Page 74 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“I’m going to let him know we’re heading out,” Kierse told Gen. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah. Mom is excited to see you.”

Kierse grinned. “I highly doubt the grand Madame Colette said she wasexcited.”

“Well, I can read between the lines,” Gen admitted.

“I bet.”

Colette had allowed Kierse to stay in the attic with her daughter. She’d never forced her into sex work. In fact, she was the one who’d introduced Kierse to Nate in the first place, giving her a way to use her thieving for good—sort of. She was the closest thing Kierse had ever had to a mom until her memories had started to return.

“And Ethan?” Gen asked as they left the kitchen.

“Our next stop.”

“Niamh is worried about me,” Gen muttered.

So was Kierse. The thought of taking Gen into enemy territory made her want to peel her skin off. But to see Ethan, Kierse would consider it. Yes, Gen was a HighPriestess, so she would likely be safe, but she didn’t trustanyof them.

“We’ll figure it out,” Kierse told her.

Kierse followed Gen up the stairs, but as Gen continued to the third floor, Kierse stopped on the second. She stepped up to the double doors entwined with holly warding,The Holly Libraryengraved in the same bronze plaque. A warning for what lay beyond and who owned the library within—the Holly King.

At her entrance Graves looked up, his hand on a tablet, a glass of bourbon next to it. His black cat, Anne Boleyn, sat curled up half on top of his work. She lifted her head to peer at Kierse.

“Hey,” she said, taking in the splendor before her. “Mind if I interrupt?”

“By all means.”

The libraries of the present and past formed layers on top of one another in her mind. The room was now thick with holly ivy, which had taken over as many bookshelves as possible and even begun to crowd into open space. As if this magic, this curse, had grown in her absence, choking out all else.

He seemed to justfithere, in this place, like this library was a second skin. In his dark suit, black shirt, tie, and gloves, he was a shadow. The holly encroached on him as much as the library. The midnight blue of his hair blended into the background, and he was twin storm clouds and a perfectly kissable mouth.

Anne hissed as she approached and jumped down from the desk. She slunk around Graves’s ankles apprehensively.

“You have been sulking formonthsbecause you missedher,” Graves said in exasperation to the cat. “And now that she’s here, you act like this?”

Kierse bent down and reached for the cat. “Is that right? Have you missed me?”

Anne batted at her hand and darted away into the depths. Kierse laughed and straightened, watching her disappearing form.

“Tempestuous,” he muttered under his breath.

“What can you expect? She’s a cat. I’m a bird.” Kierse gestured to the wren necklace dangling between her breasts. “We don’t mix.”

His eyes flickered down and then back up. “Indeed.”

“Laz said you had business.” She glanced at the tablet and tensed, anticipating him hiding it away.

But he pushed it in her direction so she could get a better look at the memo titled “Monster Holdings.” It had a blue logo at the top, an MH that bled together in a stark, blocky font with a circle around it.

“I’m investigating the company that’s hosting the auction,” he explained. “Including any paperwork I can find regarding the owner.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Frustratingly little. They’ve apparently been around for at least a decade, so they were founded during the war. The owner is so shrouded that I’m unclear who is even hosting it.”

“So a dead end.”

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