Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(9)

The woman struggled against her bonds as Finn tossed the skewer over her shoulder and leisurely climbed down the side of the hacienda. At her touch, the stone of the wall curved outward into handholds and footholds for her to latch onto. As a child she’d wished she were a water charmer, since she’d loved to swim, but damn did being a stone carver come in handy when scaling haciendas. She dropped to the ground between the haciendas in a crouch, her palm braced against the stone floor for balance.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She grabbed the terrified woman’s bag off the ground. “You’re thinking, what did I do to deserve this?” Finn dug through the bag and pocketed the pesos she found. “I’m here to reassure you that, as far as I know, you did nothing to deserve this. I’m sure you’re a saint. You’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time, is all.” Finn dropped the bag and picked up the dragon mask next. “And you happen to have something that I want.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed.

Finn held the mask out before her. It was red, the eyeholes slanted and rimmed in white. “And in my favorite color too.” She ran her fingers over its curved panes. “Lucky me.”

Finn lifted the mask to her face and saw that her mouth and jaw would still be visible. “I guess I should match my face to yours, then, and my body too just to be safe, don’t you think?”

The woman only stared at Finn in confusion. Like most Castallanos, she had brown skin, dark eyes, and thick brows. Her lips were full and her nose had an aquiline arch to it.

Finn held the mask between her knees and pulled a simple hand mirror out of her own satchel. “This is probably the most interesting thing you’ll see all night, so pay attention.”

Finn gazed at her reflection, taking one last look at her current face—amber skin, round, full cheeks, and a sharp chin surrounded by a shoulder-length halo of curly hair. It was a face she’d thrown on a few days ago without much thought and she wasn’t sorry to see it go.

Finn raised her free hand to her face and molded it like clay as the woman watched, eyes wide. Magic was a mask Finn had slipped over her head so many times, she’d almost forgotten what her own face looked like. But that was just how she liked it.

And tonight there was a new identity to thieve and a prize that would fetch her a hefty price if she played her cards right. Literally.

With the tips of her fingers she reshaped her nose, reversing the upturned bridge into an aquiline one. She ran a finger over each eyebrow and watched them thicken at her touch. She passed her thumb over her chin, rounding it out. Finn rubbed her eyes as if she were sleepy. When her hand dropped, her eyes were larger and darker than before. She ran her hand over her curly hair and felt it smoothen to straight tresses that fell past her shoulders. This was slower work than when she’d scared the spoiled boy at the puppet show. This had to be exact.

With her face done, it was time to change her body to match the woman’s as well. To make jumping from rooftop to rooftop easier, Finn had lengthened her body, making her limbs long and agile, but this woman shared her natural body type. So Finn shrank herself back down to her natural height, redistributing so her hips, thighs, and chest became fuller again.

When Finn looked in the mirror she saw no difference between herself and the woman before her.

The woman stared at her in shock. She’d even stopped squirming. Then her eyes flickered down to the ground, where Finn’s shadow wound about her feet.

“Sí,” Finn said, answering the unspoken question. “It’s my propio.”

Finn had been able to change her appearance since she was eight. It was a useful skill for anyone, let alone a thief, and it came in handy when she found herself parentless on the street.

“Now, I could kill you,” Finn said to the woman. She pulled a dagger out of her bag and picked her nails with its point. The woman’s breaths came faster, her nostrils flared.

“But I don’t see why I need to.” Finn shrugged. “You’re stuck here, and come morning one of the nice families in this neighborhood will help you. But know this.” Finn leaned forward so close that their now-identical noses were nearly brushing. “If you get free and decide to make trouble, every crime I commit from this day on, I will commit with your face on. It won’t be much fun having to explain to the guards that you didn’t do it, that some girl who can change faces did it instead. Won’t take long for the red capes to stop believing you. Blink twice if you understand.”

The woman blinked twice.

“All right, then.” Finn pulled the mask on and tied its silk ribbon around the back of her head. She usually sketched the new faces she donned in her journal before doing a job, to keep track of all the faces she’d worn and the crimes attached to each one. But she was running late tonight. She’d have to do it later. Finn pulled a handkerchief and a tiny stoppered bottle of blue liquid out of her bag. She soaked the handkerchief in the sleeping draught. The woman began to squirm, making a muffled plea. Finn clucked her tongue. “Cálmate.”

She held the handkerchief over the woman’s nose. Her eyes slid closed as she fell asleep.

With that done, Finn sauntered out of the alley. She jogged the last of the distance to the hacienda where the games were held. Unlike other haciendas on this boring street, lanterns still burned bright within this one, casting colored reflections through the stained glass windows.