My voice was muffled by her hand. “But Dad…?” Dad was always cursing.
She heaved an irritated sigh, muttering beneath her breath. “When I get home, I’m going to wash your father’s mouth out with soap.”
I couldn’t stop the burst of laughter, because that would be funny.
She dropped her hand away, and I asked, not yet prepared to let it go. “Stealing, Mom?”
She grinned as her gaze went a little far away with memory. “I must admit, it’s a lot of fun. Especially when our mark flashes about the fake copy we replace the stolen item with.”
Oooo, clever.
“Can I help with the stealing?” My fingers were already twitching, eager to go out with Mom and Dad and steal stuff from the Upper Ranks.
She tickled my nose with the end of the feather duster. “No.”
I threw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her middle to give her a squeezy hug. She smelled of her favorite roses, and I sank into her comforting warmth, giving her my best pleading face. “Oh, come on, Mom…pleeeeeease…”
She hugged me back, running her free hand through my hair and ruffling it. “Oh, my sweet Tamer. I’m only telling you this because very soon you won’t remember any of it.”
Wait…what?
“What do you mean?” How could I ever forget such an amazing place?
My mother unwound her arms from me and stepped back. “First, shoes.”
I toed my shoes off, bent over, and scooped them up. My sock-clad toes dug into the soft rug as I shook the shoes to prove that I had nothing tucked inside. But I made a mental note that next time I would. Like Mom said, it was the perfect place for hiding small things.
“Hmm, okay,” my mother murmured, almost as if she still didn’t believe me.
I crouched down and put my shoes back on, concentrating hard on tying the laces into a bow. Straightening, I asked, “Why did you steal the stones? What did they do?” Because everything in here was magical, and I didn’t think for a second that the stones my mother had stolen were anything ordinary.
She grinned while squeezing my cheek playfully. “You. Always full of questions.” She nodded toward my hand, silently asking me to raise it. I did, cupping my palm, wondering what she was going to give me.
Behind me, Florin approached with the rhythmic thunk of his walking cane. The candlelight flickered with the dark magic that emanated from him, and it trembled against my skin. His enormous shadow fell over me, and I felt as small as one of my action figures in his presence.
He raised a hand that was human-like but for the black talons curving from the tips of his fingers, and he dropped something into my palm. I flinched as it wriggled against my soft skin, tickling as it writhed and coiled. It was a fat grub with feelers that sprouted around its head and tail, and its body was a glistening verdant green. “What is it?”
“Hymgild’s Memory Eater.”
I grinned. “So it makes memories go away?”
My mother nodded, and then said, “Eat up.”
My eyes flared wide. “It’s alive!” I shrieked.
Mom popped a fist on her waist and waved her free hand, ordering me to eat the fat, wiggling thing. “Go on.”
My stomach clenched in revolt. “Gods, Mom, no”—fucking—“way.”
She angled her feather duster, and the ends caught my neck, tickling my skin. “This is punishment for stealing. How can I take you anywhere if all you’re going to do is thieve?”
Despite the foul thought of crunching on the creature, excitement barreled through me. “So we can come back here? It’s so cool.”
“It is very cool,” she agreed with a wide smile, sweeping her gaze briefly about the room.
My excitement evaporated when I realized what I was about to eat. “I don’t want to forget this place.”
Mom gave me a commiserating look. She slipped an arm over my shoulder and squeezed me closer. “I know, my inquisitive little Tamer, but it’s safer if you don’t remember. It’s for the best… Now come on, you need to eat it all up.”
