"Could be." He dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. "Might be worth you going in disguise tomorrow."
"Good idea. I still have those wigs Liander gave me."
He nodded. "Then go get some rest. You look beat."
"If I tried telling you to go rest, you'd have a tantrum."
He gave me a grin. "Too right. I'm a boy. Boys can look after themselves. You're a girl. You need to be loved and protected."
I tossed my empty cup at him. "And you said you hadn't been listening in on my conversation with Kellen."
He laughed and caught my cup one-handed. "So I lied. Now go get some rest."
I did.
Rhoan pulled into one of the many vacant spaces in the parking lot and stopped the car. He leaned forward, crossing his arms over the steering wheel as he stared at the building that housed Mirror Image.
His look was one of amusement. "God-awful-looking place in daylight."
I pulled at the black wig irritably, then said, "Doesn't seem to stop anyone from coming, though."
Indeed, the lot was half full, which wasn't bad considering it was barely eight in the morning. Even the Blue Moon would be ecstatic to have this sort of crowd at this hour, and that place was doing the best of all the wolf clubs.
"They've got an awful lot of security lining the building."
"Cameras and infrareds are pretty much the norm nowadays, aren't they?"
"They've also got motion sensors."
"So?"
"So, why have motion sensors and infrareds on a building that supposedly houses twenty-four hour action for human and nonhumans?"
"Given they're apparently getting into a little blackmail action with some of their 'special' guests, it's not entirely surprising they're security conscious. They wouldn't want the police wandering in and uncovering their covert operations now, would they?"
"No, I guess not." He glanced at me. "You ready?"
I nodded and opened the car door. Even though it was still early in the day, the sun held the promise of heat. Melbourne weather had apparently decided that we needed some of the warmer stuff after the series of chilly days, and the forecasters were predicting a hot one. Hence the jeans and the bright yellow tank top. I needed to get some sun on my arms.
We walked across to the front doors. The bouncer, a big man with shoulders the size of a tank, cheerfully waved us through to the payment area, then opened the main doors.
Music blasted out. Rhoan looked at me. "Techno. I hate techno."
So did I, but I shoved a hand into his back and lightly pushed. "Stop whining and get inside."
Bright light hit us the minute we entered, momentarily blinding me and forcing me to a halt. It rolled on quickly enough, leaving dots of red and yellow dancing before my eyes, dots that seemed to get lost in the myriad of colors so evident on the packed dance floor. The scent of sex and lust swum around us, its sweet aroma stirring my hormones to life yet again.
I touched my brother's shoulder and pointed to an empty booth halfway along the wall to our left. He nodded, and we made our way down the stairs, my heels once again slipping on the polished white tiles. It was a wonder they didn't do something about that, because they were leaving themselves wide open for law-suits in the sue-happy environment of modern Melbourne.
"Fuck," Rhoan said, once we were seated, "This place is huge. It's got a good feel, though. Even with the all the humans."
I raised an eyebrow. "So you've changed your mind about the 'no humans in wolf clubs,' rule?"
"Not in the least."
I grinned and nodded toward the double doors at the end of the bar. "The private rooms are in there, but the doors are security-key coded."
"Good thing about security-keyed doors is the fact that a loss of electricity fucks them up." His gaze scanned the room. "What's down near the back?"
"Bathrooms and fire exits."
"What about an electrical switchboard?"
I shrugged. "It's not something I tend to notice. Why?"
"Because we need to cut the power." He rose. "When the lights go out, get through those doors. I'll meet you there."
"The room we want is on the right."
He nodded and walked away. I crossed my arms and watched the dancers on the floor for a while. Desire stirred, but I ignored it. Not only because I'd made a promise to Kellen, but because it would be stupid to risk it even if I wasn't here to work. Besides, most of those out on the dance floor this morning were human. Maybe all the nonhuamns had gone into the private area.
Of course, my reluctance to dance with humans didn't actually stop them from coming over and asking. After the tenth such refusal, I began to hope Rhoan hurried himself up. Coping with hurt male sensibilities wasn't high on my list this morning.
After another five minutes, I had my wish and the nightclub plunged into darkness. I switched to infrared, slipped off my heels, then rose. Given that everyone else was basically staying still—except for those caught in the middle of sex—I didn't want the sound of my heels clicking giving me away or attracting attention. I pulled the shadows around me, just to be doubly sure I wasn't seen, then headed for the security door.
It was unlocked, as Rhoan had said it would be. Knowing the guard would be at—or near—the door I opened it quickly, and stepped inside. He was fast, I had to give him that, one hand going for his gun while the other reached for the alarm button on the wall. He never completed either move, simply because I stormed into his mind and stopped both.
The alarm, I discovered, wasn't affected by the power cut, because it was on the backup system. I shuffled through his thoughts, and discovered that the downstairs area—the area we needed to get into if we wanted to sniff out more of what was going on in this place—was also connected to the backup generators.
The one good bit of news was the fact that the room behind us wasn't being used. Though it would be tonight. Some ripe for the picking—or should that be right for the taping?—minor politician had been invited in for a drink and a game.
Which I found truly amazing. Granted, being caught in compromising positions wasn't something new when it came to politicians of any caliber—but with technology getting ever smaller, and ever cleverer, you'd think they'd learn to keep their pants zipped. Or, at the very least, learn to keep themselves away from compromising situations.
The door behind me opened again, and a familiar shadow moved stealthily inside.
"How'd you cut the power?" I asked.
"Found a screwdriver behind the bar and shoved it into a couple of power sockets."
I stared at Rhoan. "You're kidding, right?"
"No."
"You could have been killed doing something like that!"
"I'm not stupid. The handle was insulated."
I shook my head, unable to believe he'd taken such a risk. "Next time you feel the urge to do something that dumb, let me know. I'll hit you over the head and maybe knock some sense back into it."
"Look," he said, a touch impatiently, "it was the only way to blow the system without making them suspicious. And if they have power-surge cutoffs installed, we haven't got a whole lot of time to waste arguing before the system is back up again."
"I think the fact everything went off means they haven't got surge cutoffs installed."
"Riley, just shut the fuck up and concentrate on the matter at hand."
"Forgive me for not wanting a dead brother," I muttered, and rifled through the guard's thoughts again. "Seems they've got a largish contingent of guards on standby downstairs."