Chapter 1
A Job Offer
Sam hovered in the shadows, her cloak wrapped around her, shielding her from sight. She had no intention of getting caught, but if anyone were to suspect she was here, it would be Marin. The woman was too well connected, almost as if she knew Sam’s plans even before Sam herself.
At least Tray watched from a nearby rooftop. If she didn’t make it out, he’d know and would come in for her. Her brother had a unique relationship with Marin, and he trusted her much more than Sam ever could.
“Is this the map?” she heard Marin whisper across to another, though she remained in shadow.
The woman was compact, only a few inches taller than five feet, but still taller than Sam. She hated how small she was, hated the way it limited where she could sneak, but it wasn’t like she could choose her height. She’d been born small, and supposedly took after her mother, though Sam barely remembered her. All she knew was that others who had known her mother said she took after her. Even Marin had mentioned it when they’d first met.
“This is the map. You know what they would do if they knew I shared this with you?” the man said. He stood along one of the dozens of canals that ran through the city, close enough that he could probably feel the spray off the water from the eels swirling beneath the surface. “I’m only doing this to repay the debt. After this…”
Sam couldn’t make out who the man was, nor did she recognize his voice. There seemed to be an accent to his words, but in the city, there were nearly as many accents as there were sections to the city. People came to Verdholm for safety.
“We’re even, I know,” Marin said. She remained near one of the buildings lining the canal, enough distance from the man that she could move quickly if needed. It was a good position. Marin tapped her canal staff on the hard stone path that ran along the canal, almost a warning to keep the man away.
“You understand that it’s not usable in its current form, even for you?”
Marin cut him off with a wave of her hand. “I understand that we haven’t had anything like it in the city in many years.” Her voice had trailed off as she spoke. “I don’t know why they would risk it now, but it’s to my benefit they do.”
Marin took something from the man—a scrap of paper or a bundle?—and slipped it into her pocket.
“And the payment?”
“The same place I promised before,” Marin said.
Sam knew Marin traded in information, but thought that was it—that she traded, not bought what she needed.
“If this is inaccurate, you know what will happen.” Marin’s threat held menace, enough that Sam almost took a step back, but she was shielded in the shadows. Wearing her cloak—one she’d borrowed from Marin long ago—no one could see her.
“It’s real enough. You won’t have much time.”
Sam shifted her position. The moon was high overhead, gleaming along the rundown buildings in this section of the city. They were far enough removed from the central part of town that she didn’t fear getting caught by the guards. Marin catching her might not have nearly the same consequences, but there would be consequences.
What was she thinking following her here? Just because she found work as a thief—and good work, most of the time—didn’t mean she needed to risk that by opposing Marin.
She turned her attention back to the conversation. What had she missed?
“You plan to go after it today?”
Marin nodded. “There won’t be much time before it’s transported beyond my reach. The rest of the preparations are in place. If I don’t make my move now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to. What of you?”
“I have to return. Otherwise, all of this will have been in vain.”
They said something else, but too softly, so Sam couldn’t hear it. She knew not to move. Movement now would disrupt the silence, and with Marin, she didn’t want to risk that exposure. The woman would not be forgiving.
The man moved away from Marin, leaving her standing alone.
She remained motionless for long moments before turning in Sam’s direction, as if she knew she was there. “You can come out of the shadows, Samara.”
Kyza! How had Marin detected her?
Sam stepped forward. “You knew?”
“I think I’d recognized my own cloak,” she said, eyeing Sam up and down before her gaze settled on her in full. She had hard eyes, and they looked at her in a way that demanded she do as instructed. Sam suspected that any who fell victim to that gaze would do the same. “How much did you hear?”
Sam shrugged. There was no use denying that she’d overheard everything. “Enough. What sort of prize are you going after?”
She smiled, but Marin’s eyes never changed. “I’m not going after any prize.”
“But I heard you say that time was important. I heard you tell him you needed to act—”
Marin gave a single shake of her head. “I’m not the best person to reach this target.”
Sam’s heart fluttered even before Marin said anything else. She didn’t need her to say anything more to know what she intended.
“Since you seem to have heard everything, I think you’ll be a good fit to go after this.”
“I don’t work for you, Marin.” She didn’t want to work for anyone, though Bastan had the best claim on her, as much as she wanted to get away from him. Sam didn’t want to spend all her days thieving. There would be something else for her, even if there were times it seemed that she would never find it. Thieving was a means to something else—someplace better—and Sam was determined to find it.
“No, but you have, and you will again. Now.”
“Give me a reason why I should?”
She eyed Sam strangely, almost appraising her. “How much do you need to pay off Bastan?”
“There is no paying off Bastan,” Sam said. Even if she had enough money to pay him off, she doubted she could completely separate from him. Once her mother died, Sam had taken all the jobs she could to keep her and her brother safe. It just so happened that most of them were tied to Bastan, and he took his cut. Each job she took drew her deeper into his web, and she was tied to him more and more. In some ways, Marin was still worse. At least with Bastan, you knew what he wanted and where you stood. With Marin, there was always a sort of uncertainty.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. For the right job, you could get your independence back, and no longer be dependent on him for jobs. What do you think about that? Would you like to be able to take only those jobs you choose? Would you like to not pay a cut on everything you pull?”
It was as if Marin knew all the annoyances she felt. There was only so much she’d managed to do to keep both her and Tray safe. Bastan helped, but he had a price, and she gladly paid, to ensure her brother’s safety. Other than in dreams, she’d given up thinking she could ever get away from it.
“Why give up a job like that?” she asked. “If what you have is so valuable, why not do it yourself?”
Marin tipped her head. “I could. But I think I’d prefer to have you do it.”
“And if I don’t?”
“That won’t happen, so I won’t bother telling you what could happen if you don’t do this for me. Why should I describe the way Tray would suffer, or the way your jobs would suddenly become more difficult?” Marin offered a false smile.
Sam was stuck. She didn’t want to work with Marin—she already had one person who pushed her hard enough—but she feared that if she didn’t, Marin would do all the things she promised. Her brother needed her help. Sam needed to keep him safe. She couldn’t do that without money, and without the support of someone like Bastan—or Marin.
“What’s the task?”
Marin fished something out of her pocket and passed it to Sam. She unfolded the slip of frayed paper, revealing a hand-drawn map. It was the diagram for a building, and from the way it was depicted, Sam could tell it was a highborn house.
“No.”
“You don’t know the job.”
“I know it well enough. I’m not breaking into some highborn fortress.”
“Fortress? That seems a bit strong, even for you, Samara. This is a house, and what you’re after is incredibly valuable. Enough that when you manage to acquire it, I’ll see any debt you owe to Bastan wiped clean. How does that sound?”
She hated to admit it, but that sounded great, and if there was anyone who would be able to afford to pay what Bastan would require to wipe away her debt, it would be Marin.
Worry tickled at her. Why would Marin offer her this opportunity? It wasn’t that Marin was any slouch when it came to sneaking around. She was as good or better than Sam. She was the person who’d taught Sam most of what she knew, back before Sam understood the way Marin worked, and the expectations she would have for that knowledge.
If she did what Marin asked, she’d be trading one sort of service for another. And even then, she wasn’t sure she’d be completely free of Bastan. He appreciated her skills far too much to let her go easily.
Marin watched her, and her eyes hardened. “No strings on this one, Samara. You do this, and you’re free. Not only of Bastan, but of me. I won’t require additional service of you.”
Sam sighed. She wasn’t sure she believed her, but that wasn’t the point, was it? The point was to tempt her, to coax her into helping, regardless of whether she wanted to or not.
“I’ll think about it.” She handed the map back to Marin, but she didn’t take it.
“Keep it. If you decide to do this for me, you’ll need it.”
“When do I have to decide?”
Marin quirked a smile. “You’ll have until tomorrow night. After that… then the offer disappears and will be made to another.”
Damn her. First the temptation, then the time limitation.
She knew what Tray would say. He already liked Marin well enough that he took her jobs without Sam. There weren’t many jobs Tray could do, not on his own—with his size, he didn’t have the same quiet to his steps or the same understanding of silence—but by using her brother, Marin bound him ever more to her, and in turn, risked binding Sam to her, as well.
“I do this, and you leave Tray alone.”
Marin actually smiled at that. “Your brother can make his own decisions, can’t he?”
“My brother doesn’t see what you are, but I do. If I do this, you leave him alone. This pays for both of our freedom.”
Marin chuckled. “So dramatic. It’s not as if I intend to use your brother in some nefarious way, Samara. He does the occasional odd job for me, nothing more.”
“And those will be over.” She tried to say it as fiercely as possible, but wasn’t sure if it came out as she intended or if she only sounded amusing.
“You’ll have to be the one to tell Trayson what you’ve told me, but I will agree.”
Sam should have questioned more. Marin agreed far too easily, but the idea of not having Bastan on her ass all the time and not worrying about Marin harassing her brother was too much for her. The appeal was too great.
“What is it? What are you after?”
Marin shook her head. “You’ll know it when you see it.”
“That’s not how I work.”
Marin shrugged. “Know that it’s valuable to those in the palace, which is why I must have it.”
“That still doesn’t help.”
“If you choose not to do this, I can’t have you knowing what I’m after, but if you do, then know that there won’t be anything else of value in the room marked on the map.”
“Like gems?” Everyone knew about the collection of gems the Anders family had in the palace. The famed gem collection kept the royals in power, mined from deep beneath the city in flood tunnels. They did more than that, though. They bought protection to others in the city.
Marin laughed again. “Sure. Like gems. Collect this gem and bring it to me.”
Sam unfolded the map and studied the page. “Where is it in this place?”
“Top floor. Look in the room at the end of the hall. You will find this on a table in the center of the room.”
“And you need this claimed by what time?”
“I’m not unreasonable. I’ll give you two nights to make the arrangements. After that, the task goes to someone else.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you think you can do this, Samara?”
Sam sighed. Why did she keep letting herself get pulled like this?
“Where will I find you when this is done?”
Marin shook her head with a laugh. “Don’t worry, Samara. I’ll find you.”
Chapter 2
Finding the Prize
Sam crouched on the rooftop, ignoring Tray standing next to her as she stared into the darkness, until the shadows in the window began to take on a shape. If the information from Marin was accurate, the prize should be there. Her mind offered a dozen different possibilities about what Marin might be after, but with Marin it could be difficult to know. What she deemed valuable was often much different than what Sam prize.
Marin wasn’t alone in how secretive she could be with jobs. Bastan, in particular, feared that her knowing would make her more likely to try and keep what she stole. Without his connections, there wasn’t much she could do to move those items, anyway. She needed Bastan—and hated that she did.
If this worked, maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she could be free of him entirely. Then she could choose her jobs without being reliant on others.
The soft sloshing of water through the canal was the only noise in the silence. The canals separated the various sections of the city, winding off Ralan Bay and spilling into the Piare River. Some were naturally occurring streams that were then fortified, such as the Central Canal, but a many were dredged specifically to reach parts of the city that weren’t otherwise accessible by water, with the Palace Canal being the prime example. The sound of water running through the canals carried throughout the city, giving it a sort of hum and energy.
And a stench. It was worse in the outer sections of the city—lowborn sections. Merchants and highborns did a better job of keeping filth from stagnating along the canals.
Sam let out a soft breath, steadying her nerves. In and out. That was all this needed to be. Anything more than that, and she risked failure. Success meant freedom, not only for her, but for Tray. That was the only reason she did this.
But if she failed… She tried not to think of what would happen, but she couldn’t help that she did. Failure meant she’d be tied to Marin and Bastan.
“How did I get into this again?” she muttered to herself.
“You don’t have to do this. Marin said—”
“I know what Marin told you,” Sam snapped.
Tray raised his hands, trying to placate her. His thick brown hair caught a gust of wind. She wondered which side of the family his hair came from. Hers was dark and wavy while Tray had thick brown hair. So much about him was different than her.
“You don’t need to do this for me,” he said. “If that’s the only reason—”
Sam shook her head. “That’s not the only reason.”
She wouldn’t tell him it was the main reason. Tray wouldn’t understand. He’d never really understood. His memories were only of a time after Sam had secured Bastan’s support. Prior to that, they had lived on the street, begging for whatever charity they could get. Being lowborn meant they didn’t get much.
She ignored Tray, making a point of not looking at the way he hulked over her, his muscular frame so much larger than her petite one. That was another difference between them. She had always struggled with being the smallest, or looking the youngest, while Tray’s size and sharp angular chin gave him an appearance older than his years.
Another breeze gusted through the streets, fluttering the curtains in the open window across the way. The shadows in the room moved, and she counted three.
“Kyza,” she swore softly. Had Marin known there would be three others in the home? Was that why she’d offered the job to her?
“Come on, Sam, you can’t use a god’s name like that.”
This time, she did turn to him. Tray was two years younger than she was, but given his size, she was thankful for his protection. Still, it got tiring having her brother always admonishing her.
“Yeah? Who else am I supposed to swear at? Marin never said anything about the number of people watching the inside.”
“Did you ask?”
She considered hitting her brother, but it wouldn’t matter. Likely, she couldn’t hurt him, anyway. The big idiot would stand there and take it, too, which took all the fun out of the attack. It had been years since she’d been able to actually intimidate him with her size. These days, he just shrugged it off.
“I was more focused on finding out the details of the job.” She touched the map in the pocket of her cloak. It had to be palace gems inside the house, didn’t it? What else would make Marin offer so much?
“Don’t the details involve who you might encounter?”
Tray said it calmly, but Sam felt the way he mocked her. Kyza! Had her brother gotten to the point where he didn’t need her? She couldn’t say the same, especially tonight. She needed him to observe. If something went sideways… Sam prayed nothing would, but if anything went wrong, having Tray watching her back gave her a little sense of peace that she would get help. There wasn’t anyone else willing to help her.
“Regardless of what she might have said, it doesn’t change the fact that there are three people inside.”
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