Page 27 of A Raven Reborn

Rosalyn was relieved to hear it, but that didn’t make any sense. “Then why has the shop been burgled so many times?”

“Well,” Patrick shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not that concerned if someone steals the items in the shop.”

That still didn’t make sense. “But aren’t they valuable?”

“Some of it, yes.” Patrick tilted his head to the side as if considering his next words. “But I didn’t really pay for most of it, so it’s not a lot of skin off my nose if it disappears.” He shrugged matter-of-factly. “The worst part about it is replacing broken windows, but I make enough money in sales to cover that and to pay people good wages to run the shop.”

Rosalyn felt as if she’d walked on the stage of a play of which she didn’t know the plot. This nonchalance about money made her question her whole view of the world.

Patrick walked around behind the desks, running a hand along the top of the safes. “What these contain, on the other hand, is definitely worth protecting.” He came to stand beside her as she pushed his chair back in. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his extraordinary eyes sparkling like amber in the lamplight. “And you are worth protecting.”

Rosalyn’s throat went dry, the tenderness of his gaze setting her off balance. Why? Why was she worth protecting? And why did he have this effect on her? A picture of her riding his leg with utter abandon flashed into her mind. She blinked, forcing her mind away from the path it wanted to go down.

“What do you keep in the safes?” she asked, instead.

Seeming to pull his own mind back to the present, he dropped his hand and turned back to the safes. “Cash, mostly. We have to be able to fund large loans, and sometimes winnings, at any given time.”

Rosalyn couldn’t even imagine the amount of money he must be talking about.

“And we also keep plenty of chips in there.” Patrick opened the left-hand drawer of his desk and pulled out a small round object. “This one is worth five shillings,” he said as he handed it to her. “Well, it’s worth five shillings in here. It isn’t worth anything outside of this building.”

It was heavy for its size. Red and black surrounded a white interior. In the center sat the ever-present raven over the top of a red 5.

“What is it?” she asked. “How is it worth five shillings?”

“For some of the games, this is what we use for currency. You’ll remember the roulette tables, for instance?” Rosalyn nodded “Because of the small grid and specific placement of bets, this is much easier to keep track of than random banknotes or coins.”

“That makes sense.” She held the chip out in her palm.

“You keep it.” He wrapped her fingers around it. “There’s one more thing I think you’ll like to see,” he said, before she could even argue about the chip.

He led her out of the room and locked the door behind them. They walked past the top of the stairs to another door she hadn’t noticed before. This one wasn’t locked. He pushed the door open and ushered Rosalyn inside. Her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the loss of light since leaving the office, and she wasn’t exactly sure what this room was. A figure moved at the far end, and she jumped, her back colliding with Patrick’s front.

“I do apologize,” came a low, velvet edged voice, as the man stepped toward them. “I didn’t intend to startle you.” He wore a charming smile, but still, his presence was unsettling. Everything about him was dark: black hair, black clothes, and even his eyes looked black in the dim light. He gave a deep bow, his cane swinging beside him. “You must be Rosie.”

“Rosie, this is Ash.” Patrick gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “He isn’t nearly as evil as he appears.”

Rosalyn wasn’t so sure, but allowed Ash to take her hand, his lips whispering across her knuckles.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rosie, but I’m afraid I have some business to attend to.” He gave another bow and then he turned his gaze on Patrick. His smile vanished and in its place was a look of warning, or perhaps a silent reprimand. Was he upset that Patrick had brought her here?

Rosalyn looked to Patrick, then back to the door, and back to Patrick once more. “He’s the original raven, isn’t he?”

Patrick’s smile deepened into laughter. “Well, he was certainly the impetus behind everything.”

“He didn’t look very happy. Is he upset that you brought me here?”

“No, of course not.”

“Is Ash a nickname?” It had to be, didn’t it? What kind of name was Ash?

“I can see the question generator starting in your brain. Allow me to show you this last thing, and once we’re back in the carriage, you can ask all the questions you can come up with.” He took her hand and led her to a ledge. This room was a balcony that overlooked the entire gaming floor below.

“This is amazing! You can see everything from here.”

“It’s even more amazing than you realize,” he raised his eyebrows. “See how all of the lamps are positioned lower than where we’re standing?” He pointed around to the lamps.

Rosalyn nodded. She didn’t understand what that meant, though.

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