Page 37 of The Hood and his Thief

Unfortunately, her performance had decidedly ended Little John’s conversation as his companion stood and went to speak with somebody else.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the way these performers use their Talents so freely,” Olivia sighed, her tone wistful.

“I don’t know, you might be able to put on an impressive fire breathing show with your Talent,” Rhosyn pointed out.

“Maybe.” Olivia shrugged. “But even at the Gower’s, I felt like I had to look over my shoulder every time I lit a fire in the hearth. I suppose it would be different if I had learned to hide my Talent in plain sight like they have, though.”

Rhosyn considered as Paul and Olivia continued to discuss the Talents they had seen in the Circus—the lion tamer who could understand the creature’s roars as if they were words and the magician whose tricks nobody had ever figured out, likely because he could actually make small objects pop in and out of existence.

The thoughts of a youth so similar, yet so different from her own in the gangs, where Talents were both a death sentence and a source of power, twirled in her head for the remainder of the day. While she mulled things over, she kept a sharp ear out for any gossip that drifted within ear shot, but she learned nothing more interesting than the rumor that the contortionist had been found in the sword swallower’s bed—apparently both showing off their skills.

Contrary to most gang haunts, the crowds of Foxes thinned as the day wore into evening, likely headed off for a night of entertaining revelers. By the time a familiar figure wearing a top hat graced the doorway, Olivia was dozing lightly in her seat and Rhosyn was feigning heaviness in her own eyelids, seeing if Little John would take it as an opportunity to lift his watchful eye.

Ansel sighed as he entered the room, sweeping off his hat and running his hand through his hair. The stiff, pushed back style he wore during the day came undone, falling across his forehead, nearly brushing his eyes.

“You can head off, Little John.” He nodded to his friend as he took in the room. “I’ll watch things around here while you go to the Circus.”

John nodded, pushing to his feet and stretching, several joints popping audibly as he coaxed movement back into his bones.

“He shouldn’t be too tired. I went easy on him today,” Rhosyn quipped.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t keep just as close of an eye on you tomorrow.” John pointed a meaty finger at her as he tromped past. Rhosyn shot him her most winning smile in return.

“It looks like I’m the tired one today then,” Ansel admitted. “And that means it’s time for bed for both of us, even if you’re still full of energy.”

Olivia, who had woken at some point during the conversation, looked momentarily shocked by his phrasing, but Rhosyn waved off her concern.

“Mr. Blakely here is a perfect gentlemen. Aside from being a lying, cheating gangster, that is,” Rhosyn assured brightly.

With that, she stood and walked towards the stairs, leaving Ansel to trail behind her. It wasn’t until they were back in the room they had shared last night that Ansel spoke.

“I distinctly remember that you are the one who cheats. In fact, I’m pretty sure that is how we found ourselves in this predicament.”

Rhosyn flopped down on the bed, preparing to take her boots off. In a roundabout sort of way, Ansel was right. If she hadn’t found the playing card in his pocket, it might have taken her an embarrassingly long time to put together who the Hood was.

“I don’t have many opportunities to hustle people anymore. I have to practice when I have the chance, or I might get rusty,” Rhosyn explained through a yawn.

Ansel paused in undoing his cufflinks. He cocked his head. “You used to cheat at cards a lot? Not a pastime I would expect of an upstanding officer of the Royal Police.”

Rhosyn’s fingers stuttered over the laces of her boots, somehow knotting them tighter when she meant to untangle them. The reference to her past had tumbled out of her unbidden. A day in a gang haunt, and it slipped off her tongue like second nature—like it had only taken one day to forget that her past was behind her and she now stood firmly on the right side of the law. Or at least tried to.

“Who doesn’t have a few dalliances in their youth?” Rhosyn grasped her composure back, shrugging off his question.

Ansel let out a hmph that didn’t sound satisfied with her answer, but didn’t push her further on it.

“The circus business is harder work than I expected,” Rhosyn said, changing the subject. “You were gone by the time the sun rose and back after dark. It certainly keeps you busy.”

“You know I do more than own a circus,” Ansel pointed out. “But if you think I’m going to tell you what else I was doing today, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

As he spoke, he had rolled up his sleeves and his forearms flexed as he reached up to tug at his cravat. In the dim lamplight of the room, the shadows cast by the veins there deepened, and Rhosyn had to force her gaze away, mouth traitorously dry.

“Asking about each other’s day seems to be the bare minimum of polite for two people about to share a bed,” Rhosyn retorted. As she did, she moved to unbutton her pants. She shouldn’t be flustered by Ansel undressing after last night, but if she was, she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to disarm him in return.

As she stood to push the trousers down her thighs, she peeked out of the corner of her eye at him, and found him not looking, busy with the buttons on his shirt. She couldn’t decide whether to be impressed or frustrated that a gang leader boasted such a robust sense of honor.

With a stifled sigh, Rhosyn slid into the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She tried not to listen to the rustle of fabric as Ansel continued to undress. The bed dipped as he slid into his side, and she contained a jump as bare skin brushed her shoulder. She turned her head to find that he had chosen to forgo a shirt tonight.

Quickly, she snapped her gaze back to the ceiling above her, but it was no good. Ansel’s chest dominated her vision again as he leaned over her to grab the rope attached to the headboard.