wing of the building. There were cameras everywhere, and I didn’t want Myrddin wondering why an elevator opened and closed on its own, nor did I want to risk riding up and down until someone wanted to go to the right floor. The cloak hid us visually. It couldn’t hide our mass if someone brushed up against us. According to Lee, there was something about the cloak that hid it from cameras and allowed eyes to see what they thought they would see. If we stood in front of the door, there wouldn’t be a shadow there. They would see right through the cloak. There was nothing I could do about the door coming open, but my father was there to make sure no one was hanging out. Sarah had a spell for the camera in the hallway and the one on the door that would let Myrddin know who was standing there. We were lucky with that. Sarah was our official witch. She was the only one the security systems weren’t warded against in case we needed her.
I needed her today.
“Are you done?” I didn’t mean to sound so irritated, but we needed to get a move on. I wanted Lee to be safely in bed by the time Myrddin figured out his book was gone. I would be sitting on a couch somewhere doing my nails and trying to look pretty. After all, according to Myrddin, that was my job.
Lee popped back up, nearly knocking me over. He winced. “Sorry. Yeah. I’m ready. I stretched and everything.”
It was good to know my father still taught the same things. I hadn’t stretched. Probably should have.
“Did you go to the bathroom?”
“Mom,” Lee groaned.
“Fine. Let’s go.” I couldn’t help it. I was his mom, and I went on several jobs with my dad when I was his age. Thievery didn’t care that I couldn’t stay home alone. If Dad couldn’t find a sitter, I’d often gone as his assistant. And I usually told him I didn’t need to use the bathroom and then I almost always did, and sometimes there wasn’t a bathroom around. It had been rough on my preteen self to have to find a place to pee in the middle of a swamp when we were stealing from a hobgoblin.
We shuffled forward. Like I said, it’s not easy moving in tandem with someone, and I had zero idea how he’d managed to fit Rhys and Sean under here with him.
“You know this is going away when we’re done here,” I said.
Lee sighed. “I knew this would get me in trouble. I should have talked to Hugo first and gotten immunity.”
Hugo Wells was the Council’s lawyer. It didn’t surprise me my son had thought about that. “I would still hide the cloak. You don’t need to sneak around, baby.”
“I do. Like Grandpa said, information is the best thing I can steal,” he replied resolutely. “I’m going to work for Kelsey, and she needs me to know things.”
I’d heard this plan and I was kind of all for it. Kelsey had come to me and explained that she thought she should start training Lee. It would give him a place where he fit in, a job he could do when he was older, but he was going to start small. We shuffled toward the turn and then there would be a straight line to the front door. “I’ve only agreed that you can intern for her this summer. You’ll be filing reports and helping out Justin most of the time.”
“Sure. That sounds like fun,” he said cheerily.
My guard went up. I didn’t say anything but I would have Justin spying like the blood-oathed vampire he was. Whenever my kid agrees with me, I know he’s planning something. “You have to keep your grades up.”
“I will.” His hands were holding the cloak together.
Though we were fully inside the cloak, we could see. The world was a bit hazy, like it had a film over it.
“Hello, Sarah.” I heard my father behind me. “I was hoping to talk to you about a problem I’ve been having.”
“Of course, Harry. Come on in,” Sarah said. “You know my daughter, Mia.”
“Hello, Mr. Wharton. How is Lee doing?” Mia asked. “Is he being careful? You know about school and stuff?”
I groaned. The child wasn’t subtle. “You told Mia?”
“I have to tell Mia. Mia knows everything anyway,” he shot back. “You tell Neil everything.”
“I do not, and there’s a good reason for that. He’s a horrible liar.”