn would create a gap in the perimeter spell so that he and Rose could travel inside via the delivery entrance at the back.
Once inside, they’d pretend to be a couple staying at the hotel to avoid suspicion, until they could get to the restrooms. With the memory of the plans in mind, Rose would travel into the vault, while Fionn traveled outside of it. She would then poof out next to him so he could double-check she’d collected the correct dagger, they’d travel back to the restrooms, then back to the hotel, and then poof several blocks away to the outer grounds of Camp Nou.
If they could do that and avoid everyone who wanted to kill them, great.
Butterflies, different from the kind induced by Fionn, swarmed in Rose’s gut.
“You ready?” he asked.
They were outside Camp Nou, the soccer stadium, preparing to travel inside the delivery entrance at Hotel Saber. To be honest, Rose would have preferred if they could’ve departed somewhere a little closer to the hotel, but this was as close as Fionn was willing to get.
He insisted the Blackwoods and the Garm probably had the hotel surrounded for at least a block.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted.
Nerves had always plagued her in competition when she was an athlete, but she’d never admitted it out loud. In her mind, that was admitting weakness.
Fionn was the most complicated man she’d ever met. She felt conflicted about the choices he’d made in the past yet ultimately decided she couldn’t judge. Hadn’t she killed a warlock in self-defense? Rose felt she understood her companion, and more than that, despite his often-grumpy demeanor, she felt safe to be herself with him.
He gave her a clipped nod. “It would be foolish of you not to be nervous. But you can do this. I’m right here with you.”
“Okay.”
“Ready? Visualize where that delivery entrance is.”
Fionn had assured her that although she had no idea what the entrance looked like in real life, it was enough to