Moans and screams gave way to silence, and the newborn pride finally slept. Sophie dozed on Jean's shoulder, her thigh thrown over his waist. Blanketing him in the gold of her hair, she warmed him with her breath. Kali lay on the daybed in a relaxed half-slumber. Though another lioness had ruled their lion yesterday, she had shared fully in their satiety. She had best not get used to this. At least, not so easily.
Jean was awake. His mind sorted through the events of the past days, arranging them into a pattern. The mosaic was taking shape, but gaps still gaped in it. And it was precisely in that state of sharpened attention that he caught the anomaly.
A scraping. Faint, but too rhythmic for wind, too light for a person. The sound of a claw on roof tile.
A chill ran down his spine. Jean eased out of Sophie's arms, careful not to wake her. He slipped to the window and peered into the night. Moonlight flooded the courtyard in silver, turning the familiar landscape into a theatre of shadows.
In that spectral light he saw movement. A figure, noiseless and fluid as a dancer, slipping along the slope of the roof. Every step, every pivot betrayed an enkai. Their movements had neither beginning nor end. They flowed like water down a hillside, knowing no obstacles. Wall, rooftop, ledge were merely stepping stones in their endless path. And this one's path led straight to Sophie's bedroom windows. Jean went back to the bed to wake her.
"Quiet. Don't speak." His whisper left no room for argument. "Someone is in the house."
Sophie opened her eyes, still half-submerged in sleep. She sat up and rubbed her temples.
"What time is it?"
"Dawn is hours away. Pull yourself together."
"Servants?"
"She's on the roof." Jean tilted his head toward the window. "Heading for your room."
Sophie finally brought things into focus.
"Should we raise the alarm?"
A chill knotted at the base of Jean’s skull, as though invisible fingers had brushed the nape of his neck. Kali was smiling. Anger flared in his chest. Who had dared violate the peace of their home?
A trespasser. Still resting on the daybed, Kali bared her fangs and readied her body to strike. Entertaining herself with this new toy of flesh and blood, she extended her claws and sheathed them again.
"I have a better idea," Kali whispered. "I know that scent. Curiosity and the thrill of the hunt."
Jean threw on the nearest clothes and gestured Sophie toward the door. Kali sprang from the daybed. Her bare feet made no sound on the marble. They slipped out one by one.
They glided through the service corridors. Jean led, taking the shortest route. Fifteen years in this house, and he knew every turn, every dark passage that bypassed the state rooms. Sophie shadowed him. Kali brought up the rear, her silhouette all but dissolving into the gloom.
She is young. The demoness's voice whispered through their minds. Her blood is boiling with adrenaline. She's enjoying this...
Sophie's door stood ajar. A dark crack through which warm night air seeped. Moonlight fell in slanting bars across the thick gnomish carpet, where narrow, pressed-in tracks showed clearly, each print tipped with claw marks.
The window gaped wide, the night breeze stirring the curtains. Papers on the writing desk were stacked in groups, some unfolded and laid aside, others pushed to the edge. This was not a burglary. Someone had known what she was looking for, and had taken her time.
Sophie froze in the doorway.
"She was going through my things." Her voice shook. "My personal things."
Jean walked to the desk, picked up one of the unfolded sheets, turned it to the light. Then a second. A third. His jaw tightened.
"What was she after?" Sophie asked.
Jean held up one of the sheets.
"These are your calculations on the cave system." He pointed to another stack. "And these are the expedition routes."
Sophie stepped closer and picked up her observation journal.
"Was she looking for something specific from Jones's work?"
"I don't know." Jean took in the disturbed papers. "Everything about the expedition."
A rustle from the dressing room froze them all. Something large crept among the hanging dresses.
Caught.
Kali ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. Hot, hungry anticipation surged through the bond. Her eyes fixed on the dressing-room door, fingers twitching. She was ready to launch.
They surrounded the dressing room from three sides. Jean motioned Sophie to the bedroom door, took position at the dressing-room entrance himself. Kali stationed herself by the window.
"Come out," Jean called, loud and clear. "There's nowhere to run."
A few seconds of silence. Then the door exploded into the room.
A bolt of blue lightning with a silver sheen burst out. The intruder assessed the situation in a heartbeat and threw herself toward the exit.
Her claws snicked shut an inch from Jean's eyes. He grabbed for her, but she moved faster than he could track. A web of cuts seared across his palms. The enkai dropped a shoulder into him, knocked him aside, and hurtled for the door.
Jean caught a glimpse of her feet reshaping on the fly, shifting into what they called the wild form. Human feet became powerful feline paws, claws extended. She launched herself onto the wall and bolted down the corridor along the ceiling. Sophie, in a feat of acrobatics, intercepted her in the doorway in a desperate attempt to stop her. The two girls tumbled into the main corridor with its heavy tapestries. But the contest was hopelessly lopsided. Leaving Sophie behind with a torn shoulder and using the tapestries as handholds, the thief ran along the walls, her dark tail whipping through the air for balance.
"Kali!" Jean's shout cut through the night. "Don't let her reach the window!"
The demoness lazily raised one hand. The air at the end of the corridor changed. It turned thick and clinging, as though an invisible web had been spun from the fabric of space itself.
The cat hit the barrier at full speed. The look on her face was that of an acrobat who has just discovered that the laws of physics no longer apply. Disorientation wrecked her balance. She lost her footing, fell hard, and cracked her skull against the marble. Rolled papers spilled from her hands and scattered across the floor.
Kali strolled up to the motionless body. The enkai lay unconscious. Her breathing was steady. Kali crouched and checked the pulse.
"Entertaining, but brief," she said with a note of disappointment.
From behind one of the tapestries Jacopo and Benedetto appeared. Two immaculate night shadows. A magelight hovered above them, bathing the corridor in even light. The butler took in the scene at a glance. The downed thief on the floor, scattered papers, Sophie and Jean bleeding.
"Messire." Jacopo's voice was as calm as if midnight chases were part of the regular schedule. "Is everything in order?"
Jean looked at Sophie, pressing her hand to her wounded shoulder, then nodded at the senseless enkai.
"Burglar."
"I shall contact the watch." Jacopo began the spell.
"Yes..."
He paused.
"No, wait." Jean raised a hand. "We'll handle this ourselves. Carry her to my study. And prepare the chamber downstairs."
"It shall be done, Messire." Jacopo nodded. "Will you need the instruments?"
"No..." Jean replied, not entirely sure what that meant. "And send for the gnomes first thing in the morning. Have them inspect every lock and ward in the house. I want to know how she got in."
Jacopo bent over the enkai's body, studying her neck.
"The wards would not have helped, Messire." He pointed to a small amulet. "Guild medallion. And tattoos of the Temple of Bastet. That kind of protection is beyond our budget."
Jean pressed his lips together. The Temple of Bastet. This was no common thief.
"And what could they possibly want from me?" he said.
Jacopo offered only a shrug.
"May I go?"
"Go."
"As you command, Messire."
Jacopo and Benedetto lifted the enkai's body from the floor. The magelight followed them, lighting their way into the depths of the house.