Page 2

CHAPTER 2

S asha

I’m not afraid.

I repeat the lie over and over again in my mind, like it can steady the trembling of my limbs as I rest my back on the closed door of Sargul’s throne room. I know I need to get away before anyone sees me, but I can barely stand, let alone walk.

Just a few minutes, I tell myself. Then I’ll be fine, just like always.

I’ve done countless jobs for Sargul, since I was old enough to walk. First, he’d set me in the merchant square as a pickpocket, then when I turned ten, he allowed me to come with him on bigger, more dangerous heists. By the time I was twelve, I was following him for the kind of heist where a bad step landed you in the dirt, not in jail. The kind where the target is as dangerous as the client.

But somehow, we always got up on top. Sargul was good, effective, clean, leaving no trace—and no witness—behind.

It was during one of those high-stake heists that my so-called adoptive father saw the true potential in me. My small frame and my light steps quickly became invaluable to getting inside places where brute force couldn’t. Well, not truly invaluable. Everything has a price with Sargul, myself included.

So I didn’t just become good at stealing. I became the best.

I get in where no one else dares, then get out without so much as disturbing a speck of dust. Well, maybe a few specks here and there, but not much else. I’ve never been caught, never even come close to it.

But I’m not foolish enough to think that just because I’ve never been caught, I can’t be. Normally, for members of his network, getting caught means a stay in the dungeon, waiting for Sargul to bribe whoever needs bribing to get out.

This time? This time, getting caught might just mean a death sentence. Huugwors aren’t known for their capacity for forgiveness. Or mercy, for that matter.

This is going to be the most dangerous heist of my life. The heist to end all heists. One way or another, this is the last time I steal from someone.

Enough whining, I admonish myself, finally shaking the fear away. I straighten, then walk away from the door, intent on going back to my quarters inside Sargul’s fortress and planning the job. Plan it down to each second, if I have to.

“Look at you, scoring another job from the boss,” a feminine voice calls from behind me and I cross my arms as I turn to see a tall woman leaning on the wall of the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest.

“What do you want, Maitlin?” I sigh as she purses her lips, revealing a perfect row of white teeth along with two tiny, pointed fangs, a testimony of her Karrula ancestry. Her red and black striped hair falls on her shoulders, the silky strands smooth and double coated like fur. Her pale skin is also striped, but with more subtlety than her hair.

She’s pretty, petty, and a constant pain in my ass.

“Just wondering if you’re still a selfish bitch who thinks she doesn’t need a partner. You’ll get yourself killed going on solo jobs for Dad.” Maitlin’s grin widens and a dangerous glint lights her feline green eyes, the vertical pupils shredding to thin lines. “Not that that would be a bad thing.”

“Don’t call him that,” I tell her.

But Maitlin always does. She’s just like me: another orphan Sargul took under his wing, offering her a steady meal and a safe place to lay her head in exchange for work as a thief, a thug, a spy. Anything that would make him richer and more powerful.

Nothing’s free when it comes to him.

“Good or bad, it’s what he is, isn’t he?” Maitlin retorts, unfazed by my curt reply. “It’s not like you have another man to call Dad.”

I scoff, then keep walking, stepping right into Maitlin’s space. She moves backward, allowing me to get through, but steps in right behind me. I know her well enough to know that whatever she wants, she’s not going to let it go easily. She just isn’t the type.

I twist to face her, letting my annoyance buoy to the surface.

“I’ve had enough headaches for today,” I warn her. “Now, if you have something to tell me, get on with it or leave me alone. I’m not Sargul’s little girl, never have been, and neither are you. You’re just another street rat he took in. Never forget it.”

There’s a glint in Maitlin’s eyes as I cross my arms over my chest and plant my weight on my right leg, then give her my best ‘fuck around and find out’ look. Then she shakes her head and steps sideways to allow me to walk past her. I move, looking straight ahead, not sparing Maitlin a second thought. Just as I reach her level, she grabs my upper arm, stopping me in my tracks.

I open my mouth to tell her to keep her hands off me, but her expression stops me.

“Listen, Sasha, I haven’t worked in a while.” She speaks low and her eyes go to the floor. “Sargul isn’t giving me enough work since I got caught last time. He thinks I need to lie low for a while.”

“Shit, Maitlin.” I exhale forcefully, suddenly understanding why her usual bitchiness is cranked all the way to an eleven. “You’re out of humi-breathers, are you?”

Maitlin presses her lips together and her green eyes stay on the floor, but she nods, once. Her Karrula genetics make it hard to maintain clean lungs in the dusty, dry air of Valcan. She needs a constant supply of inhalers to replenish the humid barrier inside her alveoli. Her father was a full-blooded Karrula, brought on Valcan to fight for his life in the arena as a gladiator. He died there, but not before impregnating a slave woman and leaving her behind, pregnant and desperate.

Another easy victim for the streets that Sargul collected under his dirty wings.

“Here.” I reach inside my pocket and retrieve a small bundle of coins. It’s not much, barely enough for a half-empty humi-breather, if that. “I’m sorry I don’t have more.”

“I’ll get it back to you with interest,” Maitlin mutters as her small hand closes around the coins and she slides them inside her vest. “You know I’m good for it.”

“I know,” I answer when she finally meets my gaze.

I swallow through a suddenly clenched throat. Maitlin and I, we’re not exactly rivals, and we sure aren’t real sisters, either. But whatever we are to one another in this dysfunctional little family, we have each other’s back.

I don’t like her. She doesn’t like me. But when it comes down to it, I would walk on fire to save her and she would do the same for me.

Who needs friends when you have enemies like us?

But I don’t say this. I just nod and Maitlin takes a deep breath, obviously relieved.

“Just think of me next time you have a job.” She lifts her chin, her usual resting bitch face back on. “You’re not perfect, you know?”

“I don’t do teams, you know that.”

Maitlin opens her mouth to counter, but voices down the long hallway cut her off and we instinctively become quiet, hiding behind the corner. As we press into each other, I’m reminded of all those times we did exactly that as little girls, in a past that feels like a thousand years ago.

Not too long later, a set of four men, all clad in black, walk into view. Their expressions are closed off, their eyes watchful as they walk fast.

“Who are these guys?” Maitlin whispers into my ear. “Never saw them before, and I know everyone.”

I grunt, but don’t answer. Maitlin is a good thief, for sure. Not the best, not like me. But what she is the best at is knowing stuff. Her sneaky nature comes in handy in our world and her trade is knowledge. I trust her when she says those dudes are new.

Then another figure joins them, one that we both know all too well.

“I thought Kendall was gone for good,” I say, not really expecting Maitlin to confirm. Everyone knows they were together for a while, but she never told me why she stopped dating him. Now, with her small fingers digging into my flesh, a dark suspicion grows in my stomach. Kendall isn’t the type of man who makes a good boyfriend. He’s the type of man who lets his fists do the talking.

“Sargul let him back a few weeks ago.” Maitlin shakes her head at my back and all I see from her is her striped hair, flying by. “He gave him a good beating, but Kendall can take it. It was all for show, anyway.”

It makes sense. Sargul needs thieves and spies, people who rely on skill rather than brute force. People like Maitlin and me. But he also needs cruder tools under his belt. After all, one sometimes does need a hammer to crack a nut.

Kendall is human and a deserter from the Imperial Empire. Tall and burly, a single look at him is enough to make most people turn around and walk in the other direction. With a flat, broad face, a crooked nose broken one too many times, and small, shifty eyes that light up only for the nastiest jokes, he has a temper to match his limited intelligence. We watch in silence as Kendall taps the back of one guy, then bursts out laughing while making an obscene gesture.

Maitlin’s fingers clinch on my upper arm and I wince with pain.

“What did you ever see in that guy?” I ask her without looking away as Kendall talks with the new guys.

“It’s none of your business who I see or who I fuck.”

Maitlin lets go of my arm, but doesn’t make a move. It doesn’t take a genius to understand she doesn’t want her ex to see her. A few more jokes and laughs later, Kendall and the new guys walk away and we both exhale in relief.

“I have to go,” Maitlin says with no trace of her usual cockiness. She turns away, then pauses. She glances over her shoulder, not turning to me fully. “I don’t know what kind of job Dad gave you, but I know it’s a bad one. One you shouldn’t have accepted. I’ve lost enough people already, so don’t fuck up, okay?”

Then she leaves. I watch her until she disappears behind a corner, and then I move on as well.

I almost call her back, tell her what I plan on doing, but in the end, I don’t. Sargul’s schemes and Maitlin’s never-ending struggle are not my problem. Not anymore. I’m going to get that last heist done and then I will get my clean slate. A new life on a new planet, somewhere I don’t have to be a thief, don’t have to be a criminal. Somewhere I can just be me.

But before that, I have to creep into the house of the deadliest creature on Valcan to steal his most prized possession.

I really am a stupid girl, after all.