They nodded and hurried off toward the stairs. Drake ordered his men to shut off power to all parts of the building but the basement, and to secure the entrances.

‘‘Stay with Aisling,’’ Drake ordered Jim as he and Gabriel were about to leave.

‘‘Ten four, dragon buddy.’’

Drake turned to his wife. ‘‘Do not do anything foolish, kincsem.’’

She gave him a fond but exasperated look. ‘‘Honest to Pete, dragons! Bossiest beings in the world.’’

Gabriel smiled at me but said nothing until he and Drake started to leave. ‘‘You’ll notice I don’t have to warn my mate to be careful. I have full confidence in May’s abilities,’’ he told Drake.

‘‘She’s a female American. No doubt you will soon understand the true depth of hell she can put you through.’’

Aisling laughed as she turned back to the door. I watched with interest as Jim broke down the prohibitions (a weak version of a curse, easily unmade by beings of a dark origin). Aisling muttered under her breath as she struggled with the wards, her face turning red as they fought her attempts to break them.

‘‘There,’’ she said after five minutes of intense work. She stepped back, rubbing her hands. ‘‘Got the little bastards. Jim?’’

‘‘I was done before you had the first ward down. You’re losing your touch, Ash.’’

She shot it a look. ‘‘Caribbean Battiste probably warded the vault doors. I’d like to see you take on the wards drawn by the head of the Guardians’ Guild himself.’’

‘‘Excuses, excuses.’’ It smiled at her.

‘‘The lock and arcane spells are all yours,’’ Aisling said to me.

‘‘Perfect, thanks.’’ I ignored the spells as I put both hands on the lock, closing my eyes as I mentally traveled the intricacies of its mechanisms. ‘‘It’s a time lock.’’

‘‘Is that going to be a problem?’’ Aisling asked.

‘‘No. I can persuade the inner clock to move forward. I’ve never seen a lock quite like this, though. There are locks within the locks, but I think I can convince them to open for us. Ah, yes. That’s it. Just one more tumbler . . . lovely.’’

The lock didn’t give me any trouble. I waited until Jim, sent to stand on the staircase, reported that the power had been cut to the upper floors before carefully opening the heavy vault door. There were no sirens or flashing lights warning that the door was being opened, but I didn’t expect them—any notice that the vault was being breeched would go out silently. I just hoped Drake and Gabriel had been successful in quelling any other alarm systems.

A light clicked on inside the vault as the door opened wide enough for me to slip in.

‘‘Here we go,’’ I told Aisling as I shadowed.

‘‘Good luck!’’ she whispered.