Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I didn't see Vance or Damien again until I left the room the following morning and wandered into the dining area. Both of them were seated at opposite ends of the table, eating in silence. Pulling a chair out in the middle, I sat down and began to serve myself from the buffet of food in the center.

"How did you sleep, my dear?" Damien asked cordially, lifting a pitcher of orange juice and pouring some into a glass for me.

I didn't answer him. It was rude, but I was beyond caring about manners right at the moment.

"That well?" Damien continued on as if I were talking to him. "I would wager Vance didn't sleep much better. I could hear him tossing and turning on the couch all night long. It was quite distracting."

Good, I thought to myself, making sure to keep my eyes on my plate and not interact with either of them at all.

"So are the two of you ready to hear the plan for today?" Damien asked, and I still didn't acknowledge him, but Vance did.

"We've been ready since you introduced this whole thing to us days ago," he replied in an irritated voice. "Let's get on with it."

"Very well," Damien said. "Tonight we are attending a charity ball at a private residence of a collector I know. While we're there we'll be implementing a plan to get down into a secure vault where our host keeps his very private collection. There we'll attempt to recover a key, which happens to be a set of three Greek torches bound together by a rope.

"To get the torches we will need to bypass a state of the art security system. There are two guards who do a regular ground patrol of the property, but due to the party, there will be more on the premises to provide extra protection during the event. We'll need to follow the time schedule of the guard on his route, moving through his checkpoints at a specific time. There are also other alarms that will trigger around the artifact."

"Why do you need us?" Vance asked Damien. "This all sounds like stuff you could easily circumvent with your magic."

"It would seem the case, but these are very special artifacts we'll be gathering, all with extreme magical significance. The odds of wards being in place with these items are great."

"Do you have any idea what these so called wards will entail?"

"None," Damien replied, reaching for his steaming mug of coffee and taking a sip.

"Isn't that a little presumptuous of you then, to think you'll be able to prepare for something, when you actually have no idea what it is?" Vance's voice was measured, but the expression on his face looked a little angry.

"I have faith the three of us can pull anything off, son, don't you? I mean look at us." He waved his arm around. "We're some of the most powerful witches and warlocks in the world. If we can't do it, who can?" He chuckled, as if this answer was obvious.

"Pardon me if I don't relish the idea of dying at a moment's notice," Vance said in a frustrated tone. "I don't have the instant healing properties you and Portia are gifted with anymore."

"But you do regenerate," Damien reminded him. "So, all is well."

"I only regenerate at your whim," Vance argued back hotly. "I wouldn't put it past you to leave me rotting on the floor while you whisked my wife off to places unknown."

Damien laughed loudly at this comment. "As tempting as that sounds, I can assure you that you are safe with me. I need you for other projects, and I'm afraid I would no longer have Portia's willing cooperation if I were to allow something to happen to you."