“Okay, kid,” Aahz whispered. “I guess we’ve waited long enough.”
He eased himself out of the alley and led me in a long circle around the shop, stopping again only when we had returned to our original spot by the alley.
“Well, what do you think, kid?”
“Don’t know. What were we looking for?”
“Tell me again about how you planned to be a thief,” Aahz sighed. “Look, kid. We’re looking over a target. Right?”
“Right,” I replied, glad to be able to agree with something.
“Okay, how many ways in and out of that shop did you see?”
“Just one. The one across the street there.”
“Right. Now how do you figure we’re going to get into the shop?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“C’mon, kid. If there’s only one way in….”
“You mean we’re just going to walk in the front door?”
“Why not? We can see from here the door’s open.”
“Well… if you say so, Aahz. I just thought it would be harder than that.”
“Whoa! Nobody said it was going to be easy. Just because the door’s open doesn’t mean the door’s open.”
“I didn’t quite get that, Aahz.”
“Think, kid. We’re after a Deveel, right? He’s got access to all kinds of magic and gimmicks. Now what say you close your eyes and take another look at that door.”
I did as I was told. Immediately the image of a glowing cage sprang into my mind, a cage that completely enclosed the shop.
“He’s got some kind of ward up, Aahz,” I informed my partner.
It occurred to me that a few short weeks ago I would have held such a structure in awe. Now, I accepted it as relatively normal, just another obstacle to be overcome.