“You didn’t find it,” she corrected the girl. “You stole it from the Celeste Coven.”
The brown eyes widened. “Coven? Does that mean it was from a bunch of witches? Cool. No wonder it has some weird-ass magic.”
Maya ignored the girl’s fake astonishment. The thief might look and smell human, but there was something very suspicious about her.
“What were you doing in the Everglades?” she asked. Maybe if she could get the girl talking, she would give away some useful nugget of information.
There was a short silence, the girl’s face suddenly grim, as if she were attempting to break free of the bonds. Then, clearly unable to escape the snare, the thief forced her clenched muscles to relax, a mocking smile curving her lips.
“I was there on vacation. Not my idea. Honestly, it’s pretty lame unless you like mosquitoes and skanky water.” She wrinkled her freckled nose. “The alligators were legit, I guess, but the heat was smothering. Like being stuck in a sauna. And not the good kind of sauna, the stinky kind.”
Maya arched a brow. “You were on vacation?”
“Yup.”
“With who?”
“Mom, who else?”
Maya didn’t believe a word coming out of the girl’s mouth. “And does your mom know about your crime spree?”
“Crime spree?” The girl snorted. “Are you serious? I stole a few worthless doohickies and sold them on eBay. So what? I hoped I might eventually find something worth real money, but so far there’s been nothing but a bunch of bottles filled with weird stuff and crystals. Plus a few necklaces and bracelets but they were all butt ugly. I’m not wasting my time trying to pawn that junk.”
“How did you choose which vaults to break into?”
“The stone.” The dark gaze flicked toward the seemingly harmless rock. The words coming out of the girl’s mouth were no doubt lies, but her hunger for the stone was very real. “I’d walk around and it would start glowing when there was a big safe I could sneak into.” She stretched out her hand again. “Now give it back and I’ll be on my way.”
“I don’t think so.” Maya curled her fingers around the stone, hiding it from view. “Where’s your mother?”
“None of your business.”
“No problem.” Maya glanced toward Peri. “Call the police. I’m sure they’ll be interested in—”
“Wait.” The girl lowered her arm. “If you must know, my mom’s in the hospital. Happy?”
“Why?”
“Are you dense? Obviously she’s sick. Why else would she be in the hospital?”
The overhead lights flickered as Maya struggled to control her temper. She’d encountered annoying kids before, but she’d never let them get under her skin. This one...argh.
“What’s wrong with your mother?” she managed to ask in a voice that was just short of a growl.
“The doctors said that she has some sort of rare cancer. I brought her to New York because I heard they have a new treatment to help. I didn’t know how expensive it was going to be.”
Maya studied the round face and big brown eyes. She didn’t trust the girl, not for a second, but was it possible she really did have a pressing need for money? A need that might explain why she was such an annoying little shit?
“That’s why you’re stealing?”
“It’s not like I want to—”
The girl snapped her lips together as the sound of footsteps lightly running down the stairs had them all turning to watch Skye Claremont make her belated appearance.
The clairvoyant didn’t look much older than the thief, with her golden curls corkscrewing around her heart-shaped face and her deep, midnight eyes. At least until you took a closer look. Those eyes were as ancient and mysterious as time itself.
“Sorry I’m late,” Skye said as she reached the bottom step. “You wouldn’t believe the traffic. Did I miss anything?” She blinked as her gaze landed on the girl trapped in front of the safe. “Hello.”
“This is our midnight bandit,” Maya explained as she moved to stand next to her friend.
