Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(22)

Finn’s stomach tightened. The last time she was made someone’s daughter, things didn’t go too well.

After her parents died and Ignacio had taken her as his ward, she’d spent years working with him in circuses all over Castallan. He had a charm that was palpable, hypnotic, making him a talented ringmaster. Ignacio loved the attention, loved to watch people lean forward and heed his words, his commands. She’d grown up working odd jobs at the circuses while he performed, but they never stayed with one show for long. As soon as Finn began to make friends, to fit within the fabric of a mismatched circus family, Ignacio would demand that they leave. It took years for her to realize he didn’t want to leave because he was restless. He made them leave because he didn’t like to watch her make friends, to see her want to be with anyone but him.

He’d always hated when she left his side without express permission. On most days, she’d been afraid to test him, to show even an ounce of independence. But in her more rebellious moments she’d disobeyed and accepted the beatings, if only to spite him, to prove that she was strong enough to take it. On one such day, she’d disappeared for hours to explore the city their circus was visiting.

When she’d returned, Ignacio closed the distance between them and clapped a hand across her face, jerking her neck with the strength of the slap. When she only stared at him, her cheek stinging, her chin high, and her chest rising and falling with bottled anger, he smiled down at her.

“I’m not angry,” he said, his hands finding her shoulders. “I knew you would come back. You always do. Because you know, just as I know, that no one else will have you, that your place is here with me.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead then, his hand mussing her hair. “Forever.”

That final word poured through her, cold and fast, like an eel slithering through icy water. He’d said it to her before, but on that night, his words smothered her with panic. Would this be her life, forever? That was the night she’d escaped, the night she’d made him feel as powerless as he’d made her feel before running for the dock and sneaking onto the first ship she saw. She would not be pulled into another family again. She wouldn’t let Kol secure a new collar around her throat and jerk her into line. She would die first.

“I’m not joining you,” Finn snarled.

“You took what was mine, Face Thief. And a thief who gets her own supply stolen off her . . .” Kol made a clucking sound with her tongue. “That’s not a thief at all. That’s a pretender. You’re lucky I’m even offering you a chance to learn from a real thief. I expect you to join ranks without a fuss. But I’m prepared for a fuss. You know of my propio, girl. Save yourself the trouble.”

She knew fighting was a waste of strength. Kol had a monstrous propio—with a look she could stifle anyone’s magic at the drop of a hat. There was no chance of getting out of here alive. But Finn never did anything quietly. She sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.

“So, what say you?” Kol asked, leaning forward in her chair.

Finn jutted her tied hands upward. Thin shards of rock shot up from the ground to cut through the rope binding her wrists together. She pulled her hands apart.

Kol’s minions rushed out of the shadows to grab her. Her ankles still bound, she pummeled one with a volley of rock she pulled from the cellar ground. She encased her fist with stone and punched the next one squarely in the nose. But then, in one terrifying moment, it all stopped. Her hold on the earth was severed, the rock falling from her fist in sad fragments. Kol’s minions converged on her in the space of a breath. The last thing she saw before a meaty fist pounded into her jaw was Kol’s smiling face. That’s how easy it was for her to rob Finn of every ounce of magic that ran through her veins. Just a moment, a look.

She flailed back and forth between the henchmen, who landed kicks and punches on every spot they could reach. There must’ve been ten of them waiting in the shadows. One unbearable kick to her ribs doubled her over. She watched blood dribble out of her nose and onto the floor.

“Put her down,” she heard Kol say. “Some children just need discipline is all.”

A broad-shouldered woman shoved her to the ground, right into the puddle of blood from her nose. She forced Finn onto her stomach and pegged her face to the dirt with a foot on her cheek.

Finn panted, taking in dirt with each breath. Her whole body rang with pain. Kol grinned down at her from her seat as if Finn were an honored guest.

“After all that excitement, you know what I’m in the mood for,” Kol said, cocking her head as if she were mulling it over. “Sancocho.”

Finn froze on the ground, the thud of her heart suddenly louder.

“What was that one pub in the Brim called, the one with the stew everyone talks about? The famous sancocho?”

“The Apple Core Pub and Inn,” a voice behind Finn supplied.

A cold pit knotted her stomach. Kol knew where she lived. She must’ve been watching her for a while. Fear wound around her neck like a vise, choking her from the inside out.

“There is nowhere you can go where we won’t follow, Face Thief. You’ve got two options: join la Familia or die where you stand.”

“No,” Finn said, her voice splintering.

“‘No’ is not one of the two options.”

“I want a third.”