Page 14 of Heart of Thieves

“Oh?” I lift the case from the table and face him.

His oily criminal smile makes my stomach churn. I hate seeing him like this, dressed in his expensive jackets and silky shirts with bulbous platinum rings on every finger and designer sunglasses crowning his head. The man in my memories wears simple trousers and old button-down shirts with chocolate stains on them. He sits at the kitchen table peeling oranges and scraping flecks of their skins into his slow-roasted coffee. He smiles like he means it and comes up with corny puns to make me laugh.

I hardly recognize this version of him.

His gaze sharpens. “I want you to find him.”

The command hits me like a punch even though I’ve been expecting it for weeks. Of course he wants Nocturne’s help finding the Thief; he’s been searching for us—for me—since he glimpsed me at the Liar’s Dice Tournament finale four months ago. It’s why the Tentacles have reduced our number of jobs, why we have to go out in pairs, why our heist was nearly compromised tonight.

“The Thief is unfindable,” I reply as my pulse quickens.

“Even for you?” He raises a brow.

“You are chasing a shadow, sir.”

“There has to be a way to catch him. To hurt him. Perhaps during the eclipse coming up in a few days. My studies show that occultations such as a solar eclipse may interrupt the flow of starlight from the heavens, if only for the instant of totality.”

“I know magic, Magnus.” Addressing him by his name instead of as “Father” intensifies the nausea wrenching my stomach into my throat, but I push on. “His magic does not come from the stars, so the eclipse will not affect him. And there is no way to force him to stay corporeal if he doesn’t want to. You would do better to move on.”

“Move on,” he repeats slowly, as though tasting the salt in the words. “I cannot. Will not.”

“Because of your daughter?” I ask.

His eyes snap to mine. “I intend to get her back.”

A jolt slices through me, stinging of regret and guilt and anger.

What would he do if I told him who I am? Would he weep with joy and gather me in his arms? Send me right back into that gilded cage, an asset to be guarded, an heir to train up to her duty, a secret to be kept? Now that I’ve tasted freedom, I cannot return to that life.

“Have you ever considered,” I say, feigning boredom, “that if she wanted you to find her, she wouldn’t be making it so difficult?”

His jaw tightens, glare going icy.

“She was at the tournament, apparently of her own free will and choice,” I press on. “I didn’t hear any mention of chains or ropes keeping her there.”

“If you think chains and ropes are the only things that imprison people, you are a fool.” His voice is a rumble barely louder than a whisper, and it sets my teeth on edge.

He’s not going to let up.

An idea begins to take root in my mind. Perhaps I could use this to lead him away from the Tentacles while also digging more answers out of him. It’s a risk, but every deal I’ve made with him has been, and this one could pay off in more ways than one.

I sigh. “I cannot catch the Thief, but I could get your daughter. She, at least, is not a ghost. But I would require quite a steep price.”

He purses his lips. “Very well. If you return Magnolia to me, I will reward you handsomely.”

“With what?”

He nods at the briefcase in my hands. “Thirty of those.”

My jaw drops. Thirty? That would be worth . . . billions of plats.

Tears sting in my eyes. My pulse skitters. Money was supposed to be the thing he loved more than anything. More than me.

A faint buzzing prickles through my body like thousands of tiny ants crawling underneath my skin. A ringing trills in my ears, faint at first, but growing louder.

The Unbreakable Lie.

I zero in on Enzo’s emotions. They crescendo in time with the buzzing. He’s on his way, likely thanks to my onslaught of emotion, and the Unbreakable Lie needs me to get out of here before he catches me.