Obsidian's Reign ¹

∷ Chapter 44 ∷

"DID SOMETHING HAPPEN while we were away?" Rylan asked. He eyed the group with a tinge of scrutiny, though his question was primarily focused on two particular individuals.

"No," Clara responded far too quickly, shifting her gaze when she accidentally met Adric's.

The prince grinned.

"Sure," he said, his tone teasing. "Of course, nothing happened."

Zephyr scowled at him but remained silent, crossing his arms as he looked away, thankful he'd somehow ended up in the seat nearest the window. The atmosphere surrounding the group turned strained and awkward immediately after the brief exchange.

Jae and Rylan shared a look, and with a mutual understanding, it was decided that the former would take the reins of the conversation.

Clearing his throat pointedly—an act that successfully managed to get everyone's attention—he said, "Okay, so, here's what we've got."

He proceeded to reach for the bag he'd stashed under the table, startling the others by dropping it with a heavy thud onto the surface. He unzipped it, prying the bag open and tilting it towards Zephyr and Clara.

"Uniforms?" she asked, reaching for the dark blue jumpsuits, fingers grazing the coarse material.

Jae nodded.

"We don't have to break into the building. Celdric said the key was to get onto the roof. He didn't say we have to get into the building to get there. When you mentioned windows, it got me thinking—don't window cleaners get free access to the buildings they're scheduled to clean? We could use their metal scaffolds to get us to the top without having to attract the angels' attention. With the uniforms, they wouldn't even be able to tell the difference."

Clara glanced at Cloud Industries, noticing for the first time the scaffolding by the side of the building, already prepped and awaiting usage. She looked at the uniforms once more, seeing the stitched patch with the cleaning company's logo and adjacent to that, the name of the individual who once donned said uniform.

"And where exactly did you get these uniforms?" she asked.

"Three words," Adric said, lifting a hand to indicate the number with his fingers. "Grab. And. Go."

Celdric hurried to add, "You have nothing to worry about. The men are fine. Jae induced them into a comfortable sleep and they are currently taking rest in the alleyway at the back of the building."

Before anything more could be argued, Rylan said, "But we have a problem."

"What problem?" Zephyr asked, frowning.

"There are seven of us and only four sets of uniforms."

There was no denying the simple brilliance behind the initial plan: ascend the outside of the building with the metal scaffolding and get to the roof without any unwanted interferences. But, of course, there wouldn't be enough disguises. After all, the scaffolding could only take so much weight. There was a limit to the number of people it could withstand, and four was already pushing it, let alone all seven of them.

"Clara and Marek should stay behind," Rylan said.

"What?" Zephyr exclaimed, appalled, to which Rylan merely shrugged.

"She may have the weapon, but she doesn't have to be the one who kills Luther. Any one of us can do it. Besides, I doubt she'd be able to go through with it. Killing someone doesn't come as easily to humans as they do with our kind," he explained. "I'm merely suggesting the obvious."

Annoyed, Zephyr continued by asking, "So you're suggesting that we just leave her here?"

"She wouldn't have a use even if she came with us."