I shrugged. “I need a job.”
“This isn’t just any job,” he cautioned me and I felt déjà vu from his conversation with the shopkeeper just a few short minutes ago. He’d hooked me, and now he hadmechasinghim.
“You really are a master manipulator, aren’t you?” I said on a whim, trying this new angle of being unusually direct myself.
It felt good.
No beating around the bush.
He chuckled. It was all the encouragement I needed to keep going.
“You said if I agreed, you’d tell me what the job is. So, what is it?” I crossed my arms, aiming for a posture of confidence, but it felt defensive.
He studied me.Should I tell her?
It was the first time I’d seen him uncertain. So careful.
If it was such a big secret it must be something unlawful or forbidden... and he’d wanted to hire me after seeing me steal.
As he searched for a way to partially reveal the truth, his thoughts confirmed my suspicions. The words slipped out, “You’re a thief.”
His brows rose at my accusation.
My breath hitched.
Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut?
He didn’t deny it.
“You wantmeto come steal things for you?”
“I haven’t decided, honestly.”
Even though I knew he was turning the tables again, making me pursue him, it still worked. “I suppose I have some experience. What’s the job?” As if I stole often. As if that wasn’t my first time. “I’ll consider working for you, if you tell me everything.”
He only laughed. “I’d be a fool to tell you everything. You’ll have to earn our trust first.”
Instead of pushing him toward sharing his secrets, I’d helped him decide not to.
I could kick myself.
On impulse, I stepped closer, speaking softly, “I’ve heard rumors around town... that you’re looking for a Jinni?” I hesitated at the last second, turning it into a question, worried he hadn’t told anyone and I’d just given myself away.
He frowned. Lifting his chin, he crossed his arms. “You’ve only been in town a day. Who told you? And how come you didn’t say something until now?”
He wasn’t quite buying it, but he hadn’t denied it either.
I could work with that.
“This is what I do,” I told him. “It’s my job to find Jinn for people who’re looking. I just... wanted to make sure you were worth working for first.”
I was reaching now. Men hunted the Jinn occasionally, but a woman? Nonetheless, I’d already started down this track. Too late to turn back now.
I stretched myself to my full height; I only came up to his chin.
“Who told you I was looking?” Kadin repeated.
He wasn’t gullible. His thoughts were suspicious, and he didn’t hide them from me, speaking almost as soon as he thought them, “Areyoua Jinni?”
