Chapter 8
Imade my way across the tiled rooftops, my steps swift and silent. I slowed only long enough to yank off my cumbersome slippers and knot the hem of my gown for easier movement—there was no use for elegance during a chase.
As I neared the edge of the roof, I crouched in the shadow of a turret and surveyed the grounds below. I scanned each manicured path and hedgerow—so different from the surreal dream landscape I’d explored last night—seeking even the faintest glimpse of the man who’d vanished like mist in sunlight.
It seemed reckless to chase the ghost of a dream rather than secure my escape—the outer wall stood close enough to sense the freedom lying just beyond its reach.
But something stronger than curiosity pulled me onward, mystery’s siren call I couldn’t resist—a gnawing certainty that if I didn’t find him now, whatever thread connected my dream to this waking nightmare would vanish for good.
Instinctively I felt that it was important—urgent, even—that I solve this puzzle before it was too late.
Whether real or imagined, this apparition was my only lead in an impossible riddle—the only link between the world I’d dreamt and the one I’d awoken to. A skilled thief used every resource at their disposal.
My eyes swept the grounds once more, noting every ornamental pattern and floral detail.
The beds were lush and immaculate, blooming with the bright colors of early spring—so unlike the overgrown, decaying state when I’d first scaled the outer wall and infiltrated the palace beneath the veil of autumn, supposedly just the night before.
Another impossible shift from how the world had been before I’d slept, another fracture in reality I couldn’t explain.
There was nothing so unsettling to a thief as not being able to place exactly where and when I was.
No matter how carefully I searched, there was no sign of the man I’d been in pursuit of…
but I’d long since learned that some discoveries couldn’t be made from a distance.
I shifted my attention to the guards patrolling the grounds. Their numbers had increased, their movements deliberate; even their patterns were different from the ones I’d memorized the night before. Another dissonant note in a song that had once made sense.
Unease coiled in my chest, but I forced it down. Having a plan—even a half-formed one—granted me the illusion of control I so desperately needed amid all this uncertainty. Because if I let myself unravel, I wasn’t sure I’d come back together again.
A flicker of sudden movement captured my attention near the hedge bordering the wall that marked the edge of the estate—broad shoulders, a flash of brown hair, the formal attire of a nobleman. My breath caught. There!
After ensuring the path below was clear, I gripped the edge of the roof and swung down onto a narrow ledge, pressing myself close to the stone. I lowered myself further, fingers curled around the cold rock, my feet searching instinctively for the hidden footholds often left behind by the builders.
My heart pounded—not from fear, but the thrill of the pursuit.
In seconds, I’d descended, landing with a quiet thud in the dew-kissed grass.
Then I was running towards where I’d seen the man.
The hedge loomed ahead. I rounded it breathlessly, only to find…
nothing. Not even a shadow, just shrubs, flowers, and empty air.
He couldn’t have gone far. Undeterred, I followed the single path to search another nearby section, also empty.
I immediately moved to another, scouring each nook and cranny of the ornate gardens.
One by one, the abandoned hedges revealed nothing but silence and bloom, as if the garden itself conspired to erase him.
My pulse slowed, the chase replaced by a low thrum of frustration beneath my skin.
I let out a sharp breath, frustration eclipsing my usual curiosity.
For all my magic that allowed me to experience the fantastical, I preferred logic, pattern, and structure over the nonsensical—a world I could outsmart.
I might walk through shadows and pull secrets from the past, but I liked knowing the risks I took were calculated.
I paused my fruitless search and stared longingly at the towering wall, the last illusion of control I still had.
It was so close—one well-placed leap and I could be over it, disappearing into the woods beyond, leaving the palace and all its peculiarities behind.
I laid a hand on the stone, preparing to hoist myself up…
A ripple stirred beneath my palm. I frowned. There had been no magic embedded in the stone the first time I’d touched it, when I’d slipped through the open gate, but now something invisible shimmered beneath the surface, humming with quiet threat.
I moved to another section. Here too, the enchantment thrumming through the stones was unmistakable—ancient, intricate, and thoroughly inconvenient. I clenched my jaw. Freedom lay just on the other side, but the palace with all its riddles didn’t appear to be finished with me yet.
No matter how powerful the spell, I refused to let it make a prisoner of me.
I hooked my foot into the lowest foothold and launched upward, fingers gripping the slick stone. The moment I touched the top, the wall glowed and flung me back. I landed hard, barely keeping upright.
I growled under my breath and tried again.
And again. Each attempt ended with the same failure—with the magic tossing me aside before I could scale the wall and snatch my desired freedom.
For the first time since waking, the panic scraping the edges of my composure was in danger of seizing control.
I didn’t know what I expected—that sheer force of will might force my way through an enchantment crafted to trap me—but I couldn’t stop, not when escape was so close.
I cursed and crouched for one final lunge…
“Persistent woman, aren’t you? If scaling a wall was on your morning itinerary, you should have worn something more practical than silk skirts.”
The taunting words pierced the quiet. I spun to face the unexpected arrival. My heart lurched. A familiar man stood before me…the very one who had haunted my dreams.
My breath caught. It couldn’t be…but it was. Same unruly hair, same searching grey eyes, same noble attire, same almost-soft mouth now twisted into a grin far too sure of itself. As if he had stepped from the garden in my memory straight into waking life.
No, he couldn’t be from my dreams. But if the impossible were somehow true, it would be yet another unexplainable anomaly I’d encountered since this morning.
Despite finally locating my quarry, all I felt was irritation that he’d been the one to find me, winning the game of hide and seek I hadn’t even realized we’d been playing…and I’d lost. Judging by the infuriating glint in his eyes, he knew exactly how much that bothered me.
It had been a long time since someone caught me off guard, not since the earliest days of my thieving life. I kept constant vigilance; no one snuck up on me…yet somehow, he had.
I pressed a hand lightly to my heart, beating in wild rhythm, as if still echoing the rhythm of the dream.
I forced my expression into something composed as I lifted my chin and met his gaze evenly, smoothing my torn and knotted dress as if it were in perfect condition.
“If lurking in gardens and startling women was on your agenda, it would have been polite to send a calling card.”
His mouth curved into a lazy, slightly lopsided grin, entirely too smug for someone who’d just admitted to sneaking up on me. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“A true gentleman with any sense wouldn’t find it wise to sneak up on a woman, especially when you don’t yet know what she’s capable of.”
He seemed entirely unbothered by my veiled threat. “Sounds exhilarating. I’ve grown tired of the usual polite introductions.”
His goading dared me to make good on my promise, but the last thing I wanted was to humor this insufferable man.
“I knew I was being followed,” he added. “But I didn’t expect my pursuer to be a woman, and such a charming one at that.”
He gave me a long, appraising look, his expression unreadable, though his eyes sparkled faintly with amusement as he took in my bare feet—dirtied from traversing the palace rooftops—and the torn hem of my silk gown clinging unevenly to my legs.
A flare of insecurity rose, uninvited. I wished we’d met in my usual thief garb that made me feel more like myself…before I promptly dismissed the ridiculous notion. First impressions mattered very little when meeting aggravating strangers, especially ones I was determined to best.
That infuriating smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth. “But you’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met. Clearly, you’re something far more dangerous.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Flattery will get you nowhere with me.”
“I don’t flatter,” he said. “I merely observe.”
That was almost worse. “Then you should do so more carefully; I don’t respond well to men who mistake curiosity for invitation.”
I refused to be charmed by a smirk and a pair of storm-colored eyes…
but the haunted stillness in his gaze was gone, replaced by smugness and spark.
I paused, observing him curiously. His teasing was a sharp contrast to the quiet, cautious man I’d met in my dream.
This version was all confident smirks and veiled amusement, as if the world served as his private joke.
Either he was a far better actor than I’d given him credit for… or something far stranger was at play.
After all, men didn’t just appear out of dreams.
Even so, I closed the distance just enough to give his arm an experimental poke. Quite solid, not a figment of my imagination after all, but the evidence did little to entirely rid me of my misgivings.
His lips twitched. “Rather forward for a lady—first introduction and we’re already touching. My charm knows no bounds.”