Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Graves flashed his teeth. “If only I could get her to wear one.”
Kierse snapped her eyes to him. “I would wear one. You keep choosing incorrectly.”
The queen laughed. “There you have it, Graves.”
“Tell me what you would wear, my dear, and it shall be yours,” he promised with an earnest expression on his sharp features.
“If I have to tell you, then you’ve lost the game.”
“Noted,” he said with a knowing smirk.
“Personally, I’m a fan of something understated,” the queen said, enjoying the spectacle. She put her hand on Kierse’s and winked. “Or a family heirloom.”
Kierse looked at Graves and gestured to the queen as if to suggest he take her advice. She was purposely keeping the queen’s attention on the scene they were making. Because while she and Graves were a good distraction, the sleight of hand she had to perform was next level. She’d already admired the bracelet while they’d been speaking, and once she got the clasp undone, the rest was easy.
Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure someone would discover her deception by its racing beat. She tucked the bracelet into her small bag with her pickpocketed invitation. Time to get out of there as fast as they could.
“Another day,” Graves assured her. “Tonight you have your ball.”
“Yes, yes,” the queen said. “Are you in Paris long?”
“I have business tonight and then back to the city, I’m afraid.”
“The city. As if there’s only one.”
“There’s only one for me,” Graves said with a shrug.
“Next time, then.”
Graves kissed her hand and made their excuses. But Kierse didn’t release her breath until they disappeared into the anonymity of the crowd.
“Nicely done,” he said as he escorted her out of the ballroom, heading swiftly toward the nearest exit. His hand rested on the small of her back, directing her down another hallway away from a set of guards.
“How many exits do you know?”
His smile dropped her stomach. “All of them.”
“Let me guess—you were here when it was built?”
He shot her a look that she interpreted to mean yes. Of course he had been.
They were nearly out of the palace when Kierse asked, “How long before she realizes?”
A cry went up behind them.
“Keep going,” Graves said at the same time she hissed, “Don’t look back.”
Their eyes met, and they both smiled. Finally, they were on the same page.
Kierse forced her steps to stay even despite the fact that all she wanted to do was dash out of the palace. But no one knew that they’d stolen from the queen yet, and running would certainly give them away.
Footsteps pounded behind them, and a man yelled out a word in French.
Graves cursed under his breath and said, “Run.”
Chapter Four
Kierse took off after Graves. She tapped into one of her new preternatural abilities—speed. Which, at that precise moment, she was grateful for.
Graves crashed through the palace side door that led back onto the grounds, startling a group of partygoers. Kierse followed as they dashed onto the wide gravel pathway deeper into the gardens.
“This way,” he said.
She glanced over her shoulder. A few guards were chasing them. Many of them were monsters and certainly not slowing. She was glad for the head start, because she wasn’t sure if she could outrun a vampire. She’d never exactly wanted to run the race to find out.
“We’re never going to make it.”
“We’ll make it,” Graves snarled.
They cascaded down a hill, hitting a speed she could hardly fathom. A few months ago, she would have killed for this ability.
Monsters had ruled her life ever since they’d come out of hiding fourteen years ago. She’d spent her young life abandoned to the streets by her father and then swept up into the thieving guild, when the monsters appeared. The vampire visionary Coraline LeMort was killed by a werewolf from an opposing faction, and her death sparked a decade-long Monster War. Millions of monsters and humans alike had been caught in the crossfire as they carved up New York City as their battleground. Those dark years had only ended with the signing of the Monster Treaty—a new set of laws that governed how monsters and humans would coexist.
And she had just broken the treaty…again.
She knew that she wasn’t human this time when she broke it. It didn’t make it any less likely that they’d kill her for stealing from their queen.
They barreled around the tree line and came upon a group of mer singing in the dragon fountain. Kierse clapped her hands over her ears to avoid the siren song. Graves jerked her the opposite direction, down a straight path toward a closed gate. A troll guard stood at attention as they approached. Trolls were generally unintelligent monsters, but what they lacked in brains they made up for in brawn. This one was enormous, with giant muscular arms and tree trunk legs. Her head was smaller than average and rested squarely on her shoulders. Between her beady, narrowed eyes and the sneer on her lips, she was terrifying.