It's A Twin Thing | j. clarke [1]

sixteen

-:- House of Risks / House of Thieves -:-

My hand flew over my mouth as the creak of the door radiated through the office. I felt my heart pounding through my chest, and I tried as hard as I could to not breathe too loudly. Nina was still on the other side of the desk, and I guessed Victor hadn't seen her since he hadn't said anything. I listened as Victor closed the blinds and stepped toward Nina's direction. Nina crawled behind the desk to counter his movement and held her finger up to her lips as she passed me.

From my hiding spot, I could only see a sliver of Victor's hand as he bent down to open the safe. I saw him press the upper-right hand button, just as Nina had, but then deviated from the code Fabian gave us. When the safe was open, Victor gently placed a back lockbox inside. Before I could dwell too long on what was inside the lockbox, Victor reached in again and pull out two rectangular objects. One was the one Nina and Fabian had found in the staircase, but where had the other one come from?

I hadn't realized I'd leaned forward until Victor stood, giving me the opportunity to shrink back under the desk before he saw me. I tensed and watched his black leather shoes take the few steps needed to sit at his desk before he sat in his chair. He stretched out his leg with a loud crack at his knee. I narrowly avoided his foot as I tucked my knees to my chest, hoping to make myself as small as possible.

"Why are there two, Corbierre?" I heard him ask aloud.

A wave of confusion rippled through me—not even he knew why there were two pieces. Thee had to mean something, it was just a matter of what. Whatever their purpose, I was positive Nina and I wanted to keep those pieces away from Victor.

The ring of his phone sounded through the office, and I had to hold myself back from jumping in surprise. Any sudden movement could give away where I was, and if Victor found me, then he was likely to find Nina, too.

"Victor Roddenmar," he answered before a pause. "In the audience? Don't worry, I shall eliminate the target for good this time."

I hoped he meant Rufus because I knew how much Joy meant to Patricia and the other members of Anubis House. I tensed as Victor returned to the safe after hanging up the phone. He put the pieces back and closed it swiftly before standing. I remained still until I heard the door hinges squeak, signaling Victor was fully gone.

Nina moved around the corner of the desk to face me, a look of relief plastered across her face.

"That was close," she said.

"No kidding," I agreed. "How did he miss you?"

"We don't have time to think about that, we have to get back to the play." She said with a shrug.

"You go," I offered. "I'll get the pieces from the safe. Did you see him put in the code?"

"It's 3-3-5-7 twice," she nodded.