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Why would there be almost an exact copy of the painting up here?
She grabbed it, tugging it toward her. Downstairs, she could hear people running around and guards roaming throughout the house. She ignored all of the noise and spun the painting around.
There, on the back of the painting, was the map.
“Son of a bitch,” she whispered.
She’d found it.
Chapter 2
Tabitha couldn’t believe it.
She stared at the map in front of her. There were voices coming from downstairs, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t be bothered to care.
It was here.
The map was here, and she was going to get to the island.
There would be no stopping her now.
Only, judging by the people running around downstairs, hollering and yelling, she was going to have a hell of a time getting out of the house.
Lucky for her, she’d never been scared of a challenge.
Tabitha grabbed the map. It wasn’t on thing canvas that could be rolled. It had been stretched around a frame already. She pulled out a knife from her boots, and even though it pained her to do it, she sliced the canvas.
The knife tore through the painting like flesh. She cringed at the sound of it ripping, horrified at what she was doing. Although Tabitha was not known for her ability to make good choices, she felt like cutting a beautiful painting was a new low, even for her.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?”
She whispered the words, unwilling to say them at a normal volume. Even a whisper felt too loud. She shoved the knife back in her boot, careful not to slice her foot, and she rolled up the canvas tightly, map side in. She had what she came for, and even though she knew her journey was just beginning, a sense of satisfaction washed over her.
She’d found the map. Now it was time to get out of the house.
Despite the fact that she’d managed to find the object of her desire, the guards were here. They were probably already swarming the house. No, she hadn’t exactly counted on this. She hadn’t needed to count on this. Tabitha was a thief, and she was a mage, but she wasn’t the type of person who liked being caught or trapped.
When she was cornered, she always ended up feeling like a wild animal of sorts, and she definitely didn’t like that feeling today. No, today she was supposed to be feeling freer than she ever had before. She had finally accomplished h
er goal.
Well, almost.
She still had to escape.
If she didn’t hurry, the guards were going to find her. There was no doubt in her mind that they would tear the entire house apart just looking for her. The man she was about to steal from might not remember what she was after, but he knew with certainty that she was no innocent.
His guards were not the type of people who would forgive her for her betrayal.
Before Tabitha had come out tonight, she’d carefully researched the layout of Flannigan’s home, and she happened to know that despite the fact that there was only one staircase leading up into this attic, there was, in fact, a dumbwaiter.
It had been used long ago as a way to keep the attic clean and tidy. It had been used as a way to make sure that objects could easily be moved up or down without any sort of problem. Now, she was going to use it as a way to claim her freedom.
“Where is she?” Tabitha heard one of the men yelling from downstairs.
A chill shot down her spine. They were getting closer. She needed to move.
Fast.
