Page 21 of Princess of Thieves

“Find something to interest you?”

I gasp and drop the book, my heart leaping into my throat. I whirl around, my pulse pounding in my ears. There’s Guy, standing in the doorway with the top of his shirt unbuttoned, his tie loosened, looking every bit the relaxed host now that the event’s over.

His eyes flicker to the book lying at my feet. He’s smiling, but there’s something sharp in his gaze.

“Oh, uh...” I stammer, trying to play it cool despite the pounding in my chest. “I didn’t see you come in. How’d the rest of the party go?” I can hear the shakiness in my voice, so I keep talking, as if filling the silence will calm me. “Everyone seemed like they were having a great time.” I phrase it like a question.

Guy just hums, polite but vague, not really engaging as he steps closer. He’s not even looking at me anymore; his eyes are fixed on the book I dropped. My skin prickles, and before I can react, he stoops down, scooping it up with unsettling calmness.

It’s too late to pretend I wasn’t reading it. His fingers glide over the blue leather cover, tracing the intricate details like he’s reacquainting himself with an old friend. His expression shifts, his face tightening with something I can’t quite place.

“That’s not a book for nice girls like you to read,” he says softly, his voice taking on a strange mix of amusement and...something darker.

He snaps the book shut, the thud of the thick cover reverberating through the quiet room.

I swallow hard, my nerves on edge. “What do you mean?” I manage to ask, though my voice feels small.

Guy’s eyes meet mine, a glimmer of something vicious in them. He slides the book back onto the shelf with a deliberatemotion, but doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he studies me for a moment longer, his smile widening in that way that makes my stomach twist.

“It’s just... old stories,” he says, his tone light but dripping with something sinister. His whole demeanor has shifted—he’s animated now, like he’s caught the scent of prey, eager, poised, but ever composed. “Legends of things that can’t possibly exist. Men turning into beasts, magic that only belongs in fairy tales.”

He steps closer, close enough that I catch the faint scent of his cologne, and lowers his voice. “But you and I both know the world isn’t always what it seems, don’t we?”

My heart stutters in my chest as he continues, the air thick with a tension I can’t escape. “Some things are best left alone, Maren. Especially by someone like you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady, but the question comes out too soft, too afraid. There’s something in the way Guy is staring at me, something simmering beneath the surface. It’s not just unsettling—it’s downright terrifying.

Guy’s lips curl into a smile, but it’s wrong, devoid of warmth. He steps even closer, the tension in the air tightening like a noose. “What I mean, Maren,” he begins, his voice dropping into an eerie kind of fervor, “is that my crusade for righteousness doesn’t end with the law of the land. No, the law of man is just the beginning. I strive for the law of nature—the way things are supposed to be.”

I can’t speak. My throat feels dry, my body frozen in place. Guy’s eyes are lit with a strange passion now, almost gleeful as he continues, “You see, there’s a natural order to things. There always has been. But when certain...abominationsdecide to stray from that order, to twist and defy the rules that govern us all—well, that’s where men like me step in.”

He’s completely serious, his voice dropping lower, more dangerous. “My interests, I’ll admit, are a bit esoteric. But I have reason to believe that Sherwood is a hotbed for these sorts of... animals. Beasts masquerading as men.” He says it like it’s an undeniable truth, something he’s been certain of for a long time. “They don’t deserve to walk this earth. And if I ever find them—if I ever catch any of these things—I’ll kill them. I’d flay them like animals. Like the vermin they are.”

My heart is hammering in my chest. The air is thick, suffocating.

He’s talking about Rob. About Will. About Tuck and LJ.

I don’t know what to say, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. My mind is spinning, caught between the icy terror of his words and the brutal reality of what this means. He wants to find them. He wants to hunt them down like animals, torture them, flay their skin. My stomach turns, bile rising in my throat. No matter how mad I might be at Rob and the others, I would never—never—wish that kind of pain on them. Guy’s not just dangerous—he’s a monster.

And if he ever finds out I’ve got something unnatural in me too...

I shudder.

My pulse races as I force myself to smile, a tight, terrified smile, praying he doesn’t see the fear I’m barely holding back. I nod like I understand, like I’m agreeing with his twisted vision of the world, and mumble something about going to bed.

I can’t let him find out what I am, what I might be capable of. Even if I don’t know it myself. I can’t stay here.

Chapter Seven

The Fourth of July is blazingly hot and dawns too early for my liking, but Nottingham sure is done up like a true Southern belle.

The downtown buildings are crested with crisp red, white, and blue bunting as we drive past. Antique cars line the sides of the streets, polished to a gleam, and the scent of popcorn, candy apples, and barbecue smoke wafts through the air.

Guy drives us in the Range Rover and insists that I sit in the back because it’s safer in the event of a crash, or so he says. I roll my eyes but go along anyway. I’ve picked out a white sundress for the occasion—the most Americana thing I can think of—and I try to smile and look pleasant. For all he knows, I’m just a nice girl eager to spend a beautiful Fourth of July in her quaint little Southern hometown.

In reality, I’m a woman on a goddamn mission.

After the night of the fundraiser, my focus narrowed to just one single, manageable goal: get my birth certificate. I’m going to do it today and I don’t intend to let him in on anything. I’ll just sit quietly and try to figure out when the optimal time to slip away and get to the town hall would be.

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