Madeleine opened the door slowly, hoping beyond hope that the Boss wasn't in his office. Damien had said to improvise, but just walking up to the Boss's door and entering without an invitation was a surreal experience for her. It felt wrong. She may have always given a lot of sass, but she had always waited to be summoned. She had never summoned herself. There were some lines she'd known better than to cross. Beside her, Aric took his shotgun out of its strap and nodded encouragingly. Madeleine flung the door open the rest of the way, and followed Aric into the room.
The Boss glared at them from his desk and opened his mouth, probably to demand an explanation for their uninvited entry. When he saw Madeleine, his eyebrow raised, but he managed to maintain a neutral expression.
"Madeleine Hart. I must admit, I did not expect to be seeing you," he remarked coldly.
"Let me guess. You're the one who's been spreading the rumours of my death," Madeleine replied, more calmly than she felt. She could swear everyone in the room could hear her heart pounding. "I'm afraid you were quite mistaken. As you can see, I am very much alive."
"Not only that." The Boss gritted his teeth. "I didn't think you'd have the nerve to show up here, after selling me that fake jewel of yours."
Madeleine stared. Fake? There was no way the jewel was fake. She'd never let it out of her sight, until she'd given it to the Boss. There was no way someone could have switched it on her.
"Fake?" Damien repeated, furious. He turned on Madeleine. "You brought us here for a fake jewel?"
"You brought a Prince of Hell, the son of the Devil himself, to Enigma's main base of operations?" The Boss snarled, noticing Damien for the first time. "Who's your vampire friend with the gun? The son of some major vampire clan leader?" He gestured towards Aric angrily.
"I'm no one," Aric grated out.
"The jewel's not fake. That's impossible," Madeleine snapped, "I stole it off an angel myself, and never let it out of my sight. That jewel is the real thing."
The Boss growled. "It is most definitely not the real jewel. I never told you this, to prevent you coveting it for yourself, but the real Jewel of Heaven is a jewel of great magic, and grants it's wielder enough power to rival that of any demon or angel, possibly even the Devil himself! But when I held it, I gained no powers! Nothing changed! It's just an ordinary jewel!" He ranted.
"Let us see it, then, if it's nothing special," Madeleine suggested, "Let us confirm it for ourselves."
The Boss sneered. "It is real, isn't it? You just did something- cast some spell so that you're the only one who can use it, didn't you? I'm no idiot. You'll never get it." He crossed his arms stubbornly.
"You heard the lady," Aric snarled, "Hand over the jewel. Now." He aimed his shotgun at the Boss's chest, and turned the safety off.
The Boss looked at him slowly, and for the first time, smirked. "No." His hand slipped beneath his desk.
Madeleine didn't know how she managed to react quickly enough. Aric, with all his superb vampire reflexes, had only managed to stare in horror, and Damien hadn't moved at all. There was only a silver blur, but somehow Madeleine managed to grab the knife out of the air before it pierced Aric's chest, and fling it back at the Boss.
It embedded itself in his chest. He let out a gasp, as blood sprayed all over the desk, and then he started gasping for air. He coughed, and choked up blood. It was no use. Eventually, he slumped across the desk, still.
Aric stared at her. "You-you saved my life," He stammered out.
She shrugged, and strode to the painting behind the Boss's desk. "You would have done the same for me."
She pulled the painting back, revealing a small safe. She'd watched the Boss take something out or put something inside so many times that she had the combination memorized.
Inside was the jewel she had stolen from the angel in the airport. She removed it from the safe carefully.
"Great work!" Damien grinned. "We've got it, finally. Now give it to me," he ordered, holding out a hand for it.
Madeleine hesitated.
"The jewels exist to balance each other out. Someone who had both would be nearly unstoppable."
YOU ARE READING
Thief's Honour
FantasíaMadeleine Hart isn't a normal girl- she's a thief, the best of the best. She can steal anything from anyone, immortal or mortal. Her abilities are put to the test when she's threatened by the son of the Devil, who needs her skills to pull off a very...
