Page 24

Gavin

The black brocade jacket was a bit snug, but it would have to do. I unbuttoned the collar of the crisp white shirt peeking beneath the lapels and tied the mask to my face with a satin ribbon.

Bowen leaned against the bedpost, arms folded across his chest. “You’re going to a masquerade ball? Do you even know how to dance?”

“Dance?” I frowned at my reflection in the gilded mirror. “I thought masquerade balls were just revelers in disguise, sipping wine, and meeting for clandestine trysts in the bushes. That’s what I’ve always done before.”

Bowen’s lips twisted into a sardonic smile. “Sure. But there’s usually dancing involved first.”

Liana chuckled from her seat on the bed. She nudged Bowen in the side.

“You can’t expect a thief like Gavin to know anything about polite society. Be happy he’s not going there to pick everyone’s pockets.”

“Believe me, love, polite society will not be in attendance tonight. And don’t give him any ideas.”

I pressed a hand against my chest and peered at them through the mirror.

“I’ll have you know, I’m a very selective thief.

I only go after big prizes. I’ve no interest in pocketing rings and jeweled cufflinks.

” I angled my chin and adjusted my collar.

“What matters is that Marin will be there. I’ll figure out the rest. Dancing can’t be that hard, considering I’m so light on my feet. ”

Bowen’s features darkened. “I am as thrilled as anyone that she’s back, but according to you, Marin believes you’re the reason she spent the last three years in an underwater prison.

And she thinks you stole her house. She’ll probably stick you with a dagger the moment she sees you.

Some spirited couple will find your body stuffed in the bushes. ”

I tapped the black satin covering half my face. “Then it’s a good thing I’m wearing a mask, isn’t it?”

“A mask isn’t going to fix anything. This won’t be easy, Gavin.

” Bowen’s voice turned raw as he met my gaze in the mirror.

“I know exactly what Marin is going through. I spent a year consumed with the same kind of rage and thirst for vengeance. Her anger and mistrust won’t disappear because we want them to. ”

Liana’s fingers smoothed over Bowen’s forearm. The weight of their past lingered in the gaze they shared.

Bowen cleared his throat as if that could clear the memories, too, then continued, “Marin won’t believe you when you say you didn’t betray her.

And I know that’s hard to accept, given the history you two share.

You’d think that would be enough, but it’s not.

She’s spent years convincing herself of what happened.

It’s shaped how she sees the world. Even if her reality is built on lies, fighting you is safer than opening herself up to the possibility of more pain and loss.

“Trauma heals in degrees. It won’t be a single truth that breaks down Marin’s walls, but a hundred small ones that can build a new foundation. That’s what you’re up against.”

The gravity of Bowen’s words settled deep. The truth of them made everything more complicated.

We had Marin back, but we really didn’t.

And if we weren’t careful, we could lose her all over again.

“I know. And I’m prepared for it. If we had more time, I wouldn’t have to play dirty, but she’s going to need some persuasion to let me get close enough to help.”

Liana furrowed her brow. “Persuasion or coercion? Because your plan is devious. I agree with Bowen. You’re going to end up dead in the bushes.”

“No. I won’t. My plan is brilliant. Look, if Marin wants nothing to do with me when this is all over and she’s safe, fine. That’s her choice. But unless I force her hand, she’ll take on this hunt alone. Just like she took on everything herself before she joined our crew.”

“Hunting for the shard alone could get her killed,” Bowen said.

“Which is why I refuse to sit back and let it happen. Besides, if Marin didn’t want me to know she was alive, she wouldn’t have delivered that friendly shot over the bow.”

“ Friendly? Again, it was a threat. She left a dagger in your wall.”

“No. It was a challenge. And I love a good challenge.” I straightened my lapels and turned to face them. “How do I look?”

Bowen shrugged. “Eh.”

I cast a questioning gaze at Liana.

She winked. “Devastatingly handsome.”

“It’s the trimmed beard, isn’t it? See? I knew I was right to keep it.” I tucked a dagger into my boot. Then I collected a newspaper from the nightstand and handed it to Bowen. “Before I leave, I want you to look into something for me.”

Bowen unfolded the paper, scanning the article I'd circled. Another report of a body found near the docks, a wooden disc placed on the man's temple.

“Reid's getting in deeper. We've spent three years ignoring what happened, letting everything fall apart. Cass is right. It's time we fix it.” I hesitated for half a breath. “And now that Marin's back, we need to see what he remembers.”

Bowen's gaze sharpened. “You think he knows something?”

“I'm not sure. But Marin suffered. And I won't let it happen again. So we need the truth.”

Bowen folded the paper and shoved it into his jacket. “I’ll see what I can find.”

***

The night air smelled like roses and soot.

I leaned against a marble statue, lifting a champagne flute to my lips as a servant discreetly misted a swath of formerly white roses with a mixture of water and charcoal. Water droplets beaded on the black petals, glittering like diamonds in the moonlight.

The soot-drenched roses were mere replicas of the main attraction: a potted rose bush brimming with pearlescent blooms, the edges tinged with black.

The Noctis Pearls rested inside a silver cage behind a roped-off section at the front of the marble dance floor, which stretched across the stone terrace.

Dancers twirled past the cage, their masks adorned with pearls and black feathers .

I took another sip and watched the crowd. The edge of the terrace was lined with torches, casting shadows on the walking paths that led through a maze of sculpted topiaries. There were easily three hundred guests, and I was searching for one in a sea of masks.

Keeping an eye on Atticus Stonebridge, I moved around the perimeter of the terrace.

He was maskless, wearing a satin top hat with a Noctis Pearl poking out from the brim.

Easy to spot. Which helped, since he was the unsuspecting target of a heist planned right under his nose.

Literally, according to the notes left behind on Cass’s workbench.

It was an exceptional plan. And I had a front-row seat.

The music swelled as I drained my glass and handed it to a waiting server.

My gaze swept over the two women who'd approached Atticus, standing court by the silver cage.

They were both dressed in black silk, but their gowns were simple, without anything that might immediately catch the eye.

No bows or glittering jewels. No frills.

Their masks were nearly identical to the pearl and feather creations worn by half the guests in attendance.

No one would remember anything specific about them, which made them stand out to me.

You can’t catch a thief you don’t remember.

A buzz of anticipation seared through my veins as I strolled closer, mingling with the couples stopping to admire the roses inside the cage.

The first woman offered a bow to Atticus, then presented him with a unique-looking flower. Its roots were enclosed in canvas to preserve its life. The petals were bell-shaped, and I recognized the plant from the sketch I’d seen on Cass’s worktable .

Atticus leaned in, intrigued. He drew a breath to scent the rare flower, eyes drifting shut on the inhale.

“Remarkable,” he murmured, his breath misting over the petals.

With Cass’s identification confirmed, my attention shifted to the woman beside her. I was only a few feet away, and everything around me dimmed. The music, the dancers, everything that wasn’t her blurred into the background.

Marin wore her hair in a sleek updo that revealed the long column of her neck.

The strands gleamed in the moonlight, and I angled my head in surprise when I caught the faint shimmer of blue.

She’d tried to hide the colored section, weaving it deep into her dark locks.

If I hadn’t been studying her so closely, I would have missed it.

It only made me more curious. My fingers itched to let down her hair so I could see it up close. I wanted to know everything that had changed. Every scar, every mark, since the last time I saw her.

My gaze trailed down the rest of her body.

She was thinner than before, and my throat burned at the conditions she must have experienced inside the prison.

Her skin, once burnished gold from days in the sun, was pale, and even the splash of freckles that used to warm the tops of her shoulders had faded from lack of sunlight.

But it was still Marin. A small dimple appeared on her left cheek when she smiled at something Atticus said.

And I could just make out the faint outline of a burn scar on her forearm.

A mark she’d received on one of our hunts, hissing like a cat when we returned to camp, and I tried to apply a salve.

Atticus threw back his head at something she said, and then offered his hand and led her onto the dance floor. I checked the urge to follow and watched Cass conceal the bell-shaped flower, and then disappear into the crowd, leaving Marin to finish the plan with Atticus.