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“No,” he said, moving up behind me, “I just fucked you…” he added, whispering.

“Okay, you need to stop that shit right now.”

“Should I?” he asked, bringing his hand down to my ass. “Or should I touch you here?”

“They can see you!” I hissed.

“Not from there.”

“Focus, and if we get out of here alive, we can consider doing more of that before your friends cart us back to your father’s mansion.”

“Deal.”

I didn’t have a watch on me, but I knew we had been waiting for a little while and nothing had happened yet. That ball of anxiety I was so familiar with returned to my throat. I felt it tighten and constrict—my chest quickly following. I was about to ask Lucien what we should do, when the door opened, and someone stepped out.

I couldn’t get a proper look at him until he had cleared the rooftop access, but from behind, he looked a lot like the other guard who had left a few minutes ago. He didn’t seem particularly alert or otherwise motivated to check the rooftop out. He just walked over to the other side of the rooftop, and stood there, as the others had before him.

“Looks like we didn’t raise an alarm,” I said.

“In which case, you’re up,” he said.

“Moment of truth…”

“Can you feel it now?”

“The Recondites magic ward? I can. It’s powerful… but it only covers the door. I could phase through the back of the access… we’d fall though.”

“I’m going to let you decide. Go through the ward, or brace for a fall.”

“No pressure huh.”

“You can do it… I believe in you.”

I looked up at him. “I’m glad someone does.”

Lucien gestured at the wall. “C’mon. Let’s do this.”

I nodded. Not wanting to immediately fall one flight of stairs after phasing through the back of the rooftop access, I decided to skirt around to the front. I had to keep the guard in my sights at all times, but he seemed more interested in his phone than what was happening around him.

I realized we only had a few seconds to make this work, so I didn’t waste any time. As soon as we were near the door, I reached for Lucien’s hand, and pulled him toward it. I felt the magic barrier protecting the door as I approached it, heard the almost electric humming sound it made.

I knew it would kill us if I timed this badly. There was a chance it could kill us even if I had timed it perfectly. I had to take a leap of faith, believe in my own abilities, and get Lucien to the other side of that door too.

This time, all it took was a thought, and a moment of concentration.

I drew my own magic essence through me, summoned a burst of power, and with a deep breath held in my lungs, I stepped forward. My body phased out of the material plane to become ephemera, and so did Lucien’s behind me. I thought I would feel myself transition through the magic ward, but I didn’t. Phasing through it and the door behind it was as easy as walking.

After we made it through to the other side, I let go of the magic that had transformed our bodies into weird spirit matter, and we both returned to the material world.

“Woah,” Lucien said, running his hand across his face. “That was a rush.”

“First time usually is…” I turned around and looked at the door. “And hey, we didn’t die.”

“Not a bad start.”

“No, but we still have a way to go…”

We were standing in the stairwell now, keeping our voices low. The last time I was here, I was in an astral body, projecting through the Ether. This time, I was material, I was physical, which meant I could be seen and heard. We were going to have to do our best to stay low and stick to the plan.