As I approached the wall, I reached out. My hand stung as it hit stone. I pushed and directed my momentum towards the right. Then I kicked against the wall to further my turn and skated forward, this time towards a rectangle of warm light at the opposite end of the hallway. The closer I came to my destination, the more I noticed the two glowing dots off to the side. The golem’s creepy red eyes burned menacingly. A chill ran down my spine.

Would this level 30, really not see me?

If it did and decided to kill me, I’d be dead and there would be nothing I could do.

I came closer and closer, not knowing if my new ring would work or not. But the silver golem did not move. The intricate designs carved into its surface flashed by as I finally entered the next room.

My heart pounded and moisture from the fog in the hallway mixed with the cold sweat that ran down my neck. I stood still for a few seconds, staring behind me at the golem, waiting for it to react. It kept staring down the hallway as if I didn’t exist. At least that was what I assumed it was doing. But even if it was, I didn’t trust that I had a lot of time.

As I surveyed the room, my mood became darker and darker with each part I surveyed; because in each of the 4 corners, on beautiful pedestals made of ivory, sat four safes. Also, to my chagrin, on the left was a small desk with massive piles of various writing materials and notes. It would have been nice to look through them but, considering how much there was, I just didn’t have the time. I could only hope that Davis wasn’t dumb enough to just leave his crooked finances out in the open.

To my right sat a crate and some miscellaneous antique items for increasing concentration and intelligence. Directly in front of me, they’d placed a bunch of shelves with quite a few precious spell and skill books along with more decorations.

But it was the fact that I had four safes to choose from that irritated me. It was different from what I’d been told and made things both easier and harder to deal with.

What if these auxiliary safes were traps like the death doors above?

If Davis were smart about it, then none of these obvious safes would be the real one, and the real safe would continue to teleport with that fairy. Whatever, it didn’t matter, because I came prepared. I took out two items from my ring.

Stone of Fae Detection - This stone will point to the nearest Fae creature that is not the user. Amulet of Some Guy I Know - This amulet, while worn will increase Charisma for your Non-Combat Skills. Once per week, you can activate this amulet’s Friend ability. This Ability will make it so everyone and everything that sees you believes that you’re their friend. This item only works for beings under level 15 and lasts for 10 minutes. It is recommended that you leave their sight within that time or you will regret it.

I equipped the amulet, thankfully this evil-fucking-collar didn’t take up an equipment slot or I’d have been out of luck.

With a thought, I activated the amulet’s Friend function and then activated the stone.

The stone flew up, spun around a few times then pointed directly at the safe in the left-hand corner, just in front of me. To make sure it wasn’t some invisible safe above, below, or behind that location, I moved the stone around the safe to ensure I had it right.

It was the right one.

Seriously Davis? Well, maybe he became tired of dealing with a constantly moving, invisible safe? Yeah. Okay, I could imagine how frustrating that would be.

I bowed to the safe since I didn’t know where the fairy was, and it wasn’t good to be impolite. Then I put away the stone and took out my favorite lock pick set.

Sturdy Lock Picks of Barenasha Greyspire - These lock picks will never break and will not trigger a failure mechanism when triggered.

I inserted two of my picks into the key area and felt the tumblers. No, not these picks. I grabbed another two, one with a squiggly shape, and began slowly finessing each tumbler into place. It didn’t take long before I had each of them in place. I turned the lock and the safe door swung open.

My eyes grew wide at the content of it. While the passive marks and books were expected, what I didn’t expect was rare ore and a caged fairy. What exactly did this little fairy NPC do to Davis? Could this have something to do with the change-up in the safe? The little fairy looked at me with teary eyes. It nearly broke my heart to leave it locked up like this, but I couldn’t rescue it. And it was just an NPC.

Steeling my heart against those big black eyes, I took out several of the most crucial items I had prepared for this heist.

Blank Book of Copying - This is a magical book that, when placed on top of another book it will create a copy. This does not work for spell books and skill books!

I quickly, memorized the location and position of each of the three financial records before I carefully removed them. After I placed a Blank Book of Copying on each I swiftly stored everything back in their original location and threw the copied books safely inside my ring.

Without looking at the fairy, I carefully closed the safe.

Now to return without getting killed or caught by that golem.

My hand fiddled with the amulet. To take it off or leave it? Would it mess with my, Problem is Over There ring? Maybe, or maybe I’ve spent too long here and the Golem is just waiting for me to leave. Shit.

My heart sped. I closed my eyes and breathed in. Then, calmly, I calculated the angle of the curve I needed to make to get out of the hallway and up the stairs as quickly as possible. I also made other plans in case of a worst-case scenario, most of which, involved ways I would sneak back into the party after I died. Which was fairly close to zero.

I skated to the shelf, turned around, then pushed off and curved my way toward the doorway. The golem stood in the same spot. As I drew closer and closer to it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I passed so near, that if the golem wanted to, it could have reached out and caught me.

But it didn’t.

I flew in a large curve towards the stairwell and jumped on top of the first step, then the next and the next, even though it felt awkward with the air skates on. Once my momentum vanished, I paused and listened for a moment.

After a half-minute, I decided that it was better to get out of there then wait for a death that might or might not come. I equipped my original shoes and put the boots back inside my ring.

From there everything happened smoothly as I used my remaining Ghostly Bomb to travel back up the webbed stairs and re-entered the black portal. When I arrived in the small area between the portal and the door I switched out my ring for the Night into Day ring. When the small area became visible I nearly panicked.

Mia wasn’t there.

Oh! Right. The nondeath portal had merely shifted locations.

I took out my second Scroll of Detect Life and activated it since I’d be using it soon anyway. No one was in the main part of the office but I did see Mia’s figure standing in the hidden portal cubby.

Lorevinel Silvercat: It’s clear. You can re-enter the office.

In the dead silence, a latch clicked undone and hinges lightly squeaked. I opened my own hidden door.

As Mia closed hers I did the same with mine.

Her face looked paler than when I last saw it. Waiting for me for so long must have been hard on her.

Mia: Did you get it?

Lorevinel Silvercat: Yes.

Mia: Badass!

I walked to the office entrance and waited for the guard to turn the corner.

Lorevinel Silvercat: But don’t celebrate too soon. We still have to leave this room and make it to the rest area.

I started observing the guard on the long patrol and waited.

Mia: Do we have to go there?

Lorevinel Silvercat: We need someone to see us leaving and be our alibi.

The guard finally, reached the perfect position.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Come on. We’re leaving now!

Quietly, I exited, then waited for Mia to leave before making it look like we'd never been near it.

We walked, using all the stealth skills we possessed until we reached the hallway. If someone from the party entered we’d also be discovered but I just decided to risk it since this was the door furthest from the main party and least likely to be used to reach the rest area.

As I waited for the guards to turn at the same time, I also kept track of our roaming guard. Fuck, this was going to cut it a little too close.

I grabbed Mia’s arm.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Prepare yourself. We’re going to have to pretend to kiss once we pass the hallway.

Mia: Lore, you know I can’t act.

Lorevinel Silvercat: It will be fine. Trust me.

Mia: I do, but, if it comes to it then… you have my permission.

Lorevinel Silvercat: How bad could you be?

Mia: My uncle once told me that my acting resembled either a dead fish or a tree on fire.

Lorevinel Silvercat: …

Okay. That would be our last resort. The very last. Because the mere concept of it distracted me, and I shouldn't allow myself to even contemplate it.

The guards turned. I grabbed Mia and ran two steps to the opposite side of the hallway cross-section. Just as the guard turned the corner I pushed her up against the wall, put my thumb over her mouth, and pressed my lips against the back of my thumb.

Mia stilled. Completely. Utterly. Like a doll with no joints. I wrapped my free arm around her waist and immediately knew this wasn’t going to work. Her limbs were locked up and while I didn’t think these guards weren't that intelligent, they’d still be able to see something was wrong like this. While I didn’t know what kind of person her uncle was, he definitely described her acting ability well.

I was loathed to do it. Terrified even. Because I wanted to. And knew I shouldn't. But she had given me permission.

I removed my thumb and tasted fire and sweetness.