Page 75 of Princess of Thieves

“All right,” I sigh. “What do we need to do?”

TEN MINUTES LATER,we’re all assembled in Tuck’s room—a cozy, surprisingly untidy space across the hall from me, where books and papers cover most surfaces and the deep navy bedclothes are only hastily made.

“This had better be important,” LJ grouses, “for getting me up this early.”

“It’s nine-thirty,” Will says, hands on his hips. “Honestly.”

“I’m sure Tuck’s gonna make it worth our while,” Rob says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Right?”

“What? Oh, yeah, definitely.” Tuck nods. “I think.” He’s laying out a small arrangement of crystals, herbs, and small metal ornaments on the bedside table.

“You into Feng Shui all of a sudden?” Will asks, peering down at the odd collection.

“No,” Tuck says defensively. “They’re for Maren. If she feels like she needs them.”

All eyes go to me.

“No idea,” I say quickly. “I’m following Tuck’s lead here.”

Tuck sighs and sweeps his hair out of his eyes, then straightens his glasses. “Okay. What I’m thinking is that Maren’s never really had a chance to reallydoanything with her power because she’s never quite had a chance to train it on anything. It just sort of...explodes all around her.” He wiggles his fingers in the air. “Like a blast radius. And that’s why it leaves you feeling dizzy. You’re just sort of knocking out all the systems rather than supercharging just the one.”

“Okay...” I nod slowly, folding my arms. “So what exactly are you going to have me do?”

“And why dowehave to be here?” LJ mutters.

“Because,” Tuck says, “the stronger the feeling you can muster, the more focused you are, the better the odds of success. I figure if all of us are here, there’s less chance your mind will, uh...wander.” He clears his throat quickly and moves on.“Besides, if anything cool happens, I feel like we all want to see it.”

Will shrugs. “Fair enough.”

“Do you think...” I start, then trail off. Tuck pauses, a thick leatherbound book in hand.

“Do I think what?”

I twist my hands together, suddenly self-conscious. “I just wondered...I couldn’t be a shifter, could I? Like you guys?”

The four of them share a glance.

Will sucks his teeth. “I think you’d know by now,” he says. “When it first hits you, it’s kind of...uncontrollable.”

“Uncontrollable?” I repeat. “So you just, what, spontaneously morphed into a dragon one day when you were a kid?”

“Yeah, Scarlet, you’re making it sound like getting a boner in math class,” Rob says. “It’s not that.”

“Okay, notuncontrollable,” Will amends, “but, like...irresistible. Like...restless leg syndrome or something. You can’tnotlet your body shift. Then eventually you learn to rein it in, control when it happens.” He winces. “It’s not themostfun.”

“You’re telling me,” LJ says. “Exhausting shit.”

“Oh,” I say, wondering if I’m disappointed. Maybe a little. “Okay. But like...” I glance at Tuck, the most likely to have any kind of answer, I reason. “What are we even talking about here? Like what’s the realm of possibility? Is it like, laser beams out of my eyes kind of stuff? Shooting webs from my hands?”

Rob laughs. “You’re not one of the X-Men, Maren. Relax.”

I pout. “I’m just asking.”

“Lots of possibilities,” Tuck says gently. “Although lasers, probably not. It’s like I said, there isn’t a ton of official...documentation around this stuff. It’s not Harry Potter with some big government bureaucracy in charge of everyone with magical powers. There’s no shifter Google or whatever. It’s a lot more...ad hoc.”

I nod. That explains why he’s so eager to experiment, I guess. We could literally be dealing with something entirely new.

“Okay.” I sigh. “Let’s just get this over with. Where do you want me?”

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