At my chest level, two thick branches split off from the main trunk, dipping down before rising up and out and snaking skyward again. Together, the branches formed a perfect, sturdy crook for me to nestle the bags in. For extra insurance, I drew out a long length of spidersilk rope from one of my coat pockets, looped it around both bags several times, and tied them down to the branches. This way, I didn’t have to worry about the bags falling out of the tree or some troll getting curious about what might be inside them, jumping up and down on the branches, and knocking the bags down to the ground.
Of course, a treetop in the woods wasn’t the most secure place, but the weapons would be okay here for a day or two until I could take them to my other, better hiding spot. It was the same procedure I’d used with all the other black blades we’d stolen from Victor, sneaking them away from the mansion and over to my final hiding spot a few at a time, and it had worked like a charm so far.
Besides, it wasn’t like I could get into a car and drive down to the city. Not this late at night. At least, not without attracting the attention of the guards on duty. They might not spot me creeping through the shadows, but a car was another matter. The guards would wonder where I was going and what I was doing, which was exactly what I wanted to avoid. So it was better to leave the weapons out here in the woods where there was little chance that anyone would find them.
Once the two bags were secured to the branches, I climbed down the blood persimmon. The trolls in the neighboring trees were still watching me, their green eyes full of curiosity, and a couple of them cheep-cheeped at me again. So I reached into my coat pockets and drew out several bars of dark chocolate. Many folks were afraid of monsters, but not me. My mom had taught me that most monsters were actually pretty easy to get along with, if you knew what toll to pay to get them to leave you alone. In the tree trolls’ case, dark chocolate was the preferred bribe of choice.
So I held the candy bars up where all the trolls could see them, then laid the chocolate down on a flat rock off to one side of the clearing.
“Sorry if I kept y’all up past your bedtimes,” I said. “So here’s a treat to make up for it.”
The trolls’ eyes brightened with sly satisfaction and they cheep-cheeped again, but it was a far happier sound than before. I grinned, knowing that they would climb down from their nests and snatch the chocolate bars the second I was gone.
I started to leave the clearing, but my gaze went over to my mom’s tombstone at the back of the cemetery. My grin faded, and the old, familiar pain of her loss flooded my chest again, like a copper crusher coiled around my heart, squeezing, squeezing tight.
“Good night, Mom,” I called out in a soft voice.
I waited, but of course there was no response. No voice, no whispered words, not even the whistle of the wind in the trees. I blinked back a few tears, then sighed, stuck my hands in the pockets of her spidersilk coat, and trudged back to the mansion for the night.
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, I got up, got dressed, and went down to the dining hall as usual, as though I hadn’t spent most of the previous night skulking through the shadows and stealing things that didn’t belong to me.
Nothing that I hadn’t done before.
The dining hall was one of the largest rooms in the mansion, the place where everyone gathered to meet, eat, and more. Long tables that could seat dozens of people each crouched on top of black-and-white Persian rugs, while floor-to-ceiling windows lined the back wall, offering a lovely view of the landscaped grounds and the deep, dark woods beyond.
I’d gotten here a little later than normal, so everyone was well into their breakfasts. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything since the mini cheeseburgers in the library last night, so I went over to the buffet tables that lined one of the walls and fixed myself a heaping plate of blackberry pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs, grilled hash browns, and of course, bacon—lots and lots of bacon.
I crunched down on one of the crispy strips, enjoying the smoky applewood flavor, then grabbed a tall glass of orange juice and headed over to the table where Devon and Felix were sitting with Mo. Oscar was at another table, and he waved at me before turning back to his pixie friends.
Felix and Mo were both talking a hundred words a minute to each other, so I slid into the seat next to Devon.
He leaned over and bumped his shoulder against mine. “I missed you on the roof last night.”
“Sorry,” I said. “But once I got back to my room, I took a shower and went to bed. I guess all that sneaking around made me more tired than I’d realized.”