Step three: open the locked door.

  Arturo led the others up the stairs. His heart should have been racing right now, and his thoughts should have been scattered without his craft mana. But he felt a strange sense of calm as he climbed the wooden staircase toward the top floor. Each step felt deliberate beneath his boots, and every thought came focused and clear.

  He hadn’t been half this calm before he’d graduated, or this confident. Maybe he’d changed down in Creta with all those smuggling runs, car chases, and street fights. Or maybe it was the countless battles with his team. Not to mention all those Master-level dragons they’d faced along the way.

  What was a little heist compared to that?

  They passed the main antechamber and circled around a long corridor on the building’s west side. This brought them to an unassuming brown door with no labels. It looked like a supply closet to the untrained eye. Either that, or a utility room filled with sigil grids, pipes, and wires—the sort of room that most people ignored.

  In reality, this was the back door to the restricted section.

  Unlike the main door, this didn’t have a scanner for insignias. Instead, the silver knob sported a narrow keyhole in its center. The keyhole looked as simple as the door itself, but looks could be deceiving.

  “How we doin’ on time?” he asked his teammates.

  Akari glanced down at her watch. “Twelve fourteen.”

  “Perfect.” Arturo said. The wards ran a diagnostic sweep every hour at a quarter past. This sweep would detect any tampering with the doors, along with any active techniques in the room beyond.

  He opened his Silver Sight and studied the sigil grid inside the door. There were twelve major nodes, each connected to the others in a complex web. Disrupt one without accounting for the rest, and he’d sound the alarm.

  Arturo retrieved twelve adhesive pads from his bag, each one inscribed with the appropriate counter sigil. Impressive as this door was, it was still just a factory model. That let him prepare all his counters in advance.

  The others remained quiet as he positioned the adhesive pads, but he’d already told them what to expect from this process. Even a fraction of an inch could throw things off. Arturo cycled craft mana to his second brain as he worked, triple-checking his math and measurements.

  Once the pads were in place, he connected twelve blue wires to a palm-sized conductor. The conductor was made of leythium, just like the wires—two dozen paper-thin layers to ensure a perfect distribution of power.

  “Here goes,” Arturo said as he pushed out a trickle of mana from his palm. He watched the outcome in his Silver Sight, and the sigils canceled each other like inverse sound waves.

  He nodded at his work. “Now for the grand finale.” He held up the Master Key and cycled craft mana into the tiny artifact. Nothing happened at first. But then he brought it to the keyhole, and its shape changed like flowing mercury, adjusting to the shape and size of the lock.

  Slowly, Arturo slid the key inside. He couldn’t see the flowing metal now, but he felt the feedback through his aspect—a hundred tiny changes as the key shifted its teeth to fit.

  There was a soft click, then he twisted the key to the right. The door swung inward with a gentle push, revealing the shadowy interior of the restricted section.

  “Twelve twenty-six,” Akari said from behind him.

  “Forty-nine minutes till the next sweep,” Arturo replied in a low voice. “Should be plenty of time.”

  He removed his adhesive pads from the door, stuffing them back into his bag. With that done, he hit the door with a splash of cleaner—the same brand the library used—and a few good swipes of a microfiber cloth. Better to clean up now, since they’d be leaving this room through Akari’s portal.

  Step 4: copy the dream tablets.

  The group stayed close together as they crept down the first aisle. They didn’t have much of a choice, since Arturo’s camouflage unit only had a twelve-foot radius.

  Fortunately, he’d been up here before. More than a dozen long shelves fanned out from the room’s center, stretching all the way to the edges. A stone arcade ran along two-thirds of the outer wall with stained glass windows between the pillars. There were also small cameras hidden within the shadows of the arches, but that shouldn’t be a problem as long as they stayed inside the camo unit.

  A row of heavy metal doors dominated the north wall, even more secure than the room itself. In addition to the mechanical locks and sigil wards, each vault had a biometric scanner, attuned to the Artegium faculty members.

  Arturo couldn’t crack that scanner on his own, but they’d packed a mana battery with a small piece of Glim’s power. That shouldn’t be necessary, but they had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

  For now, he led the team down the aisle on the east side of the room, pausing to face a row of dream tablets on the bottom shelf. These were arranged like books, and their spines listed the names and aspects of their creators.

  “This is it?” Akari asked.

  Arturo breathed a sigh of relief as he knelt on the marble floor. “This is it, shoka.”

  He pulled a case from the shelf and ran his gloved fingers over the transparent surface. A protective shell covered each tablet, with sigils etched around the edges. There was a small opening on the bottom—big enough to cycle mana through the tablet, but not big enough to make a copy.

  Arturo had already practiced with this exact case back at the loft, so it only took him two minutes to counter the protective sigils. From there, his manatronic screwdriver made quick work of the rest.

  He placed the exposed tablet on a small mat he’d spread out on the floor, then he removed a blank one from his bag and placed it next to the original. Both tablets were identical in size and shape, but the blank one had a smooth surface, free of sigils.

  “Time?” he asked without looking up.

  “Twelve thirty-one,” Akari said

  So far so good. He retrieved a small connector from his bag—two thin wires of blue leythium that connected to the ports on each tablet. Then he cycled craft mana from the first tablet into the blank one.

  The sigils on the original gave a faint blue glow and phantom images appeared over its blank counterpart. Arturo grinned as he watched the complex patterns transfer from one surface to the other.

  The next twenty minutes passed without incident as he set up five more connections. The process was more or less automatic at this point, but Arturo kept a close eye on the mana transfers, making small tweaks as needed.

  “Twelve fifty-five,” Akari said as she paced within the small radius of their como unit. “How’s it going down there?”

  “First one’s almost done,” he said. “Should be done with time to spare.”

  “What about the cases?” Kalden asked.

  “No worries, shoko. I’ll have them back in . . . ” He trailed off as footsteps echoed from outside the main entrance. “You guys hear that?

  “Someone’s coming.” Akari stretched a hand toward the floor—probably to open their escape portal.

  “Stay calm,” Kalden said. “Security makes its rounds up here, but they don’t come inside.”

  Arturo nodded as he glanced back down at the tablets. Ninety percent.

  The footsteps grew louder, and a cold dread settled in his stomach. Had they triggered a silent alarm? He’d been careful with the door, but what if he’d overlooked something else? Arturo cycled his aspect and pushed that thought aside. They could deal with campus security if it came to that. Better to stay clear-headed until then.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  The main entrance gave a quiet beep as it accepted someone’s insignia, then the double doors pivoted inward. Arturo opened his Silver Sight and scanned the newcomers through the shelf. He couldn’t see their faces from this vantage, but all three of them looked like Artisans.

  He could work with that. As long as it wasn’t a teacher or a knowledge artist . . .

  Akari peeked around the shelf for a better look.

  “Shit,” she hissed after a short pause. “That’s Trask!”

  ~~~

  Step Five: get back to the Mirage.

  Kalden cycled his battle mana as the newcomers fanned out across the restricted section. Trask headed straight for the row of locked doors while the others scanned the surrounding aisles.

  They couldn’t see Kalden’s group through the camouflage device, but Trask was a knowledge artist. He probably had techniques to deal with this exact scenario.

  “How much longer?” he asked Arturo.

  “We’re close, shoko. Three minutes—maybe five.” His voice sounded shaky for the first time that night.

  “They’re looking for us,” Akari whispered despite the sound suppressor. “How’d they know?”

  “Looks empty,” one of Trask’s friends said when they reached the center of the room.

  “Doesn’t mean it is.” Trask’s mouth made a thin line as he scanned the aisles. “Do a full search. And send someone over to the Mirage Nightclub—check if Zeller’s still there.”

  Kalden swallowed, and he felt Akari’s unease through their soulbond. Their public display had seemed like overkill before. Now, it might not be enough.

  Trask stopped at one particular door near the maintenance entrance and scanned his thumb on the keypad. The pad beeped its approval, and the door slid open.

  “We must have triggered a trap on our way in,” Kalden said.

  “Could’ve been anything,” Arturo said. “Scanner, pressure plate . . .”

  Akari rounded on him. “You said you checked the schematics?”

  “Those were three years old,” he said. “Doesn’t account for updates”

  “What’s done is done,” Kalden cut in. “Do we retreat, or do we stay?”

  “The copies aren’t done,” Arturo said. “We leave now, we get nothing.”

  “So we take the tablets with us,” Akari said.

  “They’ll know it was you, shoka. The police will get a warrant and—”

  “Who cares?” she interrupted. “They’ll never prove it.”

  “They might still expel you.”

  “Let them. I need these to advance.”

  Kalden tuned them out and considered their other options. Akari might not care about school, but their group couldn’t afford to make too many waves. Ashur Moonfire didn’t see them as a true threat right now, but that could change overnight. At the very least, he could put Kalden’s team under surveillance and catch them using their Aeon techniques against mana beasts. He might even catch them taking a portal to the Solidor’s safe house.

  What else?

  They had a copy of Glim inside a mana battery, but that battery weighed several hundred pounds—hardly suitable for combat. What’s more, it only held enough power for a single Master-level technique. She could probably knock out Trask and wipe his memories, but what about his friends?

  “Do you have any more pocket cells?” he asked Arturo. Those cells had failed to capture Valeria Zantano last spring, but she’d been a Master. They should work just fine on a group of Artisans.

  “Sure thing.” Arturo nodded toward his open bag, and Akari knelt to retrieve them. “Top zipper on the right. But the cameras will see it.”

  One of Trask’s friends turned toward their aisle, and Kalden cycled faster.

  “So we take out the cameras first,” he asked. “How about an anti-mana pulse?”

  “No AMPs,” Akari said at once. “We’ll lose our getaway portal.”

  “She’s right, shoko. Plus those cameras run on electricity, not mana. The converter’s down in the basement.”

  “An EMP, then?”

  Arturo glanced up from his work, measuring the room with his eyes. “That’d be close, but it might work.

  Kalden nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  ~~~

  Zukan stood guard outside the staff bathroom, his broad shoulders blocking the narrow corridor. The music pulsed through the walls, rattling the lights in their sockets.

  Twelve fifty-seven, his watch said. The others had been gone for almost an hour now.

  “Everything okay?” A young woman tried to squeeze past him. Her polished name tag marked her as a staff member, and she wore a skimpy black dress with her blond hair in a ponytail.

  Zukan crossed his arms and put on a blank expression. “Private event.”

  “What?” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips. “In the bathroom?”

  “VIPs only,” he added.

  The server mumbled something about rich kids and strode off. She was, without a doubt, the bravest staff member he’d seen all night. Dragonborn like Zukan weren’t exactly rare in Koreldon City, but few people actually spoke with them by choice. This resulted in a lonely life, even among his teammates. They all valued Zukan as a mana artist, but that wasn’t the same.

  Although Zukan had to admit, he was partially to blame for this outcome. Even among his own kind, he’d still been an outsider—calm and quiet when most dragons liked grand displays of emotion. In some ways, this approach had paid off for him. While his peers were out socializing, Zukan had immersed himself in his training. He’d become the strongest Apprentice among the Unmarked, and the strongest first-year in the Artegium.

  But that was last year.

  Today, Zukan served as a henchman for Akari and Kalden. It wasn’t that he blamed his teammates or resented his role. Kalden was making him a special version of soulshine with no side effects, and Zukan could practically taste the Artisan realm around the corner.

  But Akari and Kalden would practically be Masters by then. When had Zukan fallen so far behind?

  Kyzar wanted him to become the Dragonlord someday. Was that really possible? Even if Zukan managed to defeat Axel Zantano in a duel, would the people of Creta actually follow him?

  A wave of moment caught Zukan’s eye as the crowd shifted away from the club’s front door. He glanced around the corner and spotted two uniformed humans. One was a pale Espirian with short brown hair and a mustache. The other man looked Cadrian, with shorter hair, and a darker complexion.

  Zukan’s heart slammed against his ribcage, but he kept his expression blank.

  The cops spoke with the bouncer, who pointed them toward the manager’s office. Good. They weren’t coming this way. Not yet, anyway.

  His hand drifted to the comm device in his pocket. Should he warn the others? No, not yet. His team already had a tight deadline, so nothing had changed. Better to wait and see what these guys wanted.

  The cops emerged from the office a minute later, along with the club manager who wore a dark blazer over his black T-shirt. The middle-aged man looked nervous, even for a human, and he gestured frantically as he spoke.

  The group made their way around the dance floor, questioning several of his fellow students along the way. Zukan checked his watch again. One o’three. His team technically had twelve minutes before the wards ran their diagnostic sweep, but twelve minutes might be too long.

  Zukan pressed a button on his belt, activating the comm device in his left ear. “We might have a problem.”

  “Yeah?” Arturo’s staticy voice echoed from the other end. “What’s up, draco?”

  “Police just showed up. I think they’re looking for you three.”

  “Shit,” he replied. “How many? What rank?”

  “Two Artisans.”

  “Stall them,” Arturo said. “They think we’re here, but they have no proof.”

  What was that supposed to mean?

  The cops eventually made their way toward the staff bathrooms at the back of the club. They stopped a few paces away from Zukan, and the Espirian man stepped forward, holding up a silver badge in a leather wallet. “Officer Morrow, Koreldon City Police Department. This is Officer Riveros. We’re looking for Akari Zeller. Is she in there?”

  Zukan kept staring at the dance floor as if he hadn’t seen them. It wasn’t hard, since both men only came up to his chest.

  “Hey.” Riveros waved his hand in front of Zukan’s face and repeated the question in Cadrian. He wasn’t a native speaker, judging by his accent and lack of rhythm.

  Zukan furrowed his brow and leaned down to their level, cupping a hand to the side of his face. Dragonborn had excellent hearing, but most humans didn’t know that. They just saw heads with no external ear structures.

  Riveros repeated the question a third time and tried to step around him. Zukan shifted his weight, planting his feet more firmly to block the narrow corridor. He positioned one arm against the wall, creating a barrier they couldn’t pass without physical force.

  “Why?” he finally asked in Cadrian. Better to have these guys think he didn’t speak any Espirian. This forced Riveros to do all the talking, the same way you forced multiple opponents to attack you in a narrow space. As an added bonus, they might reveal something in front of Zukan.

  “Police business,” Riveros said. “Step aside. Now.”

  Zukan didn’t budge. “Is Akari Zeller under arrest?”

  “No, but we have authority to question her under Section Forty-Seven of the Civil Order Act. Continued obstruction constitutes interference with official police duties, which is a Class C misdemeanor.”

  Zukan was no expert on Espirian law, but he knew the Civil Order Act hadn’t actually been passed. Moonfire had tried, but the Senate had blocked him. What’s more, these two still hadn’t given a reason for their rush, and Arturo claimed they had no evidence.

  “You can wait,” he told them in a bored tone. “Unless you have a warrant.”

  Marrow glanced at the bathroom with a distant look in his eyes. He was probably opening his Silver Sight, but Arturo’s wards should prevent him from seeing the empty room, or the bags they’d left behind.

  He turned back to Zukan a second later. “We’re going to ask you one more time to step aside. If you continue to obstruct a police investigation, we’ll be forced to place you under—”

  “I’m just doing my job,” Zukan interrupted in Cadrian.

  “So are we.” Riveros’s hand moved toward his belt, and his fingers rested on a restraining device.

  Zukan gave an inward sigh. “Then come back with a warrant.” If only he’d advanced by now; they never would have threatened a fellow Artisan this way, even if it was a just bluff on their part.

  Why couldn’t Kalden have guarded the door? They didn’t need him in the library. He . . .

  Oh, right—the implied mating. Humans were so strange in that regard. Did they really find public bathrooms appealing?

  “Last warning,” Riveros said. “Step aside or we’ll call for backup and place you under arrest for obstruction.”

  Yes . . . definitely a bluff. If these guys had a right to storm the bathroom, they would have done it by now.

  At this point, several other students had gathered around to watch. Fortunately, they looked more amused than anything else. They’d all seen Akari and Kalden go in that room, and they exactly knew why Zukan stood guard. Or so they thought.

  The two officers exchanged a look, then Marrow stepped back and spoke into his radio. “Unit Fourteen to Dispatch. No visual on Zeller. Subject’s companion is refusing access.”

  The radio crackled with static, but Zukan couldn’t hear a word over the booming music. The officer narrowed his eyes, as if that would help him hear better. For all Zukan knew, maybe it would.

  “Copy that,” he said. “We’ll secure the perimeter.”

  Marrow returned to where Riveros stood. “They’re sending over the Chief. ETA’s three minutes.”

  Web of Secrets Book 1 is now available for ebook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited:

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