"You succeed." She gestured to someone I hadn't noticed – a assistant standing in the shadows. "VIP access for all four. Permanent, unless they give me reason to revoke it."
The assistant brought forward four black cards, identical to the ones I'd seen other VIP members use.
"Welcome to the inner circle," Selene said. "Don't make me regret it."
We took our cards, and I felt the weight of what I'd just accomplished.
VIP access meant access to the upper floors. To the private areas. To the locations where our three retrieval targets were hidden.
The mission had just moved to the next phase.
After the formal ceremony, the gathering dissolved into a more casual party. I found myself at the bar with Jade, both of us nursing drinks.
"So," she said. "You met Marcus."
"Briefly."
"What did you think?"
"Old. Powerful. Smart enough to know when to walk away from a fight."
