A Book of Spirits and Thieves

“My, you’re a charmer, aren’t you?” said Sienna.

“I certainly try.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” Camilla asked, frowning and scratching her wart-covered chin. “I’m not expecting anyone.”

“Perhaps you aren’t,” Sienna said. “But I am. Seems they’ve arrived earlier than I expected. They must have taken very swift horses.”

“Who’s that?”

“Some friends of mine who are interested in what your friends stole from the goddess.”

“What?” Camilla exclaimed. “What are you talking about?”

Sienna closed the distance between them, showing a flash of silver in her grip, and Camilla gasped as Sienna sank her sharp dagger into her soft belly.

“Did you really think you could steal from Her Radiance and get to live another day?” Sienna hissed as she let her sister fall to the floor in a heap.

Maddox watched in silent shock. He met Becca’s stunned gaze with wide eyes.

“Maddox,” Barnabas yelled. “Run!”

The wooden door split and crashed inward as Valoria’s guards poured into the cottage.

Maddox tried to summon his magic, but he was too flustered, and too ill and weakened by all the ale he’d consumed last night.

“That one.” Sienna pointed at Maddox, her expression now void of any kindness. “Valoria will need him when she arrives.”

The heavy weight of a sword hilt struck the side of Maddox’s head, and darkness once again filled his world.





Chapter 24


CRYSTAL



Crys visited Becca Saturday morning. It was just the two of them, and Crys sat in the chair and studied her sister’s face.

She’s not my sister, she reminded herself. She’s the daughter of an immortal murderer.

Crys tried to see her differently, tried to feel less of a bond with her. Maybe that would make everything easier.

But it didn’t work. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see Becca as anything except her kid sister.

And she knew in her heart she never would.

She’d been up most of the night, racked with all kinds of thoughts after her dinner with Farrell the previous evening. She hadn’t actually meant to admit she knew his secret so soon.

He’d confirmed her worst suspicions. The guy she’d originally met, the guy she’d actually liked, hadn’t been real. The one from last night, that was the real Farrell Grayson. A smug, overconfident, overprivileged creep who was a part of a horrible organization responsible for evil acts.

Did he know the whole truth about Markus? Or was he just another clueless minion?

Crys didn’t care either way. She never wanted to see him again.

When she got back to the shop, she considered confiding in her mother about what had happened last night with Farrell, but before she could say a word, her mother immediately grabbed her purse and jacket.

“Can you close up the shop tonight?” she asked.

“Where are you going? Out to visit Becca?”

“No.” Julia hesitated at the doorway.

“Mom,” Crys said pointedly. “No more secrets between us, remember?”

She sighed and turned to face her daughter. “No more secrets,” she agreed.

“So? Spill.”

“I need go to the airport and pick up your aunt.”

Crys gasped. “Jackie’s here?”

“Almost here. She managed to get a flight out of London this morning. Her plane lands in an hour. She wants to see Dr. Vega immediately, but I haven’t been able to get him on the phone to set up a meeting. We’ll stop by his office on our way back, and hopefully he’ll still be there.” She reached for the doorknob. “I’ll call when I have Jackie in the car, and we’ll let you know when to expect us.”

“What if someone follows you?” Julia didn’t know that Markus had put Farrell on her trail, and it was entirely possible she was being watched as well.

“Trust me, in the last fifteen years I’ve learned how to get around without being detected.”

“You’ll have to teach me that.”

“Maybe someday.” She squeezed Crys’s hand. “I’ll see you soon.”

Crys locked the door after she left, turned the sign to CLOSED, and searched the bookshop until she found Charlie. She took him up to the apartment, where she gave him half a can of tuna, then made a sandwich with the other half.

He gobbled the fish up in record time, then squeaked out a happy mew.

“You’re welcome.” She leaned over to scratch his head. “So, what do we do now?”

He brushed against her leg, his tail twitching.

“You’re right. If I stay here with all this time to think, I’m going to go completely crazy. I need to do something. But what?”

Charlie padded out of the kitchen and jumped up on the carpet-covered climber she’d recently bought for him.

“You’re no help at all,” Crys said.

A half hour went by before she got so impatient that she decided to head to the university campus. She decided she’d wait in Dr. Vega’s office for her mother and Jackie to arrive.