"Improvising is how people get caught."

"Not improvising is how people stay broke." She turned back to the map. "Jordan, you’re on overwatch. Shadows extend to twenty meters, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect. You’re watching our backs and blocking line of sight if guards come early."

"Great. Love being the lookout guy."

"Naomi, you’re our escape insurance. If someone sees us, you blast the ceiling and we run while they’re distracted."

Naomi nodded slowly. "I can do that."

"And Jace." Belle’s amber eyes found mine. "You’re with me on point. Your Treasure Sense confirms the crystal location while mine maps the wards. We work in tandem, disable everything clean, grab the prize, and vanish before anyone knows we were there."

The plan sounded almost reasonable when she said it like that.

Almost.

I checked my phone. 10:52 PM.

Just over an hour until we committed to the single dumbest decision of our collective lives.

My System pinged quietly.

TIME UNTIL HEIST: 68 minutes

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Abort immediately

SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IF CAUGHT: 0%

I dismissed the notification. The System could judge me all it wanted. I was doing this because my team needed money and Belle was going with or without us.

Better to die together than let her die alone.

Naomi sat beside me on Belle’s bed. Her hand found mine under the blanket, squeezing once.

"We don’t have to do this," she whispered.

"Belle’s going either way."

"I know. But we could tell Misato. She’d stop Belle."

"And Belle would hate us forever."

Naomi’s thumb traced circles on my palm. "Is that worse than getting expelled?"

Honestly? I didn’t know anymore.

Belle checked her gear, counting items in a black messenger bag. "Portable ward disruptor. Check. Mana dampener. Check. Emergency flares. Check. Lock picks in case the dampener fails. Check."

"Where’d you get all that?" Jordan asked.

"Black market."

"You have black market connections?"

"Everyone has black market connections if they ask the right people." She zipped the bag. "The engineering kids sell this stuff for cheap because they build it for class projects and need to offload inventory."

I wanted to ask how Belle knew engineering kids well enough to buy illegal tools from them. But honestly, Belle knowing people was the least surprising thing about tonight.

My phone buzzed.

Aurora.

Aurora: heard a rumor you’re planning something stupid

Aurora: please tell me it’s not the crystal thing Belle mentioned

I stared at the message.

Belle had told Aurora?

"Did you tell Aurora we’re doing this?" I asked.

Belle didn’t look up from her bag. "She guessed. I confirmed."

"Belle."

"What? She’s not going to snitch."

"She might try to stop us."

"She won’t." Belle finally looked at me. "She gets it. Sometimes you gotta take risks for real money."

My phone buzzed again.

Aurora: if you’re doing this be smart about it

Aurora: don’t get caught

Aurora: I like you too much to visit you in IHC jail

I typed back.

Jace: we’re being smart

Aurora: that’s a lie but okay

Aurora: text me when you’re alive tomorrow

Aurora: or don’t and I’ll assume you’re dead

Jace: very motivational thanks

Aurora: 😘

I pocketed my phone.

Belle pulled out four black cloth face masks. Handed them around.

Jordan held his like it was contaminated. "We’re really doing the masks."

"Cameras exist, genius."

"Cameras that can see through masks also exist."

"Not if we keep our heads down and move fast." Belle pulled hers on, covering everything from her nose down. With the greasepaint and mask, she looked genuinely dangerous, like someone who’d learned how to break and enter from watching too many heist movies. "How do I look?"

"Like you’re about to rob a convenience store," Jordan said flatly.

"Perfect."

Naomi fumbled with her mask, pulling it over her face. It sat crooked, bunched up on one side, and without thinking I reached over to fix it. My fingers brushed the fabric at her temple and straightened it out properly. Our eyes met above the black cloth.

She looked terrified. Completely, utterly terrified, like someone who’d just realized she was standing at the edge of a cliff with no way back.

I squeezed her shoulder once. Firm, reassuring. "We’re going to be fine."

"You don’t know that."

She was right. I didn’t. But saying ’you’re right, we might die horribly’ wasn’t exactly great for morale.

"I know we’re a team. I know we’ve survived worse. And I know Belle has been planning this for two weeks, which means she’s thought through contingencies we haven’t even considered."

Belle pointed at me. "See? Jace gets it."

"Jace is an idiot," Jordan said. But he pulled his mask on anyway.

I checked the time again. 11:04 PM.

Fifty-six minutes until the shift change.

Belle killed the lights in her room and opened her door slowly, checking the hallway. Empty. Building C sat quiet on a Friday night, most students either at parties or passed out from exhaustion.

We filed into the hallway one at a time. Belle first, moving silent on soft-soled shoes. Then me with the backpack. Naomi behind me with her staff collapsed into a baton at her hip. Jordan last, his hands already twitching as he prepared to manipulate shadows if needed.

The stairwell stretched down five flights into darkness.

Belle descended without hesitation. Her black leggings caught what little light existed, and I focused very hard on watching her feet instead of anything higher.

We hit the ground floor. Belle cracked the exit door and peered outside.

Campus at night looked different. Quieter. The usual clusters of students laughing and training had vanished, replaced by security lights casting long shadows across empty quads.

Belle checked her tablet. "Patrol just passed the north entrance. We’ve got thirty-eight minutes before the next one."

"And six minutes during shift change," I confirmed.

"Correct." She looked back at us. "Everyone remember the plan?"

We nodded.

"Good. Stay tight. Stay quiet. Don’t do anything stupid."

Jordan raised his hand. "Quick question. Isn’t this entire thing stupid?"

"Yes. But it’s profitable stupid. There’s a difference."