"Do whatever you want, Isabella. I'll get the wings all by myself; after I sleep with the youngest daughter of the Avenicci family," Isabella mocked. She tried to do her best Hylla impression, but she could never get the accent just right. A sigh left her as she continued to drill into the safe in front of her. "A year younger and that would be illegal, captain."
Isabella always hated extravagant parties like these. Her parents would throw them all the time in an attempt to find a wife that would secure their kingdom. Isabella was more than glad that she had run away to the pirates. They even accepted her, probably just because she did most of the messy, grunt work.
Those were the days. No parents to yell at her about how a proper prince would run the kingdom. Or how every appearance in public would be greatly scrutinized. And all of those fancy dinners with old kings that she would never learn the name of. Running away was the best decision of her life.
Getting turned into a guinea pig was a rather traumatizing experience, especially when Blackbeard tried to eat her. He later claimed it was because lettuce wasn't fulfilling enough. Circe pulled Isabella out of the cage and turned her back to human. Isabella was questioned about why she seemed different, and she told Circe the truth. Isabella was born a man but didn't want to be one anymore.
And, Circe accepted Isabella right in. All of these monsters from mythology and legends from the seas just accepted Isabella for who she was, but her parents couldn't. That made them the real monsters. A sigh of boredom left Isabella as she finished drilling into the safe. For being a family full of rich snobs, this was too easy.
It was on Circe's island that Isabella met Hylla. The two of them hated each other at first, but when one of their male guests became unruly before his treatment and insulted Isabella, Hylla decked him in the face. They grew closer after that. When they both learned they were demigods, the bond strengthened.
Isabella grabbed the purse that she had stolen from one of the party goers. It was full of hard candy, so it probably belonged to someone's grandma. Isabella ignored the candies and focused on all of the wallets that she had "borrowed" from the party goers. Isabella reached into the vault and felt the coins inside. A grin came to her face.
Isabella quickly scooped the coin and jewels that were in the safe into her bag. She spoke softly, "Trying to keep me out of the heist. I love stealing things."
After clearing the contents of the safe, Isabella quickly disassembled her drill and placed it into a bag. The bag was placed back into her top hat, and she put the hat on. Isabella picked up her purse and stood. As she turned to leave, alarms blared through the mansion.
A small sigh left Isabella. Which one ruined their part in the heist? Was it one of those Greeks? The pretty one? The scary one? The one with charmspeak? Did Luca or Nora walk in on Hylla and Elizabeth? Or had Reyna gone and screwed it up?
Isabella walked across the hall and stepped into a security room. Two unconscious guards were sitting near the computer console. Isabella shoved one of them off of their chair and sat down. She studied all the monitors in front of her. There seemed to be a camera for each room, and gods, there were so many rooms.
Isabella quickly flipped through the cameras. She heard frantic talking and glanced down at the guard. Isabella grabbed onto the earpiece and put it into her ear.
"Gunfire at Miss Elizabeth Avenicci's room," a man said. It sounded like he had just finished running.
"A silent alarm was tripped in vault twenty." another man said. Isabella randomly pressed buttons, until one of the cameras changed. It looked like this camera controlled the exterior ones. Isabella continued to press buttons until more of the cameras changed. She finally found two interesting feeds.
One showed what she assumed was vault twenty. The three Greek demigods were inside, and it was painful to watch them. The charmspeaking one stood off to the side and seemed to be directing the cute one. The cute one was somehow flying up towards the wings, but it looked like there was some kind of invisible barrier around the wings. The scary one was making a smashing motion. They would figure it out.
Isabella looked at the other camera feed. It showed a view of Elizabeth's Avenicci's room, which sent up all kinds of red flags. The more concerning part was the fact that her captain and the fleet's quartermaster were in the room. Hylla was trying to break the window, and Reyna was sitting against the ground and gripping her knee.
"Two heavies are headed inside Miss Elizabeth Avenicci's room. We haven't heard anything from Mrs. Nora or Mr. Luca," a third man said. Isabella quickly scrolled through the cameras and found one that showed the hallway. Three guards were trying to break down the door. Two more were approaching with assault rifles.
Isabella sighed and grabbed her phone from her pocket. It was an emergency one time use phone that they were using for the heist. Isabella called Hylla's number, but it rang without being answered. Isabella called again, and she glanced at the other camera. Hylla visibly cursed and threw the phone at Reyna.
After a moment, Reyna answered, "We're a little busy."
"You have three guys knocking down your door. Two more are about to litter the room with bullets, and your knee looks pretty bad," Isabella said. Reyna cursed and looked around the room. She seemed to notice the camera, and Reyna nodded at it. Then she looked over at the bed and shuddered. "Hylla slept with the kid, didn't she?"
"And the mother," Reyna muttered. Isabella laughed. "Are the others okay?"
"They're inside the vault now. I'll keep an eye on them," Isabella answered. "Alright little Reyna. Do exactly as I say."
Reyna glared at the camera but nodded. Isabella spoke, "They haven't heard from Luca or Nora yet. Do you know where they are?"
"Pan the camera." Reyna muttered, and she motioned with her head. Isabella played with a few more buttons, accidentally changed the feed, switched back, moved the camera, and then stared at the two bodies. "Hylla says that Nora pinned her to the bed and just starting kissing her."
"Classic Nora. She sleeps with whoever pisses her off, but then, she goes running to Luca and claims that she was taken advantage of. Luca puts a bullet in the head of the poor bastard that slept with Nora," Isabella said. "I'm guessing he's the one who busted up your knee."
"Yeah," Reyna muttered. She glanced at Hylla and shook her head. Hylla was still trying to break the window. "Hey. It's not going to shatter. Can it open?"
While Isabella couldn't hear Hylla, she knew exactly what Hylla was saying: don't you think I tried that first? Reyna scowled and looked back at the door. Isabella glanced at the other camera and spoke, "Get down!"
Reyna lunged into Hylla and slammed her to the ground. The two men with assault rifles opened fire on the room. Hylla quickly pulled down the bookcase to block some of the fire. Reyna scrambled to grab the phone.
"What do we do now?" Reyna demanded. Isabella watched the two different camera feeds and tried to think. "Isabella!"
"They don't know that Nora and Luca are dead yet. Tell them you will kill them if they don't back off. It will buy you some time," Isabella said. Reyna lowered the phone, and as the gun fire stopped, she peeked her head out from the bookcase and started yelling. Isabella only picked up bits and pieces of it, but a smile came to her face.
"Kill them, asshole!" Reyna finished yelling. The gunfire stopped completely. Isabella glanced at the guards and heard them talking through their earpieces.
"They have Mr. Luca and Mrs. Nora. Please advise," one said.
"Tell them they can leave safely if they let them go," another answered. "When they open the door, secure the Aveniccis and then light them up."
"Don't trust anything those guards say," Isabella ordered. She glanced back at the camera for the room. Reyna slowly looked up at the camera, and she raised a hand that was covered in blood. "Is that yours?"
Reyna shook her head. She pulled off her suit jacket and placed it to Hylla's chest. Isabella spoke, "How bad is it?"
Hylla grabbed the phone and spoke into it, "I'm fine. Just a little bullet wound."
"Two bullet wounds to your collarbone, close to your chest," Reyna snapped as she took the phone back. She let out a string of curses.
"Reyna, calm down," Isabella said. "Just calm down and take a deep breath. Keep pressure on Hylla's wound. You can't go through the door, but you do need to get through the window. I'm guessing they made it so furniture can't break it."
Reyna shoved the phone back into Hylla's hands and made it to the window. She grabbed a dagger from her suit jacket and tried to stab it into the window. Reyna glanced back at the door and then repeatedly slammed the hilt of her dagger into it.
"Hey," Hylla said as she picked up the phone. "Can you get a video of me having sex with Elizabeth and Nora?"
"Are you serious?!" Reyna yelled loud enough for the phone to pick up. She turned back towards the door and threw herself down. More bullets entered the room.
"Why the hell are they firing?" Hylla demanded. She was gripping the suit jacket to her chest.
Isabella listened to the earpiece and growled as she heard one of the men speak, "Jerry said that it's the pirates. He gave us permission to kill them. Open fire. And someone go find Trevor."
"Jerry is trying to kill the two of you," Isabella finally said. She watched Reyna slowly scoot into a sitting position and then struggle to her feet. Reyna started yelling at the door. She ducked under more bullets, and Isabella watched them hit the window, cracking the glass.
Reyna quickly crawled towards a chair and pulled herself to her feet. She flung the chair through the window, and it broke. Reyna grabbed her whistle and used it. She looked at Hylla and said something.
"Make sure the demigods make it out safe and then get out of there," Hylla ordered. She hung up the phone. Isabella sighed and watched the camera for one last moment. Then, she looked back at the vault camera. The demigods were gone, and the wings were as well.
"Well, that looks like a job completed," Isabella commented. She stood and glanced back at the room camera again. Reyna reached out of the window and stepped away with her custom javelin in her hand. Isabella smiled. The two would be fine. Now, she had to focus on getting out of the Avenicci mansion with her spoils and back to their rendezvous point. From there, Isabella would have enough money to go on a couple of shopping sprees.