Page 41 of Forever a Thief

“No, it’s much bigger, thank God. I am officially done with tunnels.” Delaney shares a look with Ryder. “I had my fill when we were in Africa.”

“And Austria,” Ryder adds, taking her hand and squeezing. “But, don’t worry, guys. This is a cistern.”

“Don’t cisterns hold water?” Knox asks warily. “Are we talking underwater tunnels? Because that shit does not sound fun.”

Ryder shakes his head. “There’s only a little water kept in there now, so people can get the feel for what it was used for. They’ve mostly drained it to allow public access. But like Delaney said, it’s not open.”

“I’m still not understanding what this place is exactly,” Brighton says, brow furrowing.

“Give us the history lesson, McKay.” Knox steals an olive from Hunter’s salad and pops it in his mouth.

“The Basilica Cistern was built during the Byzantine era in the sixth century,” Ryder tells us, “and is the largest surviving cistern in the city. It was used to store water for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other local buildings. Damn, it can hold up to one hundred thousand tons of water.”

“And how much is it currently holding?” Addie asks.

“Only a shallow layer—allowing visitors to safely walk along raised platforms.”

“Maybe Voss chose it because it’s closed to the public,” Brighton suggests.

“Or maybe he thinks the sapphire is hidden there somewhere,” I conclude.

“Maybe.” Addie pushes her chair back. “Let’s go back up to my room, call Cole and Linc, and come up with a gameplan. We’ve got less than two hours until the meeting.”

Shit. I wipe my sweaty hands on my linen trousers. It’s almost time for the heist of my life. The question is, can I get the girl and the sapphire? That would be ideal. But if it comes down to making a choice, the answer is obvious.

And it’s not a hidden gemstone.

“No, we need to get there before Voss,” I tell everyone. “We need to go now and figure out the plan on the way.”

Addie shakes her head. “You always did fly by the seat of your pants.”

“Not always, but today? Hell, yes. I need every last second to make this rescue happen.”

Because the sooner I can get to Savannah, the better.

Chapter Sixteen: Savannah

The moment Voss realizes I’m not as useless as he thought, he puts me to work. For the remainder of the flight, I look over the copies he had made, searching for hints to the sapphire’s hidden location. He’s missing certain verses, ones I already saw, and the pieces come together for me with a brilliant clarity.

Combing through page after page, I catch various clues, and they all seem to confirm Istanbul, Turkey, is the spot. Certain references like how the characters drink “a cistern of Turkish tea” scream we’re on the right path.

Whoever copied the pages did a crappy job and didn’t pay any attention to chapter order. While trying to set them back to rights, I find myself reading the part where Alice wanders into the royal garden. The Queen of Hearts is hosting her chaotic game of croquet using live flamingos and hedgehogs and continually yelling for executions. Except, instead of a royal garden, it’s a Byzantine garden and the Queen of Hearts has Roman numerals painted on her roses. All subtle clues, easily noticed by someone like me who has read this beloved story more times than I can count.

Glancing over at Voss, I can easily picture him blowing his top like the bad-tempered queen. I’m just hoping I can make myself useful enough to keep my own head.

The story culminates in a nonsensical trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing—not the Queen’s tarts like in the true story—but the Queen’s blue gem.

The Heart of Azure.

I do my best not to show my excitement. The clues scream Istanbul. It really couldn’t be any clearer.

Shuffling through a new set of pages, my pulse speeds up when I see another poem that’s been altered. Normally, it’s about a crocodile and how he improves his shiny tail, which, of course, is by pouring waters of the Nile on every golden scale. But this is completely different and doesn’t even bother rhyming. It asks how does a peacock improve his weeping tail. And the answer is by pouring water from the cistern on every feather.

What in the world? So random. Much like Wonderland, it makes no sense. At least not to me. Although…

My mind races back through countless random rabbit holes I’ve gone down over the years. I wish I had access to the internet so I could do a search and confirm my theory, but Voss won’t let me get online. Probably paranoid I’d contact Rhys and somehow give him an unfair advantage in all of this. But even without the vast resources of the internet at my fingertips, I’m nearly one-hundred percent positive the sapphire is hidden at the Basilica Cistern. And I have a damn good theory where to look first.

Who knew being a bookworm would save the day?