Read Online Unraveled by Jennifer Estep - Free Book Online Page A

killed his own mother to save me.
    â€œAlrighty. Let’s get this show on the road,” Finn chirped.
    He left the tellers’ counter behind and walked over to a metal door set into the back left corner of the lobby. The two giants stationed there eyed me, but Finn showed them his access card, and they opened the door. I followed Finn down a long flight of stairs that led to the basement, where the senior bank officials’ offices were located. Finn left me standing in the hallway while he ducked into his office and put the box of food on his desk. Then, together, the two of us walked over to Big Bertha.
    Big Bertha was the bank’s largest and most secure vault, featuring hundreds of safety-deposit boxes that were a literal treasure trove of cash, precious jewels, stocks, bonds, and other valuables. Since this was a normal business day, the vault’s thick outer metal door was wide-open, although the inner door was still shut and locked. That inner door was actually a tight mesh of silverstone, an extremely tough and durable metal that could absorb and store magic. The mesh had three distinct layers now, each separated a few inches from the next, instead of the one layer that Deirdre had so easily blasted through with her Ice magic during the attempted robbery.
    To my surprise, a dwarf with wavy silver hair, sharp hazel eyes, and rough, craggy features was standing in front of the vault, waiting for us. Stuart Mosley, the head of First Trust, and Finn’s boss.
    I looked at Finn, who shrugged at me. “No one goes into the vault now without Mosley’s approval. I had to tell him what I wanted in there.”
    I didn’t like anyone knowing what we were up to, especially not Mosley, since I had no idea if we could trust him. But there was no way to avoid the dwarf, so we walked over to him.
    â€œMs. Blanco,” Mosley said in a deep, gravelly voice. “So nice to see you again.”
    â€œMr. Mosley.”
    We shook hands, as though this were just an innocent business transaction, then Mosley looked at Finn. “You have the key?”
    Finn nodded, reached into his pants pocket, and drew out a safety-deposit box key, which he held up for his boss’s inspection. Mosley stared at the number—1300—that was engraved in the metal. For a moment, a hint of a smile played across the dwarf’s face, deepening the lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth, but it was gone so quickly that I wondered if I’d only imagined the amused emotion. I stared at Mosley, but his face was stone-cold somber again, and I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking.
    Mosley turned around and punched in a code on a keypad that was attached to the first silverstone mesh door. The light on the keypad flashed green before winking back to red. He punched in two more codes; the light flashed green twice more before staying that color, and all three of the silverstone mesh doors slowly slid back one after another.
    â€œWell, you know where that box is, Finn,” Mosley rumbled. “I’ll leave you to it. Be sure and lock the vault again when you’re done.”
    The dwarf nodded at us, then turned and walked down the hallway and around the corner, presumably going back to his office.
    â€œAm I the only one who thought that was odd?” I asked. “It almost seemed like he was about to crack a genuine smile there for a second.”
    Finn shook his head. “Honestly, I can’t tell around here anymore. Up is down, and down is sideways, with all the new security measures and changes. Anyway, let’s go see what Dad left us.”
    We stepped into the vault. The last time I’d been in here, the space had been in ruins, since I’d used my Ice and Stone magic to collapse the ceiling on top of Deirdre and Rodrigo Santos, the professional thief who’d been helping her. But the piles of rocky rubble were long gone, as was all the gray marble dust, shattered