Fire Rose Hillson
As I stood in the dimly lit Crossroads Museum, the grandeur of the building took on an entirely different aura under the cover of night. The towering statues cast long, eerie shadows on the marble floor, and the moonlight streaming through the massive skylights painted the exhibits in a ghostly glow but....
Why am I laughing at the sight before me?
Jack, was anxiously biting the nail on his thumb, mumbling about how Cronus was going to kill him. Nicholas was standing nearby, sighing heavily at Jack's display, reassuring him for what seemed like the thirtieth time that everything was going to be okay. Amidst the chaos and the pressure of stopping the heist, I found all of this oddly amusing. The high stakes and tense atmosphere were supposed to make me feel stressed, but instead, I felt a strange sense of fun.
Nicholas's men were moving the original art pieces into a hidden storage room and replacing them with fake ones. Acquiring the fake art pieces had been surprisingly easy thanks to our connections in the black market. Each fake piece had a tracking device discreetly placed on it, ready to catch Themis and Catrina in the act. I was monitoring the men as they moved the pieces when Jack nervously approached me.
"Rose," he stammered, his voice shaky, "if Cronus finds out about this, can I say it was all your idea?"
I laughed, shaking my head at him. "Jack, you're a big man, even bigger than Cronus. How is it that you fear him like he's the devil?"
Jack's eyes widened, and he replied earnestly, "Because he is the devil."
I couldn't help but think to myself, "But he's sweet to me." When I looked back at Jack and Nicholas, I noticed their expressions of disbelief.
Just then, Nicholas's phone rang, its sharp tone slicing through the tense atmosphere. He glanced at the screen and smirked, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Speaking of the devil," he said, turning the phone to show me the caller ID. It was Cronus.
"Answer it and put it on speaker," I instructed, trying to keep my voice steady despite the sudden rush of adrenaline.
Nicholas answered the call, his tone dripping with teasing amusement. "What an honor to be called by the mighty Cronus"
Cronus's voice crackled through the speaker, sounding as foul-tempered as ever. "Where is Rose?" he demanded, his annoyance clear.
Nicholas's grin widened, clearly relishing the opportunity to mess with Cronus. "Oh, Rose? She's sleeping on my bed right now," he replied, his voice deliberately casual and provocative.
My eyes widened in shock, and I lunged for the phone, snatching it from Nicholas's hand. I quickly ended the call, my heart pounding in my chest. I glared at Nicholas, who was barely containing his laughter. "Why did you do that?" I shouted, my voice a mix of frustration and incredulity.
Nicholas shrugged, still grinning. "Relax, Rose. I was just having a bit of fun. I was going to say it was a joke, but you ended the call so quickly that it made it seem more believable."
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "You know how he gets, Nicholas. Now he's probably fuming."
Nicholas chuckled, clearly unconcerned. "Oh, come on, Rose. A little teasing won't kill him."
"Yeah, but he's probably gonna kill you!" I shouted in disbelief. He shrugs in response
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his nonchalance. "Let's just wrap this up and get out of here before he decides to come looking for us."
Surprisingly, Nicholas's men moved pretty quickly, and we ended much earlier than planned. Before we parted ways, I laid out the plan for what we should do tomorrow.
