Page 12 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

And now…the strings had followed her to Europe. Here she was with Graves, onhisterms, all over again.

“Well, I guess you can drop me off at my hotel, then,” Kierse said.

Graves didn’t even look at her. He’d pulled a book out and was scanning the pages to recharge his powers. Each magical user renewed their powers differently—for Graves,reading, and for Kierse, it had always been stealing. While Graves seemed blue from their encounter, Kierse was revved up.

The goblin bracelet was in her possession, and she was one step closer to the market.

His lips pursed before he said, “You’re not staying at a hotel with that in your possession.”

She slid her eyes to him. “Where are we going then? Your place?”

“It’s being renovated.”

“Could you give me a straight answer?”

He flipped a page. “We’re going to stay with a friend.”

“You don’thavefriends.”

He smirked at his book. “A longtime acquaintance.”

“Why?”

“Why did you need to steal the bracelet?” he countered.

She narrowed her eyes in frustration. Around and around and around again. The same as it always was with Graves. He didn’t give unless she did, and even then, only half as much. At first she’d liked the challenge, but now she saw it for the defense mechanism that it was.

“Never mind. You can let me outhere,” she said. “I can find my own way to the hotel.”

Graves finally lifted his gaze to meet hers. She could still see the cruel warlock master in his expression. She hadn’t been wrong that he’d had too long to get used to being closed off again. He didn’t know how to soften on his own. And maybe it was for the better. He didn’t need to soften for her, because she wasn’t playing his games any longer.

“Her name is Estelle. She’s the warlock of Paris.”

Warlocks were territorial, so each major city only hadone master. Graves was the one in New York City. Kierse had also met Kingston, who ruled London, and Imani in Chicago.

“They call her the Game Master. Her magic is primarily illusions, but it also shows up in other, more nefarious ways.”

Kierse shivered at that. “And you want to go to her house?”

“Aveline won’t cross her.”

“And…”

“And I want you to steal something from her.”

“You could have led with that back at the palace,” Kierse said with an eye roll. “I knew there was a price for the audience with the queen.”

Graves was silent a moment. “This isn’t the price.”

“No?” Kierse asked with derision. “So what would you call it? A favor?”

“A job.”

She turned away from him and smoothed her dress. “Nothing is that simple with you.”

“It’s for the cauldron.”

Kierse froze. The cauldron was one of the four magical objects of the gods—the Sword of Truth, the Spear of Lugh, the Cauldron of Dagda, and the Stone of Fal. Graves had spent a lifetime trying to acquire them all. At one point he’d had half of them in his possession, and now he had none. Getting the cauldron would be huge.

---