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“Me neither, but the faster we get to work, the faster we can get out of here,” Esta said as she finished popping the lock she’d been working on.
Inside she found gold coins and a few pieces of jewelry, which she pocketed before moving on to the next and then the next. She couldn’t let herself think about the people she was stealing from, or what these small treasures might mean to them, and in a matter of minutes she had quite a haul—cash and jewels, antique coins, and some old stock certificates as well. None of it would be traceable, because she was taking it all with them, back where no one would be looking for it.
Harte started working as well. His years of training for his act had made him a deft lockpick, and he worked almost as fast as she did with the master key. They replaced the boxes as they went, so that at first glance no one would notice anything had been taken. They were working so efficiently that in a matter of minutes they’d cleared enough to make Sam a very rich man.
Esta was finishing up when they heard footsteps approaching. She barely had time to lunge for Harte, who was on the other side of the vault, but before she could pull the seconds still, Sammie appeared in the doorway.
“The watchmen.” His eyes were wide, and he was panting.
Esta understood immediately and reached for Sammie, but shots erupted and he shuddered, jerking violently—one, two, three, four times—and staggered out of her reach, falling sideways into Harte’s arms.
Esta sprang into action, slamming the vault door closed and pulling the seconds slow all at once. The world went starkly, deafeningly silent.
At first all she could do was stand there, her heart pounding in her ears as she looked at the scene in front of her—the shocked anguish on Harte’s face, his arms outstretched to catch his brother, and the blood that had splattered the bronze doors from where Sam had been hit squarely in the back.
Esta was frozen with indecision. If she released time, the people who had shot Sammie would have the door to the vault opened in a matter of minutes—maybe even seconds. But she understood that she couldn’t simply pull Harte and Sammie into the net of time with her. If she brought the two back into the regular march of seconds, Sammie’s wounds would bleed and Harte’s brother would die. All Esta could do was stand there between the seconds that separated life from death. Between the past that had been and the future she could remake, knowing that she couldn’t stay there, trapped in time within an airless vault forever, but neither could she let go.
UNEXPECTED
1902—New York
Jack Grew was sitting in the back parlor of the Vanderbilt home with a group of other men, doing his level best to avoid the preening debutantes on the dance floor. The fact that the whiskey he was drinking seemed to be mostly water did nothing to help his growing irritation. It wasn’t enough that the Order had decided he was worthy of trust. No. Jack’s family had decided that he was in need of something more—namely, a wife. They had collectively decided that he should spend more time out in society and were determined that he suffer through every summer soiree since the gala.
It would be good for his reputation, his mother insisted. The more the important families of the city saw him, the less they would think of that girl’s unfortunate death, his aunt had agreed. Marriage, the women had decided, would serve to help rehabilitate his image.
Rehabilitate. That was the actual word they’d used, as though Jack were some invalid convalescing with tuberculosis. Morgan, of course, was no help. Jack’s uncle was clearly in the minority of opinions in the Inner Circle and was perfectly happy to allow the women of the family to arrange Jack’s life. Morgan made it no secret that he would have preferred his nephew not be involved with the plans for their new headquarters, and he reminded Jack of this every time their paths crossed.
That night was like every other dinner party he’d been forced to attend. He made his required appearance to appease the cackling hens in his family, but that was Jack’s limit. Instead of the crush of the ballroom, he found his usual spot with the men in the back parlor, far from the mothers with their sharp eyes and unwed daughters in tow. The last thing he needed was to be tied to one of those bits of muslin, not when he had more important things to accomplish.
Jack was playing a hand of rummy with a few of the older fellows, since they, at least, tended not to put much stock in gossip or marriage marts, when he noticed a familiar face—one he hadn’t seen for weeks. Theo Barclay was walking through the parlor with the High Princept and two other men from the Inner Circle.
There was something about the group that bothered Jack. Maybe it was simply Barclay’s appearance, or the ease with which Theo seemed to be conversing with the older men. Something was wrong with the portrait they made as the men cut through the back parlor, and Jack’s instincts were prickling. He folded his hand and excused himself from the table, then made his way toward the trio.
“Barclay?” Jack called out. When Theo Barclay turned, a question—or was that a bit of panic—in his eyes, Jack pretended delight. “I thought that was you. But I thought I’d heard you were headed for the Continent with your lovely bride?”
Theo gave Jack a stiff excuse for a smile as the High Princept simply lifted his brows at the interruption.
“Ruby already departed, but I’m not set to leave quite yet, I’m afraid,” Theo said, suddenly looking even more uncomfortable.
“But you are to be married?” Jack asked, wondering if the rumors he’d heard had any merit to them. He wouldn’t be surprised, really. Reynolds, pretty as she might be, was nothing but a hoyden, and Barclay was hardly the type capable of bringing her to heel.
“Yes,” Barclay said. “The wedding won’t be until autumn, though. Ruby had her heart set on the colors of the season. Who was I to deny her?”
“Who indeed… other than her fiancé,” Jack said, still considering Barclay’s unexpected appearance that evening. “I hadn’t realized that you knew each other.” He motioned between Theo and the High Princept.
“Mr. Barclay is a new initiate,” the old man said.
“Is he?” Jack stared at Theo, who was turning quite the shade of pink. “I hadn’t realized you had any interest in the occult sciences, Barclay.”
Theo blinked. “I, ah… Well, that is to say…” He was doing an absurdly bad job at covering his discomfort, which only proved to Jack that something was certainly amiss.
“Young Barclay here is quite an accomplished student of ancient art,” the High Princept said. “He did your uncle a great service recently, returning one of the pieces lost in the robbery at the Metropolitan.”
“Did he?” Jack’s instincts were on alert, and in his jacket pocket, the Book’s weight felt like an anchor. “How very… unexpected.”
“Oh, not really,” Theo said, looking distinctly uneasy. “I often frequent the auction houses looking for interesting pieces, and when I saw this particular piece come up, I knew immediately what it must be.”
“Indeed?” Jack said, still eyeing him. “Can I inquire about which piece you returned?”
