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Kadin
I’D SAT HOLDING THE crown for hours. Just staring at the diamonds encrusted all across the delicate circlet. The men had given up trying to reach me. Naveed had brought me the noon meal, but I hadn’t touched it. Somewhere around mid-afternoon, Illium had said his goodbyes. “Was here for the treasure, not the Jinni,” he’d said, standing in the open door of my room, fiddling with his bags that held his potions and his take from the last heist. “Gonna go back to working alone. Prefer it that way.”
I’d only nodded. I wasn’t surprised. If anything, I was baffled the others stayed. We’d accomplished what we set out to do. Four years of hard work culminating in one night of justice. So why didn’t it feel like enough? Why did it feel so empty? And why was I worrying about a girl who embodied everything I’d spent so many years detesting?
They checked on me throughout the day, confused as to why we weren’t planning the next big heist. Except Naveed. He understood.
Oh, and Gideon, who didn’t understand at all.
He’d been furious.
When Bosh had wandered through the door earlier and found me staring at the crown, and the missing lamp, he’d called the others in.
“Arie stole the lamp!” he’d hissed as they filed into the room. “Why would she do that, boss?”
I hadn’t had an answer for him.
The others stared at the crown and empty pack. “Why’d she have a crown?” Daichi asked.
“Don’t ask me,” Ryo answered with a shrug.
Naveed tapped my shoulder and signed, Why?
“Good question,” I replied. I tried to be logical, but it hurt. Arie had betrayed us without a second thought? Maybe I’d been right about her all along. Gifted people used people.
“She stole it,” Bosh repeated the lie I’d told him a few days ago. “But I told her we don’t steal from each other—she wouldn’t take... she’ll bring the lamp back, right?” His voice squeaked with emotion. “I don’t understand how she could just take it!”
“Excuse me?” Gideon’s soft voice came from the corner.
Oh, Jinni save me.
I raised my head to find him standing by the table. His knuckles were white as he gripped his cane, his movements graceful, yet dangerous, like a panther. “Where did she go? Why would she take it?”
“I don’t know,” I said flatly. “I don’t know why you want it. I don’t even know what it does.”
“She said nothing else?”
The way Gideon asked made me feel inferior, as if I should have noticed. “No. And I can’t read minds like you,” I snapped, losing it. My men gasped. It occurred to me that I’d kept secrets too.
A heaviness filled the room, as Gideon’s face darkened and those clear blue eyes clouded. “You’ve lost track of my payment. I would watch your tone if I were you.”
Bosh shrunk back against the wall. Daichi and Naveed glanced between us, while Ryo pushed off the door frame, looking ready to run if necessary. But I was no longer afraid of Gideon. He had his code to follow, after all.
“Take the crown, then,” I’d snapped, holding the offensive piece out to him.
Instead of answering, he’d vanished.
And now here I sat, still on my bed, hours later. I’d pieced together where Arie was headed. I just didn’t understand how she thought she could reach Hodafez—at least three day’s ride from here—by sunset? Even now, the sun made its way across the sky toward the horizon.
Naveed brought dinner. The others trickled in with their meals as well, not saying a word, keeping me company.
I picked up my bowl to eat without tasting it. “We’ll stay here another night,” I began, but cut off as Gideon materialized in front of us.
“There’s no sign of her within miles of here,” he said in a terse voice. “I must get that lamp. You know her better than I, where would she go?”
I shrugged. “I know where she wants to go, but there’s no way she could get there. Not for days at least.”
“Don’t worry about travel,” Gideon said, unblinking. “Tell me where she went.”
I spoke on impulse. “If I tell you, you have to swear you’ll take us with you.” I checked my mental walls, wishing there was a way to flex and make them even stronger.
“Why would we go after her?” Ryo asked, frowning.
“Because no one steals from us.” I set down my bowl, no longer hungry.
And? Naveed signed.
He knew me too well. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “And I think she’s upset. She might need our help.”
Daichi tsked. “Ah yes. You mean when Gideon took the prince’s tongue. That had me unnerved as well.”
“It’s a bit bigger than that.” I shook my head, glancing at Gideon. The color had returned to his pale skin, more obvious in the shadows, an ever-present reminder that he was something other. Something beyond my understanding. Listening to my every thought. He hadn’t responded to my request. “What does the lamp do, anyway?”
Gideon didn’t speak for a long moment, crossing the room to stand by the window. “It imitates the Gift that many in Jinn possess,” he said softly, staring out at the setting sun. “It takes you wherever you want to go in a heartbeat.”
“Ah.” I raised my brows at that. The missing pieces of Arie’s plan fell into place and I knew exactly where she was. I stood. “In that case we’d better get going. We have a wedding to stop.”