Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
He held his arm out. “Come here, creature of the night. Your work is done. You can relax.”
Kierse shifted across the leather in the back of the limo and into his arms. He tucked her in close as she rested her head against his shoulder. Her eyes immediately felt heavy. As if the weight of the world dropped off her shoulders, and there was just Graves’s security.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in the hallway.
Kierse glanced around, taking in the dirty drug den at the heart of Tribeca. She noticed the numbers on the doors. Her father’s anxiety flowed from him. A woman yelled out in Spanish.
But she clutched onto her mother’s hand and headed toward the middle of the hallway. She could see the door that they were trying to get to. She knew that something was waiting for them there. All she had to do was grasp the handle and push.
The world felt fuzzy at the edges as she reached for the door. She needed it. She needed to know what happened. 7020 was right there. All of her answers were within her grasp.
At the first touch of cool brass, she was elsewhere. On the ground, staring up at the building. Her parents were gone. This didn’t feel right.
She took a step and was in the apartment. Her parents’ apartment. Tears in her eyes. A flashing light meant something…something important.
No, no, she wasn’t ready. It couldn’t be now.
A hand shook her, and she burst back into consciousness. She was heaving as she leaned forward and put her head between her knees. Her vision was black at the edges, and the world seemed to waver.
“Wren?” Graves asked.
“A dream.” She brushed her hair off her face. “A nightmare.”
“The room?”
She nodded. “And then…an apartment. There was an alarm of some sort.”
He was silent a moment before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about?”
“Your parents,” he said. “And what happened to them.”
She shook her head. “No.”
He rubbed gentle circles into her back. The silence dragged on, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He was a comforting presence. Not pushing her to discuss what had happened. Not forcing out her own unspoken fears.
“What if I don’t face it?” she whispered into the silence, her eyes squeezed shut.
“You will.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re too brave and too stubborn to do anything else.”
She laughed. “I don’t think most people consider a thief brave.”
“I’m not most people, and you’re not most thieves.”
“Once I know,” she said, meeting his gaze, “I’ll know forever.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t undo it.”
“I know, Wren,” he told her, brushing her hair from her cheeks. “You’ll know when you’re ready.”
“You’re not going to push me to do memory work?”
“No.” He drew her face up to his and planted a kiss against her lips. “I trust you.”
And she saw in his thunderstorm eyes that he meant every word.
Chapter Fifty-One
Kierse wasn’t ready. That much she knew. And since Graves didn’t push, she opted out of more memory work for the time being. They had enough to deal with planning the heist that the memories could wait. Or at least that was what she told herself when she went for another performance of Midsummer. And another after that.
By then, Lyra had come around. She was the one who suggested Kierse enter the con with the theater troupe. Kierse acted surprised at her suggestion, as if she hadn’t been banking on it, and then readily agreed. Her entrance was secure.
With that out of the way, she set herself to conquering the decoy. She even consulted Walter on some of the specifics. While he couldn’t break locks, he designed computer systems, and had ideas that she’d never considered. She was sure it would unravel any day now.
And while she might have been avoiding memory work, she couldn’t avoid the triskel training that she’d agreed to. Tuesday was the full moon, and she and Gen were set to return to Brooklyn. She was still upset with Lorcan for keeping the binding ceremony from her. After he’d made it out, time and time again, like he was a good guy. A fucking savior complex if she’d ever seen one.
Gen kept glancing at her and bouncing her leg as they took the subway into Brooklyn. “Maybe he has a good reason for keeping it from you.”
“Maybe,” Kierse said, meaning no, he doesn’t. “Let’s just get this training over with.”
They hopped off the train and headed down Broadway. Niamh had suggested they meet her and Ethan outside Williamsburgh Savings Bank at dusk. The full moon was tracing an arc across the night sky as they stepped up to the large building.
Declan stood at the entrance. His beefy arms crossed, his eyes trained on her and Gen as they approached. A gun was holstered at his waist.
Kierse sighed heavily. Lorcan’s second had kidnapped her and held her at gunpoint. He’d disrespected Niamh in her presence. To say she wasn’t particularly fond of the man was an understatement.