Page 87 of Heart of Thieves

But when we shift through the wall and head toward the lobby, I can’t help but notice Lola matching my gait instinctually. Can’t help but realize I don’t remember what my childhood house smelled like, but the orange blossom aroma in her hair has become the scent of home.

What will she do once she no longer has to stay? Will she return to her father? Escape to join a dance company? Train to be a circus performer?

Where will home be without her?

I shake away the unsettling trajectory of those thoughts.

I’ll tell her everything. Sometime. But she doesn’t need to know now.

We come down the stairs and catch sight of Soren, Jade, Isla, and Arden waiting for us near the statue at the center of the lobby. The clock on the wall reads five fifteen. We have less than three hours left until the first round closes at sunrise.

“Please tell me you had better luck than I did,” I say.

Soren grimaces, Jade shakes her head, and Arden says, “That Nocturne’s a cunning one.”

“Let’s go through the books on the main floor,” Lola suggests. “Be more specific about checking through the spines and topics to see if anything is out of place.”

The others turn to me, Soren with his mouth in a deepening grimace, and I nod. “It’s as good an idea as any. Let’s go.”

The remaining hours of the first round speed by as we comb through the books. Panic churns deep in my gut as fatigue eats at the corners of my eyes. A headache pounds through my skull. My limbs feel like lead.

“Enzo!” Lola says, catching up to me as I trail a man who looks like he might have figured out something.

“Shhh!” I say, glancing to make sure no one heard her say my name. “What?”

“I think I found something.”

I signal to the other Tentacles, and the six of us spill into a section of the library we already searched.

She pulls me to an aisle that seems relatively nondescript. Until she points out the spines of a few of the books protruding slightly from the others. “I was looking through this section because I noticed some of the books were poking out. Maybe it’s a clue.”

Arden retrieves one of the books and reads its title. “Soullight: Fire of the Inner World. Sounds like my kind of book.”

Soren pulls out another one. “Voratium Forged in Faith and Friction,” he reads aloud.

“Starlit Flame.” I frown, examining a tome that looks more like a novel than a textbook. “No way this one is supposed to be in this section.”

“There’s got to be a dozen of them,” Lola says, pushing onto her tiptoes to reach another one.

“They all seem to have something to do with fire . . . ,” Jade puts in. “Words like forged and flame and incendiary and”—she squints at one—“smolder?”

Anticipation overtakes the dread that was simmering in my stomach just moments ago. “This has to be it.”

“Is there a kitchen in this building?” Isla suggests. “Maybe it’s directing us toward a stove of some kind. A burner.”

I ponder. “Possibly.”

“I thought you’ve stolen from this place a hundred times,” Lola says.

“I have, but I came looking for books and artifacts, not cheese.”

She raises a brow. “Cheese?”

“Cheese is delicious.” I shrug. “I like it.”

“Since when is cheese kept on a stove?”

“When you want to drizzle it on things, obviously.”