Page 10 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“How many exits do you know?”

His smile dropped her stomach. “All of them.”

“Let me guess—you were here when it was built?”

He shot her a look that she interpreted to meanyes. Of course he had been.

They were nearly out of the palace when Kierse asked, “How long before she realizes?”

A cry went up behind them.

“Keep going,” Graves said at the same time she hissed, “Don’t look back.”

Their eyes met, and they both smiled. Finally, they were on the same page.

Kierse forced her steps to stay even despite the fact that all she wanted to do was dash out of the palace. But no one knew that they’d stolen from the queen yet, and running would certainly give them away.

Footsteps pounded behind them, and a man yelled out a word in French.

Graves cursed under his breath and said, “Run.”

Chapter Four

Kierse took off after Graves. She tapped into one of her new preternatural abilities—speed. Which, at that precise moment, she was grateful for.

Graves crashed through the palace side door that led back onto the grounds, startling a group of partygoers. Kierse followed as they dashed onto the wide gravel pathway deeper into the gardens.

“This way,” he said.

She glanced over her shoulder. A few guards were chasing them. Many of them were monsters and certainly not slowing. She was glad for the head start, because she wasn’t sure if she could outrun a vampire. She’d never exactly wanted to run the race to find out.

“We’re never going to make it.”

“We’ll make it,” Graves snarled.

They cascaded down a hill, hitting a speed she could hardly fathom. A few months ago, she would have killed for this ability.

Monsters had ruled her life ever since they’d come out of hiding fourteen years ago. She’d spent her young life abandoned to the streets by her father and then swept up into the thieving guild, when the monsters appeared. The vampire visionary Coraline LeMort was killed by a werewolf from an opposing faction, and her death sparked a decade-long Monster War. Millions of monsters and humans alike had been caught in the crossfire as they carved up New York City as their battleground. Those dark years had only ended with the signing of the Monster Treaty—a new set of laws that governed how monsters and humans would coexist.

And she had just broken the treaty…again.

She knew that she wasn’t human this time when she broke it. It didn’t make it any less likely that they’d kill her for stealing from their queen.

They barreled around the tree line and came upon a group of mer singing in the dragon fountain. Kierse clapped her hands over her ears to avoid the siren song. Graves jerked her the opposite direction, down a straight path toward a closed gate. A troll guard stood at attention as they approached. Trolls were generally unintelligent monsters, but what they lacked in brains they made up for in brawn. This one was enormous, with giant muscular arms and tree trunk legs. Her head was smaller than average and rested squarely on her shoulders. Between her beady, narrowed eyes and the sneer on her lips, she was terrifying.

Back in New York, trolls were allied with the gangs that crisscrossed Manhattan. The trolls controlled access to the subway stations, and you had to pay the toll to enter. She didn’t think that was going to work here. Nor did she think she could take down a full-grown troll.

Graves seemed utterly unconcerned, which was so fucking Graves. The troll blinked down at him as he approached and pulled her hand back like she was going to swipe him aside. But Graves retrieved a slip of paper from his jacket pocket and offered it to the troll, speaking in French. The troll frowned in confusion at the paper Graveshad handed her. It was always a moment of confusion when the subway trolls were paid off to let travelers through, as if unsure if the toll had been sufficiently paid.

After a pregnant pause, the troll frowned and said, “Expired.”

“What?” Graves asked in confusion.

But the troll gave no response. She let the paper flutter to the ground and swung her mighty fist. It landed in Graves’s stomach, sending him flying a half-dozen feet into the air.

“Fuck!” Kierse yelled as she hurtled toward the troll. “What did you give her?”

“A troll pass,” Graves grunted from the ground.

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