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A pollo burst out laughing, and Lachlan quickly scrambled to get everything tucked back in place.

"Goddamn it, I wanted to return the favor," Lachlan said, his cheeks bright red from being caught out.

"Save it for later." Apollo kissed him quickly. "I don't mind being edged."

"Really?" Lachlan's expression turned devious. "That gives me all kinds of ideas."

"Wrap it up," Valentine hissed, making them both jump.

With a few more hurried adjustments, Apollo opened the door.

"Val, your timing is impeccable," he said sweetly.

"Really? You two couldn't wait a few hours to fool around?" Valentine replied, his hands going to his hips. The satchel bag that was hidden under his three-quarter-length jacket looked suspiciously full.

"You didn't wait to start stealing things, so why should I wait to make out with Lachlan?" Apollo argued.

Valentine's gray eyes narrowed. "I saw an opportune moment."

"So did I."

"Okay, enough arguing, guys. We have DNA to corrupt, remember?" Lachlan said, his ears still red. Apollo smirked because, for all his sexy talk, Lachlan Ironwood was a blusher. He also had an O face that would haunt Apollo's dreams for the rest of his life.

"I've found the door that was on the plans, but you might need to get Layla on the phone to get us through it," Valentine said as they walked down the corridor and back under the velvet rope. No one seemed to notice them.

Apollo looked sideways at his brother. "Val, did you put a glamor on us without permission?"

"No. I put a glamor on the masks, and I don't need your permission for that." Valentine didn't look the least bit embarrassed. "What? We don't need anyone to recognize us, so I made sure they wouldn't. And lucky I thought of it because you two weren't exactly discreet."

"I didn't know you could do glamors at all. Something your friend in Uncle Taran's court been teaching you?" Apollo asked because he knew his brother well enough to know that he would never apologize.

Valentine smirked. "Maybe."

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to talk to our uncle about what play dates he sets you up with," Apollo replied.

Behind him, Lachlan chuckled. He didn't seem bothered by the idea that Valentine had used a glamor on both of them. However, being related to Imogen probably made him impervious to sibling nonsense.

They followed Valentine up the stairs and passed the gleaming display cases, which were set up to showcase the items that were being auctioned that evening.

Apollo bit back the burning questions on his tongue about how his brother had managed to steal anything locked under secure glass. Sometimes, it was better not to ask too many questions about Valentine's methods.

Now that he knew that they were under a glamour, Apollo noticed how people's eyes seemed to slide straight off them. It was oddly freeing because he had spent most of the night worried about being recognized.

It's fine. It was just your paranoia. You knew Valentine would take care of this, and that's why you called him .

Beside him, Lachlan took a black earpiece from his pocket and slipped it over his ear.

"I'll call Layla, and she can talk me through whatever I need to do," he said, keeping his voice low.

He looked at the cameras and security, taking in every person.

Apollo caught sight of a huge hulking brute, and he went cold.

"That's him," he said, panic starting to burn at his neck. Both Valentine and Lachlan turned to see where he was looking.

"Who is it?" Valentine demanded.

"That's Kovacs. The creepy fucker who taught Jean the blood spell. He's Bellerose's dog," Apollo whispered.

Lachlan's hand brushed over his. "Look away from him, Apollo. We will get him, but not here. Not now. We can't risk him spotting you," he said, his voice deadly calm.

Valentine looked Kovacs over. He was wearing a plain black mask, and it didn't do much to hide his smashed nose and scared face.

"Don't worry, little brother. I've got something special in mind for him. Don't risk catching his eye. He's a battle mage, and we aren't ready for that fight now," Valentine said and kept moving through the crowd.

Lachlan gestured for Apollo to go in front of him, making sure he had someone between him and Kovacs.

It made something in Apollo relax. Lachlan would have his back, no matter what.

His dragon was flicking its tail in annoyance at seeing his kidnapper, but Apollo tried to soothe it with thoughts of what he would get up to with Lachlan later.

His lips still burned with the feel of Lachlan's stubble. He could have spent hours just kissing him, savoring the perfect weight of his body pressing down on him. He and his dragon had been in complete sync for once, and it felt like regaining his usual strength and confidence.

Someone laughed loudly, and Apollo flinched. He hadn't been held captive long, but it was enough for him to be nervous and jump at shadows. He shouldn't have stepped into this stupid fucking building again.

Lachlan's hand went to the curve of his lower back, bringing him out of his spiraling thoughts. He was a powerful alchemist, for fuck's sake. He should be furious that Sanguis Vitae had the audacity to think they could take a goddamned thing from him.

Valentine led them through a door the waiters used to bring in drinks and canapés. They avoided the kitchen and went to a door marked 'Security Only.'

Lachlan had his phone out and was calling Layla. Valentine made a complicated hand gesture, and a warm bubble of his magic surrounded them.

"Another glamor?" Apollo guessed, his eyes never leaving Lachlan.

He was speaking in a low voice, his knife out, and doing complicated things to the security keypad. He wasn't nervous or hurried because he had probably done things like this on hunts before. It was damn sexy to watch.

"It is like a mirroring spell. I took a magical snapshot of the empty door before, and I'm projecting it in front of us to trick eyes and cameras," Valentine explained, drawing Apollo's gaze off Lachlan and back to his brother. "And before you ask, this was one of my spells, not Caelan's."

"Have you met this mysterious person?" Apollo raised a brow.

Valentine generally hated everyone who wasn't family, and it took someone unique to get any kind of interest out of him.

Valentine shook his head. "No, but I trust Uncle Taranis. He thought we could learn from each other. I was contemplating going for a trip into Faerie when you decided to get yourself kidnapped."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault they all seem to think I'm going to turn into a majestic golden dragon that's the key to the Philosopher Stone and the Elixir of Life. Did I tell you that one of them wanted to kidnap you instead but was talked out of it?"

"Because I wasn't going to be dumb enough to get caught?"

"No, because I'm going to be a prettier dragon than you and the better alchemist."

"Guys, I'm in," Lachlan interrupted in a low voice. "You can argue about who the better dragon is later."

Valentine and Apollo followed him into a dull, gray concrete hallway. Apollo's skin crawled.

"These must be a fire escape as well," Valentine commented. He rested a hand on it momentarily before pulling it back again. "There are spells in the walls. Don't touch them, Apollo. I don't have time to figure out what they do."

Lachlan took the lead, with Layla directing them through the maze of back corridors. Apollo had grown up in a house with old servant passages, and it gave him the same feeling. This was a way to get around the large building without being seen.

The air grew colder, and after a bit more door hacking, they found a server room that was icy cold from the overworked air conditioners.

"Do you understand anything that he's doing?" Apollo asked, watching as Lachlan busied himself with his phone and cables behind tall towers of lights.

"No fucking clue. Layla's skills have grown beyond my basic computer knowledge in the past few years. Better her than me. Technology seems so boring compared to magic," Valentine replied.

"Everything is boring compared to magic with you."

"True."

Apollo fidgeted, already sick of waiting and eager to find his samples in the labs and get the fuck out of the building. He was feeling like a mouse in a maze.

"So you find anything good at the auction?" he asked.

"A few manuscripts I thought Dad might like. One of them is Catherine Medici's copy of the Complete Works of Zosimos of Panopolys."

Apollo hummed. "Ohhh, very nice… If it's legit."

"It's legit. It's even got the Medici-Valois coat of arms on it to mark that it was from her personal library," Valentine said with a grin. "I wasn't going to steal anything counterfeit."

Lachlan signaled to them. "Layla is in their closed system. Let's get out of here and find the labs."

"Let's hope nothing has made it into their creepy blood vault yet," Apollo said with a shiver.

They had all agreed that the vault's storage room was too dangerous to risk entering.

Apollo had described the sigils to Valentine as best he could, and he had clued in enough to know that Bellerose's personal workroom would have magical security that was too advanced for them to sneak in and out of.

"Do you have enough elixir to corrupt the samples?" Valentine asked as they went back out into the twisting concrete halls.

"I hope so. I fucking hate this, Val. We need to do what we can and get the fuck out of here. Maybe we can work on a ward for me so that if we miss any samples, they can't do blood magic on me."

"We will do everything we need to. Right now, I need you to keep your shit together." Valentine pointed at Lachlan in front of them. "Focus on the view."

Apollo laughed. "Fuck you."

"Whatever works for you. How's your dragon?"

"Quiet for once. And so is my brain for the most part."

Valentine leaned over and whispered, "Must be that magical Ironwood dick you got."