Page 40 of The Thief's Mark

Griff took the other side of the tablet to hold it between them as they browsed through the information. “I don’t recognize the name registered to the account,” he said with a frown. “Do you?”

Cal shook his head. “Jumic Enterprises doesn’t ring any bells. Let’s see what else they’ve been up to.”

Browsing through the recent account history didn’t offer much help. If anything, it only confused them further. Cal recognized a few of the businesses listed, but they seemed to span everything from manufacturing to entertainment, spread across all sections of the city. Whoever this was, they had deep, deep pockets, and their hand in a lot of different pots.

Griff glanced up from the tablet toward the closed door. “We’ve been gone a long time. We should get back.”

“You’re right. But I’m taking this with us.”

Both his thief’s marks were full, one with his tools and the other with the void orb, so he settled for carrying the tablet the old-fashioned way. Tucking it under his uniform as best he could, he started toward the door.

He’d barely taken a handful of steps from the shelf when the archon reappeared. It zipped in front of him, barring his way. He tried to step around it, but it shifted to block him, buzzing with obvious agitation.

“I don’t think it wants us to take the tablet,” Griff said.

“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell.” Cal crouched down, glaring at the archon. “Well, I’m not about to be outdone by a little…ball…of gas…”

As he spoke, he tried to juke the archon and make a break for the door. But the archon was too quick, flitting in front of him to thwart each attempt.

He clenched his jaw. “Think one of your enchanted bullets can take this thing out?”

Griff shot him a horrified look. “I’m notmurderinga divine servant to help you steal something, Cal!”

Part of Cal relished hearing his real name on the inspector’s lips. He was pretty sure it was the first time Griff had used it.

Focusing back on the archon, he reached beneath his shirt. His grip tightened protectively around the tablet. “In that case, I’m going to see how good a job my fists do.”

“Morality of slaying an archon aside, I suspect killing it would attract far too much attention.”

“Oh, yeah?” Cal pulled out the tablet and waggled it in Griff’s direction. “Well, we need the information on this thing for your case, and I’m not leaving empty-handed. So unless you’ve got a better idea, I’ll take my chances.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Griff reached into his pocket and pulled out a pad of paper, along with a Vantoric pen.

Cal stared at the inspector, his cheeks heating. He cleared his throat. “Oh. Right. Well, er, carry on then.”

He held the tablet for Griff, flicking through the stored information while Griff jotted down what he could. The tablet’s records were far too extensive for Griff to get everything—not without keeping them here way too long.

But he grabbed the most pertinent leads for them to follow up on. At least, Cal assumed he did. This sort of thing was more Griff’s area of expertise than Cal’s. Breaking into a bank was more his speed.

Once they’d decided they’d pushed their luck as far as they dared, they returned the tablet to its spot and started toward the door. Cal kept a wary eye on the archon, but the Void-cursed thing made no further move to block them.

Griff bowed his head to the archon as he passed. “Thank you for your help, little one.”

Cal rolled his eyes. “It’s a construct. It doesn’t care.”

Griff shrugged. “That’s no reason not to be polite.”

Cal wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh, weep, or puke at the inspector’s ridiculous earnestness. Either way, his traitorous heart stuttered.

Thankfully, the attendant assigned to Lord Heneford barely seemed to have registered their extended absence. She was too wrapped up in the audit paperwork Griff had requested.Cal couldn’t help feeling a touch proud. It was the sort of underhanded trickhewould have pulled.

They put in a token showing with the attendant before Cal had Lord Heneford graciously wrap up the meeting, declaring his concerns allayed and the matter resolved. Thanking the frazzled attendant for her service, he departed with Griff, exiting out into the antechamber.

All in all, that had been much easier than Cal had assumed. He’d long since dismissed the Treasury as a viable robbery target. Granted, they hadn’t tried to approach any actual vaults, but if this was any sign of what their security could offer, perhaps he should reconsider. It might be worth sacrificing an alias or two if it meant pulling off such a memorable heist.

They were almost to the steps when shouts rang out. Cal tensed, but Griff motioned for him to relax as a group of protectors approached them.

The one in front offered Griff a half-hearted salute. “Sir, we’ve completed our survey of the area and are ready to report our findings.”