…I was one hundred percent sure this was the System's fault.
"Why," I said, "was that too much for you?"
I'd not been expecting this development, but… now I wanted to goad him into taking my clothes off.
"Besides, you said that. I never agreed to it."
Llewellyn's hand went under my shirt. He brushed his lips over my jaw, mouthed lower.
"Maybe I should teach you a lesson myself, then," he said.
Uh.
Damn, how was he so smooth?!
"Really?" I said. "Like what?"
Llewellyn bit down, then sucked a mark on my skin.
I swallowed.
"I don't know yet," he said, unbuttoning my trousers. "You can decide."
"…"
I yanked him into a kiss.
***
Not too long later, I was sated and panting, pressed against the shelf as Llewellyn and I were still making out.
"Break?" Llewellyn asked. "It's lunchtime already."
I was shirtless with my wrists pinned above my head and my trousers low on my waist, but—
He had a point.
Still, Llewellyn hadn't come. Before we went anywhere I wanted to—
I tugged my wrists free and went down on my knees.
***
Twenty minutes later, we retrieved our clothes, putting them back on, and walked outside, hovering close.
I felt very unwilling to keep any distance between us.
Every time I looked at Llewellyn, I wanted to reach out and pull him into a kiss and—
Anyway. We just kept gravitating toward each other.
We'd asked the System to keep Lumos and Penguin away while we were… um… busy, so now we just collected them from their designated area before heading toward a street full of restaurants.
Penguin chirped, excited, when he realized we were heading toward food.
"Any preferences?" Llewellyn asked.
I had no idea. What kinds of restaurants did he even have here?
"Something with stats bonuses?" I said. "We might as well make the break useful."
Llewellyn nodded.
He led us to a place called The Philosopher's Table, with a sign written in elegant script. Through the windows I could see white tablecloths, crystal glassware, and… absolutely no one inside, like everywhere else in this place.
Still, the place looked amazing.
We had a quick lunch, then went back to reading more about Destabilized Artifacts until 11 PM, before teleporting into my Core Partition for the final sprint.
I sighed. My brain was fried, but… we had to do this.
"What do you think we should focus on?" I asked, putting Penguin and Lumos on the bed so they could get comfortable. "If we really can use two consecutive hours, we can aim for four books."
I'd already selected Glyphs of Power: Basics, Living Forms, Modular Breakthroughs.
As much as I'd read about the topic today, memorizing the actual glyphs this way would be easier and I'd be less likely to make mistakes.
Llewellyn picked a book on Geometric Casting.
"I know you don't plan on using it," he said. "But if you can follow what I'm doing, we'll be able to work together better. Besides, I could never memorize the more advanced sequences so I want to use this opportunity."
Fair enough.
"You pick the remaining books," I said. "I can't even think properly anymore."
Llewellyn nodded.
While he browsed the shelves, I opened Global Magic Monitoring, but… I couldn't see anything around Hyunshore Hotel.
Damn, that was worrying.
If the auction was tomorrow morning, it was unlikely they hadn't moved the artifacts there yet, so… why was nothing showing up? It looked like the place was shielded at a level not even my Core Partition could see through.
I tried to zoom in from different sides, as if that'd help, but nothing changed.
Llewellyn came back with a couple of books.
"One on Advanced Qi Techniques," he said, "and one on Direct Path Magic."
Uh. I'd completely forgotten about those.
I looked at the titles: Sleeping Dragon Style: Advanced Qi Techniques for Sword Users, and Protective Direct Path Magic During Blood Loss.
"…"
My head snapped up.
Was this a coincidence? Did he know I'd been—?
Llewellyn looked at me.
"If you're planning to do anything stupid," Llewellyn said, "don't."
Shit.
I closed my mouth.
This complicated things.
Still. This sounded like a good book.
"Let's do it," I said.
We both kicked off our shoes and slid under the covers.
"System," I said. "We need to learn four books. Can you please wake us up when most appropriate to make this happen?"
The System chimed.
[Affirmative. Optimal wake-up time will be calculated.]
"We'll need to be at the auction by 10 tomorrow," Llewellyn said. "But we'll need to have a final call with TAPESTRY first. Please wake us up at 7 AM."
The System confirmed again.
Damn it. My adrenaline spiked. Hopefully I was going to be able to fall asleep.
***
We stepped inside Hyunshore Hotel at 9:00 sharp.
Our call with Tiernan that morning clarified a couple of last-minute changes—the main one being that, officially, this was now an art and jewelry auction.
"Really?" I said. "Are those easy to move up by two days at the last moment?"
"Apparently they can do whatever they want," Tiernan said, sounding aggrieved. "They haven't even put out a statement."
"Do we need suits?" Llewellyn asked.
Wait, suits?!
In the end, Llewellyn had lent me one of his button-down shirts, so I wasn't exactly underdressed as I'd usually be, but still.
Anyway. It's not like we were planning to take our coats off.
If we had to be visible and recognizable, that was the surest way to make people immediately realize it was us.
We walked through the ostentatious lobby, trying not to focus on the eyes suddenly pointed at us.
I'd become so used to using concealment artifacts whenever I went out that the attention here kept me on edge.
I tried to keep my attention on our surroundings. The amount of marble and expensive wood here was almost embarrassing. The floor had the hotel crest worked into the tiles in what looked like actual gold, right where everyone had to walk.
Who the hell was moving Destabilized Artifacts in Baekhaven?!
Anyway.
Right now, I was honestly more worried about going through security with Penguin, who sat against my wrist in his watch form.
Llewellyn walked beside me like he owned the place, his coat sweeping behind him. He looked at ease in his finest cashmere sweater and unbearably cool.
"Can I help you?" the woman at the reception asked when we approached, her eyes widening slightly when she recognized Llewellyn.
"We're here for the auction," Llewellyn said.
She redirected us to a podium near the staircase, where a man in a black suit asked, "Invitation?"
Llewellyn handed over the black envelope Tiernan had given us.
"Llewellyn L. Hyland," the man said, after checking the card. "And guest. Welcome."
He pointed to a corner, where a few men in suits were holding handheld scanners.
"You'll need to pass through security, then you can go in. We hope you have a pleasant stay."