Page 164 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“Are you trying to butter me up?” Nate asked. “You could have started with this when you arrived.”

“I came to the party for Kierse,” Graves said.

“I came for business,” Kierse said, elbowing Nate and then took a refilled glass from Graves. She leaned into the table. “We need your help.”

Graves sighed. “‘Need’ and ‘help’ are probably the wrong words.”

“Wait,” Nate said after downing half a glass of the expensive wine, “are you bringing me into the inner circle?”

Graves shot him a look.

“We want you to help us with a heist to steal the cauldron,” Kierse said. “It’s going to be at Monster Con. We’re putting a team together. We know you have an invitation, and we need back up inside the Plaza.”

Nate looked between them for a moment, suddenly focused, his brilliant mind strategizing the way she’d seen him do so many times. “I have an invite. I assume you do, too?” Graves nodded. “How are you getting her in to steal it? No guests are allowed. Security is tight.”

“We’re still working on that,” Graves assured him.

“I’ll get in if I have to come through the vents,” Kierse assured him. “I’m not worried about the Plaza.”

“Hmm…how dangerous is this going to be?”

Kierse winced. “If we do it right, not at all.”

“And if we do it wrong?”

Graves shrugged. “We’d be going up against a room fullof the most powerful monsters in the city.”

“Great. Sounds like a good time. Where do I sign up?” he asked sarcastically.

“If we succeed, I’m offering everyone the same thing,” Graves said slowly, swirling the wine in the glass. “A chance to use the cauldron once when we have it.”

Nate blinked from Graves to Kierse. “What does it do, exactly?”

“It has power beyond comprehension—healing, food, magic. It provides.”

Kierse leaned forward, resting her hand on Nate’s. “I asked Graves about the incubus curse, and he said there was no known cure.”

Nate slumped, deflated. “I knew, but…I still hoped.”

“But the cauldron might help.”

Nate didn’t pull back, but he looked at her in deep confusion for a moment before it dawned on him. “You’re sure? You’re not just giving me false hope?”

Kierse turned to Graves then. Shewasn’tsure. Neither of them had ever laid eyes on the thing. But the legends hinted at the possibility.

“It’s not a guarantee,” Graves said. “But these are magical artifacts of the gods. The sword alone was able to break the spell put on Kierse. If I had it in my possession still, I’d see if it would also work to break an incubus curse. However, it is no longer in my possession. So, if you help me get the cauldron, we can see if it heals magical curses.”

“All right. Yes,” Nate said automatically. He held his hand out to Graves. “Count me in.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Graves finalized plans with Nate while they polished off the bottle of wine. She hadn’t been drinking much before this, but the vintage wine hit her harder than she had expected and now she was pleasantly buzzed. Once Nate made his way out of the cellar, all thoughts of leaving with him vanished.

“You handled that well,” Kierse said, setting down her empty wineglass and walking toward Graves.

“He would have done it for you without an incentive.”

“Perhaps,” she said. “How did things go with Walter?”

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