Page 60 of The Rebel's Prize

"Octarus thinks he found the illusioner," she said softly in his ear. "What do you want to do?"

Lucien had charge of this operation, and he needed to make the call as to when they would swing into action. There was no reason for the illusioner to run in the middle of a performance, and the others in the troupe were currently mostly on the stage in full view. Difficult for them to flee even if they wanted to.

Lucien glanced around. "Let's wait until the end. Then at least people will have gotten their money's worth." He glanced at the stage. "I've seen this play before. There's not much left of it. Can you ask Octarus to pass the word along to the other sanctii that we’ll wait? We’ll come up with a plan and send word to the captain."

Captain Ilveut and those of her squad who weren’t in the audience were waiting in buildings nearby. Lieutenant Envier was closer still, in an inn near the theater.

Octarus would most likely already be doing just that. But she nodded and gave him the message.

It took an eternity for the play to finish. The audience applauded for a long time, hindering them even more. She knew the appreciation was deserved, though. She hadn't paid full attention to the play after Octarus had found the illusioner, but clearly the troupe was good at their job. If Deandra was connected to them, hopefully she hadn't drawn them into her plots.

But if she had, then that wasn't Chloe's problem. And she needed to focus on the job at hand. Find Deandra and then worry about consequences later.

Eventually the applause died away and the crowd began to disperse. She was impatient to get out of the theater, checking in with Octarus every few minutes to see if the illusioner had moved.

He'd shown her a reassuring image of the man each time. He hadn't moved much, his focus still on whatever he was doing. Probably safe to assume that he had no idea his life was about to be turned upside down.

Imogene slipped her arm through Chloe's as the crowd finally began to leave the auditorium. "Just breathe, darling," she said softly. "Everything will be fine."

She sounded calm, and the words rang true. But Chloe's life had been altered in the blink of an eye a few too many times for her to have as much faith that everything would go their way.

The theater cleared slowly, the audience taking their time to move out to the lobby. She didn't often miss the trappings of the aristo lifestyle, but she had to admit that it would have been much faster if they'd been seated in a box.

When they walked through the doors, Chloe spotted Corporal Gheligne loitering near the noticeboard that advertised coming attractions. She caught Lucien's eye and tipped her head in the corporal's direction. The three of them moved to join him, making a show of greeting him like an old friend. Imogene made a loud comment about the crowd and the heat, which gave them all the excuse to move out of the theater and a little farther down the street to the spot where the lieutenant should be able to see them from the room he'd taken in the nearest inn.

"Did Octarus see Deandra?" Lucien asked softly as they walked.

Chloe shook her head. "No. But he's been watching the illusioner."

His mouth flattened. "We need both of them."

The illusioner was clearly powerful, but it was Deandra who cast the memory charm on Chloe during the attack at parliament, fogging her senses. She was the only one who they could clearly link to that attack. The one who was definitely involved. If anything, it was more important to catch her than the illusioner.

"I could go look," she said.

Lucien stopped walking. "No. Too risky. She might notice the illusion."

"Octarus can hide me,"

That drew her a trio of startled looks.

"Excuse me? Octarus can dowhat?" Imogene said.

"He can cast an illusion that makes it difficult to see me," Chloe replied. "It's how I got out of the palace after the attack."

Imogene's brows flew upward, and Corporal Gheligne looked as though Chloe had just grown an extra head.

Lucien looked annoyed rather than surprised. Which was her fault. She hadn't told him exactly how she'd fled the palace.

"I've never heard of a sanctii doing—" Imogene started to say, but Lucien cut her off with a jerk of his hand.

"Let's worry about whether we think it should be possible later," he said.

Corporal Gheligne nodded. "I agree, sir. If Lieutenant de Roche thinks she can, it is worth the attempt." He glanced over his shoulder toward the window as though he wished the lieutenant would join them. "Take advantage of all means at our disposal and so on."

"If it's some kind of illusion, it will be difficult in a crowded space," Imogene cautioned. "The illusion may hide you, but it can't turn you into a sanctii and make you incorporeal. It seems risky. Someone might bump into you, and then the game will be up."

Chloe hadn't thought of that. But she couldn't waste the chance, even though Imogene was right. She had to trust Octarus. "If we can wait until everyone goes back inside for the last part of the performance, I won't have to worry about that. I can dodge one or two people easily enough. The illusion doesn't stop me from seeing others."

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