Page 223 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

She’d tracked him down. With her own two hands, she had sliced into his face. He’d tried to fight back. He was bigger than her, stronger than her, and now she realized,he’d had magic to repel her. She’d probably absorbed any attack he leveled against her. He’d gotten his hands on her throat to finish what he’d started. Her knife had been out of reach. She’d managed to push him off her. He’d gone for a gun on the bedside table. She’d put a knife through his back before he could get to it.

Her body trembled at the memory. Of watching the blood leak out of his body and the life leave his eyes. The only father figure she’d ever known. And all of it had been an elaborate lie.

“Surprised to see me?” He looked down his nose at her. “I thought you might be. Worthless piece of shit.”

She flinched. She was a little kid all over again, getting scolded by the one person she looked up to. The person who threw her off a building and broke her arm and left bruises in his wake. The fear was innate. Ten years away from him didn’t change a thing.

“I killed you.”

“Not quite,” he said on a laugh. “Just paralyzed me from the waist down…for a time.”

She shook her head. “I watched you die.”

“Then we’re even, right? You were supposed to be dead, too.”

She was, but Gen had found her. She’d taken her revenge. Was this his?

He leaned the cane forward, resting both his hands on it. “It took hours of physical therapy and rehabilitation and more magic than you’ve ever seen in your life to get me back to where I am today.” He lifted one arm wide. “Am I everything you remembered?”

“I remember killing you.”

He smirked. “Try again.”

“What do you want?”

Jason laughed. “You know the answer to that.”

Kierse refused to be baited. He always played these games. Made them guess, and the guess was never quite up to his satisfaction. She was trapped in her own personal hell with her very real nightmare.

“Not going to answer?” He clenched his jaw. “Then I suppose I should just finish what I started.”

He nodded at the goon to his right. The man drew a gun and put it to her temple.

“Wait!” she gasped.

He tutted at her, holding a hand up. “Don’t make me go to such extremes. Why do you always make me do this?”

Her stomach flopped at the words. The bullshit manipulation she had endured so savagely for so long. It had taken her years to accept affection. Only with Graves’s help had she learned to want something more in her life. She hated how small she felt in his presence.

“I don’t know what you want. Revenge?”

Jason laughed. His gaze cut her down. “Did you think this was some elaborate trap just for you? That I give a fuck?”

Kiersehadthought that. All the rare and priceless pieces he’d had on display. They all made sense if they belonged to Jason. He was the most talented thief she had ever known. Well, after her…

“I don’t know,” she said softly, letting herself look small to him while her mind raced ahead. “Your people said you’d been waiting for me.”

“Notyouspecifically,” he said with a snort. “You, thelittle thief who thought they could best me. And then look at the shit that appeared before me.” He gestured to her. “My thieves don’t getcaught. Did I not drill that into your head enough?”

She cleared her throat. “I guess not.” Inside, she was furious. Hehadtaught her that. He’d taught her all of his tricks. But that didn’t mean that he knew all of hers. She was going to find a way out of this.

“So where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” he said, taking a step toward her. “I know you can’t help it, but I trained you. You’re better than this.”

“The cauldron,” she guessed.

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