Page 59 of A Spell of Heart & Havoc

Suddenly, a noise came from outside. The quiet turn of slow wheels on earth. It stopped, and I tensed even further. They’d arrived.

My hand hovered over the first of the three locks, shaking slightly. I should open the door. I had to open it for them. For the job.

A low rap against the wood, just once, and I jumped. They were here. Waiting. But my arms wouldn’t move. I felt frozen in time, hands shaking harder, mind cloudy.

Do it, just do it.

Another quiet tap from outside. I clicked the top lock open. Time stretched on. A small scraping of metal on metal, and the second lock—a dead bolt as thick as my big toe—slid smoothly out as I moved it.

One more.

And then, inexplicably, the third and last lock, above the ornate doorknob, twisted open with a clunk. My hand fell to my side as I stared at it. The turning of the doorknob had me instinctively slipping into the shadowy corner behind the door.

What the fuck was happening?? It was as if…

The door opened silently on hinges I’d oiled myself two weeks ago, just for this purpose. Now the sight made my stomach drop.

Stiv’s broad, bald head came into view as he stepped carefully through the doorway, followed by two other people I vaguely recognized from around the Takers Guild. All muscular and tall, probably chosen by Zephyra for this job because they could haul the art away quickly. They hadn’t spotted me yet, and a big part of me wanted to slip away into the shadows. Sneak back upstairs into Dove’s bed and try to ignore that this was even happening.

But that was a coward’s route. And Kirims were no cowards.

Plus, I thought, eyeing the assortment of knives that the three thieves carried, I needed to watch them. Make sure they didn’t get any bright ideas and decide to explore the rest of the manor. Find some extra treasures for themselves that they didn’t need to hand over to Zephyra.

I doubted that they’d go against her orders, but you never knew with types like them. Like us. Look what happened to me…

I stepped out of the shadows, and Stiv swiveled, a blade drawn faster than I could blink. Seeing me, he relaxed.

“Finally,” he said, deep voice at a quiet whisper. “What was the holdup?”

I moved closer, forcing a scowl onto my face. “Sorry, but I wasn’t exactly given a warning. How did you unlock the—”

“Got a letter from Z. She wants us to haul out everything in this room, right quick. Let’s move. Point out the costlier paintings to us first, then we’ll do the rest after.” My frown deepened, but Stiv gave me an unusually hard look. He stepped deeper into the entrance hall, and I followed.

I flung a hand at a few of the pricier pieces in the most ornate frames, skipping a couple that I knew Dove enjoyed. They’d all be taken in the end, but I didn’t need to be the reason they got pulled off the wall first. The three thieves worked fast, loading up the large covered cart they’d brought almost as quickly as I could lift the paintings down onto the marble floor. They were near silent too, almost spookily so. The quiet horses stayed still, trained for jobs like this, with not even a whinny.

We grabbed the few pieces from the ballroom next door too. Then I darted up to Lady Iris’s closet on silent feet and shoved the gold from her safe into a large pouch, spelled to deaden any noise—very popular tools in the guild for hauling away ill-gotten goods. Holding it tight to my roiling stomach, I averted my eyes as I passed Dove’s door and made my way back down to the front hall. The others were wrapping up. All that remained hanging was the Wistrallo family portrait in the entrance hall, large and looming. Dove’s young face gazed down at me, and I averted my eyes.

“Z said everything.” Stiv came up beside me. I handed the pouch off to him, and he grunted approvingly, tucking it in a large pants pocket. The pain in my stomach intensified. Dove needed that coin. It was hers by right. I shouldn’t be doing this…

“Why? She won’t even be able to shift this. It’s too recognizable. Let’s leave it,” I said. “As a—a statement to the family.”

He didn’t look at me. “Everything.”

After they hauled away the portrait, tucking it carefully in the massive wagon, I brushed my hands off and turned to the crew. “Well, good work. See you back at the guild later.”

But they ignored me, continuing back into the hall and toward the front stairwell. I darted over. “Wait, wait, wait—” I whispered urgently, “What’re you doing? The job’s over. Get out of here before someone wakes up and finds you!”

Stiv paused beside me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder as the other two padded up the stairs silently. “Only half done. Our thief on the inside tipped us off that there’s one more thing upstairs that Z wants.”

“What? I’m supposed to be the one on the inside,” I said. Stiv gave me an almost pitying look. “Who is it? Hanc? The stablemaster? That fellow’s slipperier than an eel, never did catch his name…”

“We need to go. Get this over with,” he just said, squeezing my shoulder lightly once before following the others up the stairwell.

With no other recourse, I went along. Upstairs, we moved along the quiet hallway, with one of the thieves pointing at doors we passed as if counting. My throat constricted when we came to Dove’s door, but the group just continued along. Finally, we came to—Dove’s studio? Everyone slipped inside, and after a second’s hesitation, I followed.

Closing the door gently behind me, I turned. One of the unnamed thieves had lit a small but bright magelight, and they all moved around the studio slowly, avoiding the scattered mess of Dove’s painting miscellany around the floor. I stayed by the exit, feeling a surge of possessiveness as the three of them walked around, eyeing her artwork.

“What exactly are you looking for?” I asked. “I can help. I’ve been here for weeks.” I needed to get them out of here as soon as possible. Get them out and change those locks first thing tomorrow.