“Are you ready to talk now?”
I scanned his armor for gaps and cursed it for shielding his crotch. A swift knee to the balls would solve all my problems.
But then my anger abandoned me, leaving me alone with fear. I couldn’t flee, and I had no chance in hell of fighting him. A chill swept through me as I realized I had no escape. I’d been so sure I’d gotten away with robbing Tullus, that the Moonlit Court would never find me. But I’d been wrong, and now I was going to pay the price.
God and Goddess, what would Maman do without me? She hadn’t even wanted me to steal from Tullus. Not that she’d said so. She’d been on her deathbed, too weak to speak, when I’d made that desperate decision. But she’d always hated my thieving.
I’d honed my pick-pocketing skills in secret as a child when she was busy working. She’d found out, of course, but couldn’t argue too much when the coin I stole put food on our table. Later, when she’d first gotten sick, I’d taken on more ambitious heists.
I guess stealing from the Moonlit Court had been too ambitious.
“Do I have a choice?” I asked.
“No,” Valen said flatly. “Tell me—how much did you steal from Tullus?”
The question hung in the air, sharp as the glint of steel in sunlight. I kept my mouth shut. Only a fool would answer that.
“It must not have been enough.” He assessed me quickly and coldly. “Your dress is little more than rags. You’re walking instead of riding a horse. You don’t seem to have much money at all.”
I tried to tug my arm away again. “Go to—”
“How would you like to make more?”
“—hell?”
I blinked at him. More money? He had to be lying. Fey men always lied. But this… this seemed too obvious, didn’t it?
“I’m listening,” I said.
He released my arm, and I took three quick steps back from him. He watched me like a wolf, ready to sprint after me the moment I showed signs of fleeing again. But I stayed put like a dupe to hear his offer.
“Tell me about your shapeshifting abilities,” he said. “Can you make yourself look like anyone?”
I stiffened. Why would he want to know about that?
I’d never met anyone who could change shape like I could. But then, when Thallence executed everyone who practiced magic, anyone smart would hide their abilities like I did. But Valen wasn’t from Thallence. He wasn’t even human. Surely shapeshifting was nothing special in a place like the Moonlit Court.
“Why should I tell you anything?” I spat back. I wasn’t going to spill my secrets so he could capture me more efficiently.
“Because I have a deal for you. You’ll get paid richly if you complete your end—assuming you’re talented enough to be useful.”
A knot formed in my stomach, and I almost ran again. I knew a trap when I saw one. Either the offer was a lie, and he just wanted me to tell him about my abilities, or he’d give me a dangerous task and pay me nothing when I completed it. You couldn’t trust men from the Moonlit Court. Hadn’t my mother learned that lesson firsthand?
“And if I refuse?” I asked.
“Then I’ll leave.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he said. “Though I’d be obligated to inform the city guards of your whereabouts. They’ve been searching for the thief who robbed Tullus for some time now.”
There was no cruel glee in his voice, just a statement of hard fact.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I figured it would be something like that.”
I could flee, but I couldn’t run forever. Valen had tracked me down somehow, though I’d never given him my real name. My mother and I could move to a new town, find new jobs if we were lucky, but Valen would inevitably find me again. And that was assuming Icouldescape him now.
I would at least hear him out. Better to get the details of his “offer” so I’d know exactly how he planned to screw me over.
