1. Loveleena
LOVELEENA
“You already have plenty stuffed into that bra of yours.”
The store owner peered down at Loveleena Alva from the upper level of Talamalu, a small spice shop in the center of Jarrah. Loveleena froze, a small package of tully—a rare spice mixture—hidden in between her breasts.
She was only three paces away from the shop’s entrance.
Three paces from successfully stealing the tully.
Streaks of sun pierced the shop’s windows and created a false peaceful nature, hiding the ominous energy that lived in the floorboards, peeping through the cracks like a basement stowaway.
You already have plenty stuffed into that bra of yours. Loveleena looked down, only briefly. She had plenty, for sure, but stuffed!? That was an exaggeration. She was almost certain her outfit looked absolutely perfect, including her bra. She lifted her chin a little higher.
“And,” the old woman croaked, the lines on her face like a maze, “we both know you can afford to buy that.”
She could, but that wasn’t the point.
“Just testing you.” Peeling the lie from her tongue was difficult. She was never a good liar, just exceptionally good at avoiding the truth. She shifted on her feet. “Keeping you sharp,” she added, flashing her best smile.
The shop owner, who she and Park had nicknamed Lady Shadows, was a creaky, ancient woman who everyone in the city avoided. Despite Jarrah’s massive size, everyone knew of her.
And everyone stayed away.
For good reason.
Loveleena had grown quite fond of Lady Shadows and her haunting, ruthless nature, although the admiration wasn’t mutual.
She was pretty sure that, if given the opportunity, Lady Shadows would poison her just to be rid of her—and that almost made her like Lady Shadows more.
She didn’t treat her differently because she was a noble.
At first, she scared the living soul out of Loveleena.
But when Park started working at Talamalu as an assistant to Lady Shadows, helping her lift heavy supply packages and tidy top shelves, Loveleena spent more time here than she would have liked.
Park was like that: always helping people. He saw Lady Shadows struggling on the street one day and insisted he come and work for her. Something no one else would have dared, especially not a noble. But Park was fearless and kind. He jumped in feet first and asked questions later.
Since then, she had become accustomed to the woman’s eerie charm, though the terror she felt in her presence had not subsided.
One sideways glance from Lady Shadows and Loveleena felt like she would crumble into dust on the spot.
She was probably the only person in all of Jarrah who saw any semblance of charm in Lady Shadows.
Park.
Loveleena’s heart sank thinking of him. It had been a year since she had seen him.
Like every birthday, they had eaten tully until their stomachs bloated and celebrated well into the night.
But the following day, Park went missing, and she hadn’t seen him since.
A shiver ran up her spine at the memory, and she rolled her shoulders to loosen the tension.
Suddenly, given Lady Shadows’ death stare, stealing the tully seemed like a very, very bad idea.
Lady Shadows was right; she didn’t need to steal anything.
But she and Park had stolen many things they could easily afford.
It had become a kind of game to them to steal from businesses their parents owned.
Normally, they didn’t steal from average class shopkeepers like Lady Shadows.
Stealing was more difficult to do alone, and Loveleena had (mostly) abandoned the pursuit, replacing it with a mission to find Park.
But she had awoken that morning on her twenty-fourth birthday, her chest aching at the realization that this would be her first birthday without him.
It didn’t help that, for the first time in months, she didn’t have someone to distract her.
She had broken up with Kumani only a month ago and had spent the entirety of that time avoiding both Kumani and her feelings about the breakup like they were a virus.
They had started dating just weeks after Park went missing, and Kumani had been a soft place for her to land.
A friend and a lover. But Kumani fell harder than her, and the longer the relationship went on, the more Loveleena felt trapped.
She needed something, anything, to feel closer to him. To soothe her. And stealing tully was that thing. It felt like a calming, numbing drink for her heart.
Loveleena pulled the package out from her bra and moved closer to Lady Shadows, who had already descended the stairs to meet her, the worn pine moaning with each step.
“You know, I wouldn’t steal from you if you hired me.
” Loveleena wanted Park’s old job, no, needed his job.
Not for the money. Her family had plenty of it.
She needed it because it made her feel closer to Park.
And with every passing day it felt like his memory was slipping through her fingers.
If she wore Lady Shadows down enough, surely, she would cave and agree to hire her.
“And today is a great day to give me a job because it’s my birthday,” she continued, not letting up. “Consider it a birthday present.” Loveleena could charm a room—she was a noble after all—but Lady Shadows simply glared at her from under a head scarf, immune to any of her usual antics.
“Two hundred and fifty pentacles,” Lady Shadows spat, holding out a wrinkly, bronze hand. “And I don’t care what day it is, the answer is no.”
Begrudgingly, Loveleena dropped the money into her palm and made her way out onto the street.
The sun beat down on her, her oatmeal silk and blush velvet dress stifling against balmy skin.
The street was packed with people. Most of the women wore casual cotton sundresses, and she envied the freedom of their common attire.
Loveleena pushed through, clutching the tully as if it would vanish in the wind if she dared loosen her grip.
A sudden hush fell over the street, pulling her from her swirling thoughts. As if on cue, the sun hid behind a cloud, casting a somber shadow over them.
Loveleena pushed past a little girl who had started crying as her mother swiftly shushed her, tightening a loose yellow ribbon in her hair. On her tiptoes, Loveleena spotted five Defenders with stern, piercing faces making their way through the crowd.
She swore, ducking back down. She needed to find the best way to escape.
Now.