Page 12 of Gold & Shadow

“Tell me.”

Chapter 7

Telling Orson about Victor necessitated telling him my whole, tragic backstory, and two additional cups of cocoa were required to get me to the end of it.

I didn’t cry, a fact about which I was quite proud, but his face had gone stonier and stonier with each new tragic twist of the story, and I was starting to fear that he would throw me out into the cold. The sun had begun to set while I spoke, and asidefrom asking the occasional clarifying question, Orson had been unsettlingly silent.

I finished the story sitting cross-legged, a fresh cup of cocoa in my hands and the little wooden bear in my pocket, while he contemplated the flames.

“Well?” I asked, anxiety riding me as he stared unblinkingly at the fire.

“Did this Victor tell you what this amulet does?” he finally asked, turning his attention from the fire to the golden disk around his neck. He lifted it, running a thumb over the face of it as gently as he had the little wooden bear.

“No,” I admitted, restraining myself from reaching out to look at the pendant more closely. “He didn’t really encourage questions.” I gritted my teeth, remembering Victor’s anger and panic the night he had hired me for this particular job.

And now here I was confessing everything to basically a stranger. And the intended target. Excellent life choices, Lis.

“How much?” Orson asked, rolling his eyes irritably when I looked at him confused. “How much did he offer you, Lis?”

“Oh,” I said, flushing at having to name the price. “Two hundred crowns.”

Orson laughed, the sound unexpected as he threw his head back. “You accepted this job for only two hundred crowns?” He looked at me, an astonished grin on his face, with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “I’m honestly a little insulted.”

“That’s a lot of money!” I argued, gesticulating so wildly with my arms that Orson had to rescue the cocoa mug before I could spill the dregs. “Are you telling me you can actually afford to pay me double tonotsteal the amulet?”

“I can,” he said, no artifice or pretense in his expression as he leaned back on the sofa and studied me interestedly.

“How?” I exclaimed, again looking around the cabin in case I had missed some valuables from my initial perusal. “Not to pry, but—“

“I believe starting a question with that disclaimer is the definition of prying,” Orson said, regarding me with a raised brow. “You’ll have to trust that I can afford you, Little Thief. But I have conditions.”

“Of course you do,” I lamented, dropping my head on the back of the couch. “Why is crime never easy?”

Orson chuckled, brushing away a lock of my hair that tumbled over my face. “You reap what you sow, Little Thief. Do you want to hear my offer?”

“I suppose the alternative is you leave me out in the snow to freeze to death?” I drawled, giving him a sideways glance.

He laughed, the sound warming something in me. He had a nice laugh. “Something like that.”

“Fine,” I sighed dramatically, sitting up and fixing my attention on him. “What are these terms?”

“First, and most obviously, youdon’tsteal my amulet,“ Orson said, smirking at me through his beard.

“Fine,” I agreed as if it pained me greatly. “What else?”

“Second, you help me find out why Victor Gold wants this,” he said, tapping on the gold paw as he spoke. “Few know about it, and I’m very interested to know how he learned of it.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Although I don’t know that I’ll be much help with interrogation. Shadows are not exactly scary when you’ve worked with them like Victor has.”

“You can leave the frightening to me, Little Thief,” Orson rumbled, giving me a heated look. “You’re probably the least scary person I’ve ever met.”

“Hey!” I protested, trying to scowl. It came out as more of a pout, and Orson laughed, which made me pout harder.

“Third,” Orson continued, returning to his offer. “You and your sisters retire from crime,” he said, holding up a hand when I would interrupt him. “And don’t lie and say that it’s only you. There’s absolutely no way a dreamweaver and illusionist aren’t working for nefarious purposes.”

“Ella follows perfectly legal pursuits,” I retorted haughtily, thinking of my innocent youngest sister, who was in her first year at the Royal University in Silvershade studying botany. We had scrimped and saved to send her, and it was yet another reason that I had taken Victor’s job. “And I can’t speak for them. I can try,”I conceded as Orson began to growl. “But four hundred crowns won’t last forever.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Orson responded cryptically. “I want your word, Little Thief, that this will be your last heist.”