Page 10 of Their Reckless Thief (The Below #1)

CELESTE

Dorian’s fingers wrapped around my wrist as he pulled me forward. His touch was warm and steady, but the moment our skin connected, something ignited in my mind.

The world tilted.

It hit me like a freight train—flashes of a vision pouring into my mind, searingly bright and impossible to ignore.

Suddenly, I was no longer standing in the cold, dim basement.

I was somewhere else. A rooftop, maybe? No, a courtyard—huge, sprawling, lined with towering stone walls.

Luca and Vincenzo flanked me as I rode on the back of a wolf—Dorian, I assumed.

We were in the middle of a heist. Something big.

Magic crackled around me, dangerous and unpredictable.

Guards swarmed us, their eyes glowing with supernatural power, and an alarm blared from somewhere nearby.

Everything was going wrong.

“Move!” Vincenzo’s voice, sharp and urgent, cut through the chaos.

I was running, my feet pounding against the cobblestone as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

The plan had been flawless—or so we’d thought.

Now, everything was spiraling out of control.

I could feel the weight of failure pressing down on me, suffocating.

I seemed to care greatly about the success of this heist.

A blast of magic knocked me off balance, flinging me from Dorian’s back, and I hit the ground hard. Pain shot through my limbs, but before I could recover, Luca was grabbing my arm, pulling me to safety before we were surrounded. I could sense his panic, his desperation to protect me.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, the vision faded, and I was yanked back into the present.

The basement swam back into focus, but everything felt off. Dorian’s hand was still on my wrist, his grip tightening slightly as he leaned down, eyes scanning my face with confusion.

“Celeste?” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

I blinked, my breath catching in my throat. My heart was still racing from the vision, and for a second, I couldn’t respond. The vision had been so vivid, so real. Too real.

Vincenzo, who had been pacing a few feet away, suddenly stopped and turned toward me, his sharp gaze narrowing. “What the fuck just happened?” His voice was rough, laced with suspicion.

I swallowed hard, trying to shake the lingering effects of the vision. My head was foggy, disoriented. “I—I just zoned out for a second,” I said, forcing the words out. My voice sounded weak even to me. I needed to sound convincing, but, fuck, lying felt like moving through quicksand.

Vincenzo noticed the lie right away and descended upon me with his full wrath, but before he could reach me, Dorian Voss was in front of me.

He stepped closer, his grip on my wrist loosening enough to be gentle but firm.

He tilted my chin up with his other hand.

Vincenzo was right beside him. Dorian’s eyes searched mine, concern etched across his features.

“Are you okay?” His voice was almost tender. “Is it a health situation? I know some humans have seizures.”

For a split second, I almost got lost in his gaze. The concern in his eyes... it was disarming. Almost comforting. My breath hitched as I fought to find my voice. I should lie. I needed to lie. But the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, the truth spilled out like a confession. “Sometimes I have visions. Of the future.”

The basement went dead quiet. Dorian’s hand dropped from my chin as he stepped back, his eyes widening slightly. I could feel the weight of their stares—especially Vincenzo’s.

He stepped forward, his movements slow and deliberate, like a predator sizing up its prey. His dark eyes flicked between Dorian and me, as if suddenly questioning everything.

“What did you see?” he demanded in a dangerous growl.

I hesitated, the words catching in my throat. Vincenzo’s anger was palpable, simmering just below the surface. I needed to tread carefully.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, feeling the burn of his gaze on my skin. “Most of the time, it’s just pieces of information. Fragments. I have to piece them together.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Vincenzo snarled, stepping closer, his towering presence suffocating. “What did you see?”

I forced myself to stay calm, even though every instinct screamed to back away. Dorian stepped closer, almost like he wanted to shield me.

“It’s true. About the fragments. But we were working together... to retrieve something. It went wrong. The guards, the magic—it all spiraled out of control. We were surrounded.”

Silence. Heavy, oppressive silence.

Vincenzo’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, but the tension rolling off him was enough to set my nerves on edge.

“What else did you see?”

I swallowed hard, my mouth dry. My pulse hammered in my ears, and the heat from Vincenzo’s glare burned a hole through my skull. “That’s it,” I said, trying to sound convincing. “Just that. A job goes bad. We don’t make it out clean.”

No one moved. The tension between Vincenzo and Dorian was a live wire, crackling and sparking. Then, after what felt like an eternity, Vincenzo finally stepped back. He didn’t take his eyes off me, though.

“You better not be fucking lying to me,” he warned, his voice low and dangerous. He turned and walked back toward Luca, who had been watching the whole exchange with an unreadable expression. “Because if you are, you’ll wish you’d never stepped foot in my fucking home.”

I exhaled shakily, my knees weak with the sudden release of tension. Dorian’s hand lingered on my shoulder for a beat longer than necessary before he dropped it, his eyes never leaving mine. “I already wish that. But cool.”

Vincenzo’s steely gaze never faltered. I held it. He had all the power, but I didn’t owe him meek submission.

“You good?” Dorian asked softly.

“Yeah,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure I believed myself. “Just... don’t touch me again.”

A ghost of a smirk played on his lips, but he dropped his hand from my shoulder. The spot where it was, now felt cold.

Vincenzo’s gaze flicked to Luca. “Search her,” he ordered, his tone sharp and commanding. “I want to know everything she’s carrying.”

Luca didn’t move right away. His silver eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that had the hair on my arms standing at attention.

There was something about him…something dark and unsettling.

He didn’t speak, didn’t offer any comfort or cruelty.

He was an enigma cloaked in silence, wearing a perfect mask of indifference.

Luca stepped toward me, his long strides slow and deliberate.

My breath caught in my throat as his shadow magic stirred around him, a swirling darkness that pulsed with a life of its own.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away as the shadows thickened, spreading out from him like smoke, creeping along the floor and reaching toward me.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive person.

All three of the men were the hottest guys I’d ever seen, but Luca was on a whole different level.

His long, brown hair was tied in a bun at the nape of his neck.

His strong jaw was set, clenching occasionally with an emotion I couldn’t read.

His silver eyes were as piercing as fucking diamonds on glass.

“Hold still,” he said softly, and something in his voice made my pulse race.

Before I could fully process what was happening, his shadows wrapped around me, the cold, oppressive tendrils slipping over my skin, curling around my waist, my legs, and my arms. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

They weren’t solid, but they weren’t quite insubstantial either.

They moved with purpose, gliding over every inch of me, like a dark caress I couldn’t escape.

My body tensed instinctively as one of the shadows slid beneath my leather jacket, slipping across my back and pulling out one of my knives.

The blade clattered to the floor. Another tendril found the small set of lockpicks hidden in the waistband of my pants, and then the small gadget I used to bypass security systems in a pocket inside my boot.

Luca’s face remained a mask of indifference, but I could feel his power swirling around me, searching, exploring every nook and cranny where I might have hidden something.

His shadows slipped under the collar of my shirt, grazing my neck, and I swallowed hard, the sensation sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

“Got a lot of toys on you, don’t you?” Vincenzo’s voice broke through the tension, amusement dancing in his tone. “Did you really think you’d be able to sneak all of that past us?”

I clenched my jaw. “A girl can dream.” The last thing I wanted was to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much Luca’s magic unnerved me, but my voice shook without my consent.

Damn, it was difficult to ignore the sensation of those shadows sliding over me, teasing at the edges of something deeper.

The shadows dipped lower, brushing over my hips, my thighs, and then one tendril slipped dangerously close to the waistband of my pants.

My breath hitched, a flush creeping up my neck as the shadow tugged out the small blade I’d hidden there.

Luca’s silver eyes flicked to mine for the briefest moment, but there was nothing in his gaze. Just cold, calculated focus.

Another blade clattered to the floor, and I bit back a curse.

It was like nothing was hidden from him, from those shadows.

No matter where I had stashed my weapons, he found them all.

And even worse, every single touch of his power against my skin left a trace of something I couldn’t shake—an awareness of him, of his strength, and that cold, oppressive darkness that seemed to reach inside of me.

“Well, well,” Vincenzo drawled, his lips curving into a smirk. “Looks like our little thief came prepared for a war. What were you planning to do with all those toys, dolcezza ?”