I turned, keeping my movements slow and deliberate. The temptation to leap into action was overwhelming, but I didn’t know what needed to be done.
She stood behind me, a primitive weapon held in both hands. Some kind of pistol, all ornate metal and polished wood, too large for her to grip properly. Behind it, though, her eyes were hard as steel, and her hands were steady. I refused to make the mistake of underestimating this human.
My heart raced, but not from fear. Instinct demanded that I leap on her, disarm her, and then…my instincts got confused. Someone threatening me with a weapon?Kill them.Penny, eyes narrowed and hair tangled, improvising a threat with a literal museum-piece weapon?Kiss her. Ravage her.Claim her.
I wanted to rip her clothes off, take her then and there, and damn the plan. Let the Collectors find us in the aftermath, amidthe remains of our clothes—the sight would be greater art than anything in this gallery. I’d rip the gold fabric from her and feast my eyes on the curves beneath. Feastallmy senses, touch and taste and sound, as I flung off her silver cloak?—
Wait, she wasn’t wearing that at the party.The realization hit like a bucket of ice.Is thatwhisperlight?If so, it was worth more than most of the art surrounding us. The pause as my brain caught up gave me time to push my urges away and focus. I held my hands out to either side, palms up in a gesture for peace. “We’ve each put enough effort into getting here, human. Don’t fuck it up for us both now. You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and we both walk out of here rich.”
Her eyes flared and her mouth twisted. Half smile, half grimace, her expression was both frustratingly hard to read and enticing. “I’m not playing games, and we’re both doing my thing. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but I’m the one with the gun.”
A smile tugged at my lips, and Penny’s glower intensified. “True. But how are you going to steal anything while keeping it pointed at me the whole time? It seems like you’re as much its prisoner as I am.”
A muttered curse told me that remark hit home. This was an impulsive stunt, not a cunning plan—how could it be, when she’d obviously had no idea I’d be on the planet? Which left some awkward questions hanging there. “You’ve got talent, I’ll give you that. Too much talent to waste as a snack for the arena monsters. Come with me—I’ll help you escape.”
“Or…you come with me.” She was improvising, and out of her element. Frustrating as it was, I admired the way she didn’t let that stop her from trying. “We use your exit plan, steal my target, everyone wins.”
I smiled, baring my sharp teeth. “Whatever you’re here to steal, The End is more valuable. Come on, human, your plan hasfailed. Accept that, escape, and live to try again. Any heist you walk away from is a good one.”
Her response was to pull back the hammer on her oversized firearm. The loud click-clackas it locked into place was ominous, and the steel in her gaze uncompromising. I wouldn’t talk her out of her plan.
“This isn’t about money, is it?”
Penny nodded. “This asshole stole a painting from Earth during the war. Now it’s going to vanish into the dark unless I steal it back. The Night Watch might not be as valuable as The End, but humanity deserves it back. And we’re going to steal it.”
“Oh, are we now?”
Despite myself, I found the quiet confidence in her voice intriguing, and to my surprise I realized I was considering her plan.What in the Starless Void am I doing? The point of this was to do an impossible heist. To show off to my siblings, prove once and for all that I’m the best thief in the family.
Stealing a random human painting won’t do that. Should I throw everything away to impress a girl?
Before today, I’d have said no. I’d have laughed at the idea. Now? I looked at Penny, and heat rose inside me. It wasn’t just her beauty, though she was the most beautiful female I’d ever seen. The confidence with which she moved, the strength in her eyes, the ferocity and stubbornness that got her this far, all called to me.
The way her curves filled out her golden dress was undeniably delightful, but it was also the least of her qualities.
Fine. I can at least find out what she’s trying to achieve.“And what is it your clever plan failed to steal?”
Anger flickered across her face, but she had the strength of will not to indulge it. Without lowering her weapon, she stepped out of the alcove she’d come from and nodded for me to look inside.
I stepped around the corner and stared. Blinked, and looked again. No, it was still there. I opened my mouth, realized I didn’t know what I wanted to say, and shut it again.
The painting filling the back wall had several interesting qualities. One, it washuge, filling the wall, taller than I was. Two, it was old, pre-spaceflight—there was no chance the artist had used ultra-light materials we’d be able to carry.
Three, it wasbeautiful.The dark canvas let the humans depicted on it glow with the warm colors of their costumes, and they looked as though they’d been frozen in mid-motion. At any moment, it seemed, time could resume, and they’d step down from the painting to join us.
The artist’s skill was incredible given the primitive technology he’d had to work with. I tried to say something useful, but all I managed was a strangled curse.
11
PENNY
Varok’s reaction to the Night Watch was gratifying, but unhelpful. I waited as he drank in the old painting for a minute, impatient but wanting to give him time.
“You wanted to stealthat?”he said at last, breaking the silence. “How?”
His incredulity stung, but it wasn’t unreasonable. I swallowed my anger. “By stealing your escape plan, of course. Keep up.”
Varok laughed, and my cheeks heated. Not with embarrassment, or notjustembarrassment. With it came an unsettlingly pleasant rush of warmth through my insides, and I continued hurriedly. “It wasn’t supposed to be this painting, okay? The catalog lists this as the Mona Lisa, much smaller and easier to steal. Now stop wasting time and let’s fucking go.”
