Page 54 of Princess of Thieves

“Come on, man. Every guy can be a poet when he’s trying to peel the pants off someone like this,” Will says.

I feel Rob stiffen next to me, and I worry he’s genuinely hurt—that Will’s gone too far. But after another heartbeat, Rob relaxes.

“Can you blame me?” Rob says, something quivering in his voice that makes my chest tighten. “I caught feelings pretty bad here.”

“Anyway,” I interrupt, trying to shift the focus. “It got me thinking about...you know, me. My power.” The words feel strange coming out of my mouth. “Is there a way to know what it is? Like, can we find that out?”

Will smirks and sinks back into his pillow, throwing a hand over his forehead. “Let a guy get the blood back to his brain first, greasemonkey. Jesus.”

“Lazy bones,” Rob mutters. He chews his lip and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, propping his chin on his other fist. “Yeah, we can figure it out. Probably. But the stuff we can do...it’s not like there’s a blood test or an aptitude screening or what have you. It’s more trial and error. And honestly, most of it’s on you, understanding yourself.”

“I... well, I don’t know about that.” I shiver involuntarily. “Maybe it doesn’t matter,” I say after a moment. If it never really manifests or whatever, it’s not like I can’t get along without it. I’ll be plenty independent, even without any kind of supernatural ability.

“Mmhmm,” Rob says, studying me.

No one says anything for a few moments after that. Being independent, I realize, is still what I want—or at least, I think so. But I don’t have long to ponder it, because the door bursts open and slams into the wall.

“Rob—” It’s Tuck, eyes wide, panting like he just sprinted upstairs from the office. “I checked, there’s—” He trails off, realizing what he’s walked in on.

He straightens up, swallows hard, and stuffs his hands into his jean pockets. “Did I miss something?” he asks politely.

“Oh, howdy,” Will says, smirking broadly again. “We had a little discussion, us and Maren, and, well... let’s just say we worked through our differences.”

“I... I see,” Tuck says, his eyes darting from Will to me to Rob, who’s now sitting on the side of the bed, pulling his pants back on.

“Looks like it took a lot of work,” Tuck says mildly, staring at the unmistakable ligatures around Rob’s wrists.

Rob glances down as casually as if he’s checking his watch. “Oh, these?” He shrugs, zipping his fly and standing. “I’ve had worse. Worse from her, even.”

I bite my lip, glancing at his shoulder. “Here,” I say, leaning forward and motioning for him. “Let me see.”

Rob sighs and rolls his eyes but obediently holds out his wrists. I skim a finger over the red, raw skin there.

“‘Tis but a scratch,” he says in a very bad English accent. “Don’t mind the feeling of you touching it, though.”

“You want her to kiss it and make it better?” Will says.

“Already? Woof.” Rob exhales and pulls away, gently shaking his head and rubbing his temples. “Are you familiar with the male refractory period, my friend? Because—”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Tuck says, waving his hands in the air. “I get the picture. Let me just... let me just finish my thought.”

I smile again, pulling back and draping the sheet around me like a strapless dress. “I’m listening,” I say for emphasis.

“Well, there’s not that much to finish,” Tuck admits. “Just that I really couldn’t find anything that puts Maren here at the house... or that puts her anywhere, to be honest. But there are plenty of news articles going up around you, Maren.”

The hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I don’t like that. I don’t like that one bit.

“What kind of articles?” Rob asks.

“Just stuff from Gisbourne.” Tuck’s eyes slide to me before quickly looking straight ahead again. “He’s got a whole fairy tale narrative about the two of you,” he says, clearing his throat.

The three of them pause, shifting their weight, each in their own way. Then, like they planned it, they all look at me.

“You didn’t—”

“Y’all weren’t—”

“Did he—”

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