Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(127)

In strode Bathtub Boy. Without preamble he perched on the edge of her bed and stared at her, assessing her with a sweep of his dark eyes.

Finn cocked her head at him. “Is this about the whole breaking your arm thing?”

Luka waved his hand. “No, no, that’s all forgiven. However,” he said, “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Is that so?” Finn said, amused.

Luka nodded. “Alfie says your trade is thieving goods, but you seem just as adept at thieving hearts.”

Finn stared at him blankly. “Was that as embarrassing to say as it was to hear?”

“I was going for charming and clever, but I’ll take that.”

Finn rolled her eyes. “What are you really trying to ask me?”

Luka leaned forward. “I know your type.”

“My type?” She snorted. “I’m afraid there’s only one of me. I’m a bit too original to warrant a type.”

Luka rolled his eyes. “You’re the type that doesn’t stick around for long. One of my favorite types to chase, actually,” he said with a far-off smile, as if he were reliving memories that Finn hoped he wouldn’t say aloud.

“Well, you’re right about that.” Finn shrugged. “What about it?”

Luka tilted his head and shot her a look. “You must know.”

“Know what?”

Luka pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s just like your type to pretend not to know.”

She sucked her teeth. “Know what?”

“Just—” Luka began, waving his hands as if trying to fish the words he needed from the air. “Just let him down easy when you go. Be nice about it, or as nice as your type allows you to be. It’s not going to be easy for him to lose you.”

Finn felt heat rush to her cheeks. Before she could sputter a response, Luka rose from the bed and walked to the door. “Oh, and if you tell him I spoke to you about this, I will deny it. I’ve courted eight actors and I learned much, I assure you. My lies will be convincing.” He wagged a finger at her as she watched, amused. “Don’t test me.”

With that he was out the door. Bathtub Boy was right. Those days in the palace had begun to soften her. She’d even been thinking about staying in the city. It’d suddenly felt like there were things worth staying for. But she should know better than to get too comfortable here. When she stayed in one place, trouble always followed. She was meant to keep going, moving on. Finn was the type to leave a poisoned bottle to be drunk by someone innocent. She wasn’t the type to befriend a prince, or anyone for that matter. So she’d scrawled the prince a note and crept out of the palace.

Alfie’s voice drew her back to the present.

“Where will you go?” he asked, his voice soft and desperate. Finn wanted to bottle the sound so that she might uncork it and listen to it whenever she needed a reason to smile. Or frown. He cleared his throat.

“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be much of a getaway, would it?”

“I suppose not,” Alfie said.

“I can’t just go around telling people where I’ll be. I’m still a wanted woman! Many wanted women, actually. And some men too.”

“I know.” Alfie regarded her with a sad sliver of a smile. “You are very much wanted. More than you know.”

They looked at each other for a long moment before Alfie tore his eyes away to open his bag. For a moment it looked as if he were pulling nothing but air out of it. But then she realized what it was. The vanishing cloak.

“Take it,” he said.

“I shouldn’t.” The words sounded strange coming from her mouth. She was usually more interested in whether she could, not if she should. And the cloak would be a useful thing to own for anyone, let alone a thief. But the cloak was what connected them and what nearly unraveled the world in the process. The weight of it was too much. She knew it would draw her back here.

Back to him.

His eyes softened. “I gave it to you days ago. It’s already yours.”

Finn wondered if he was talking about the cloak or something else entirely.

She watched him pinch the invisible cloak by the shoulders. The wind unfurled it, letting it sway in her direction. She could feel it flick against her chest. Then he stepped closer and reached around her to place it on her shoulders.

“No thieving necessary,” he said.

For so long, Finn had placed value on the things she owned based on the difficulty of taking them from someone else, how long it took her to plan, how much the owner would miss it, how much she might be able to get should she pawn it off. Though the cloak was a gift, she knew it would be the most cherished thing she’d ever call hers. Alfie smoothed the shoulders of the cloak and smiled down at her.

She was astounded by how he could smile and still look heartbroken, grin and still draw her toward him as if he’d cried out in pain.

“I have something for you too, then,” she said. Alfie raised an eyebrow. “It’s only fair.”

“You’re not usually one for fair.”

“So you don’t want it, then, Prince?”

He gave a bark of laughter, a short, wonderful sound. “Of course I want it, thief.”

“Then quiet down so I can give it to you.”

She stood still, and Alfie watched her, his head cocked to the side. She would miss the way he felt things with his entire body, his whole being shifting into a question mark when he was confused, and the way his grin unfurled slowly, like a cat stretching after a nap.