Rooming with the Wicked

20 | behind the bookshelf

"You're...different," Danox said at last.

I leveled him with a questioning frown.

"I mean, just...not how I thought you'd be."

We were hunched over a stone table near the path into Tenebris Forest I'd followed him down only last week, two cups of sugary, caffeinated goodness in front of us. Red, orange, and brownish leaves littered the entire courtyard, rustling softly in the breeze.

Bright orange pumpkins sat on nearly every flat surface, fake spider webs were draped across the surrounding bushes, and Victorian-style metal lantern covers had replaced the normal ones. If anyone hadn't noticed Halloween was coming up, they sure had to now.

The early afternoon sun warmed my back, while Danox kept to the shade. Despite the comfortable fall heat, he was wearing fingerless black gloves that perfectly completed his entirely black attire, minus the shoes, of course.

"I guess I can say the same about you," I said. "Once you get past the whole grumpy kitty thing..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "The what?"

"Grumpy Kitty, a.k.a. you."

"You can't be serious."

"What? It fits. You've gotta see that."

He downed the rest of his coffee, set the cup down on the table between us, and leaned back, shaking his head ever so slightly. "I'm not even gonna answer that."

Clearly, because he couldn't argue against it.

"Fine," I said. "So, you good with the plan?"

"You mean if breaking into your dad's office sounds like a great idea?" He cracked his neck. "Hell, yes."

"Technically it's not breaking in... But, yeah, he probably shouldn't catch us."

"If he shows up, I'll know before he bursts through the door."

Taking a sip of my pumpkin spice latte, I smiled. "You see, I knew there was a reason to bring you along."

"Oh?" He tilted his head to the side. "Thought I was the closest thing to a friend you got."

"Well, there's that too, I guess," I grumbled. "You don't have to rub it in."

A small grin appeared on his face. "After what you did to me in the forest, you bet I do."

Admittedly, he might have a point.

***

The penthouse was eerily quiet when we stepped into the foyer. Clarence's car hadn't been parked in his usual spot in the middle of the sidewalk, but that didn't mean he wasn't around.

In all likelihood, he'd thrown another party last night and was still sleeping it off. If that was the case, hopefully, we didn't run into him or any of his Vanguard buddies. Seeing me was one thing, but seeing Danox... That would not go down well.

"What makes you think your dad would keep records of this kinda stuff here?" Danox asked as I closed Dad's office door behind us.

The room was as immaculate as ever; not even a single picture frame was out of place. Not that he had many. There was just his framed diploma on the wall, a picture with his ambassador buddies, two of Clarence and my stepmother, and the fakest family portrait ever.

"There's a secret room behind the bookshelf," I said, pointing at the wall behind the enormous oak desk.

"Seriously?"

"Total cliché, I know." I pushed his heavy cushioned chair out of my way, stepped up to the shelf, and started running my fingers over the spines of Dad's treasured encyclopedia collection, looking for the fake book among them. "But if you had to keep records of something that was never supposed to see the light of day, you wouldn't keep it at the archives."