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I raised the paper with the charcoal sketch of Lennox, carefree and wind-blown. My nose wrinkled as a snarl peeled out of me. The bastard had kept one of Shaan’s drawings. I crumpled it as the door clicked open.
A human serf wearing a headscarf gasped and dropped the stack of sheets she held.
Fuck.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
NEIA
I pressedmy hand on the hilt of the sword at my hip. I didn’t know how to use such a heavy weapon, but I’d noticed a lot of the guards kept their palms resting on theirs. Blending in was my goal. I didn’t need to know how to wield their weapons… unless we ran into Seelie guards who found us out.
I stopped at the end of a hall and leaned against a tapestry, listening for any sound. Ishir paused beside me, his gaze focused.
“You know how to use these swords, right?” I asked.
I’d spent my adolescence creeping around, stealing to survive. Somehow, I’d avoided getting caught in some of the harder realities of the streets—gangs and the dangers that went with them. I’d always been smooth with my grabs which saved me from needing to rely on others. There was only one time I’d ever been caught, and it was by Sai. A smile floated to my lips at that thought but it just as quickly fell away. I knew very little about how to manage weapons. That was Sai and Orman’s expertise. Now they’d gone a separate direction, and I worked with Ishir. He was a guard, but these weren’t the weapons he’d trained with.
“Sure.” Ishir shrugged. “The balance of this sword is awful, nothing like a Talwar, but I’m well trained, I assure you.”
I nodded. I let too much of my anxiety show if Ishir reassured me. King Carrington would have a guard around the Memoria Globe, though. The two of us needed to manage snatching it without drawing attention. If Sai trusted Ishir, I did too. His skills had to be remarkable for Sai to select him, despite his friendship with Prince Shaan.
We turned the corner and jogged down yet another hall. This palace was like a fucking maze. I hoped Elisa made quick progress opening the safes. I felt guilty we hadn’t discussed her hesitations more before jumping into this job. She’d only brought them up the night before we met with the others. We spent that day around the group without a moment of privacy, and the next day the guards had taken us. She hadn’t seemed upset in the cell. Once Elisa committed to a job, she followed through. She’d never had the nervousness around her like this time, though. She’d never mentioned quitting before.
Elisa worked with Sai before I met her. She’d always done the quiet jobs of unlocking safes and slinking through back hallways. Whereas Sai and I didn’t hesitate to jump into the middle of danger. That was the only protest Elisa had ever made.I worry about you, Nei.I could hear the tremble in her voice, and I swallowed back a sigh. Something about growing up fast and hard made the potential of death an ever-present reality for me. It hadn’t scared me… until I met Elisa and found someone that made me wish for a long life if only to spend it at her side. Now she had hesitations about us joining this job. If anything went wrong, I’d never forgive myself.
No. I needed to focus.
We reached the stairs, and I turned to Ishir. “We march up the way the soldiers here do.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Good.”
We walked side-by-side as we clomped up the steps, our shoulders rolled back. My body still felt like mine but reflecting in the dark windows was another person altogether, a man with a wispy beard.
We reached the top, and I jerked my chin to the left to indicate our direction. Ishir remained at my elbow as we walked into the hall where moonlight washed across the floral embroidered rug, along the stone walls, and over the empty length of the hall.
The globe wasn’t here.
Shit.
Someone clapped my shoulder. “Monty, how’d you get off jail duty tonight?”
I turned, and the guard’s expression shifted into uncertainty at my hesitation. I might wear his friend’s face, have his voice, but I didn’t have his mannerisms or memories.
Shit, shit, double shit.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
LIRA
Lennoxand I continued our steps down the massive stairs, hundreds of eyes like stars fixed on us. But only Mother’s gleaming ones captured my attention. My chest rose with rapid breaths, and I took a long inhale to steady myself. I’d wrapped my arm into Lennox’s elbow, and he squeezed it closer to his side and gave me a steadying look.
I tried to embrace his stability.Compose yourself, Lira. You can do better than this.
When we reached the floor, my heart had slowed. Maybe Luz was right. I was a lioness that had spent my entire life being told I was a kitten. The crowd shuffled from the direction Mother had stood. She came for me, but I didn’t have to fall into her trap.
I grabbed Lennox’s hand which earned a frown from him. “Could we dance?”
