To Thrill A Thief (Southern Sanctuary book 8), page 1
To Thrill A Thief
Southern Sanctuary – Book Eight
Jane Cousins
Copyright©2016. All rights reserved by the author. Do not copy or re-distribute.
This is a work of fiction.
Front cover design; Fiona Jayde
To my brilliant beautiful niece, Olivia. Who shares my Buffy fixation and is a force to be reckoned with, on or off, the hockey field. I have no doubt you will one day set the world on fire.
Prologue
“I’m not sorry, and I won’t apologise!” Eli Stevens fought the urge to clap a hand over her mouth in horror.
That was not what she’d intended to say at all.
She’d planned to grovel, plead and be extremely contrite when the door behind her opened and Headmistress Dickens entered. She’d spent the last twenty minutes mentally devising an effusive and heartfelt apology for her actions. All the while fear causing her stomach to roil and bubble as increasingly dire outcomes flickered through her head.
Would they suspend her? Expel her? Just how angry would her parents be? She’d definitely be grounded for sure, lucky if she saw daylight again before her ninth birthday.
Sitting there waiting, Eli had determined her best course of action was to apologise, beg for mercy. But as soon as she heard the door behind her open, righteous anger had flooded through her. Next thing she knew, her out of control mouth – the one that had gotten her into all this trouble to begin with – had once again taken over. Seemingly determined to have her kicked out of school and enrolled at the nearest military academy for young ladies forthwith. Stupid big mouth.
Her words continued to echo around the room. But Eli refused to flinch or cow. Instead she kept her back rigid, her focus straight ahead, fixed upon the awards and diplomas hanging behind Headmistress Dickens’ desk.
“I see.”
Gulp. That wasn’t Headmistress Dickens’ voice. It belonged to Great-Uncle Edward, head of the Southern Sanctuary High Council. Oh, this wasn’t just bad, this was terrible.
Was he here to banish her? Where would she go? She was only eight and three-quarters, how would she survive out there in the big non-magical world? Her mother was going to explode.
“Um…” Eli swallowed hard, watching as her Great-Uncle strode into view, walking passed her to take a seat behind the large desk.
Face to face, she could see he looked remarkably unperturbed by her outburst. His expression controlled, his brown eyes steady and cool as he assessed her from the top of her mussed blonde ponytail to the tips of her black shoes that swung several inches above the plush burgundy carpet.
Despite the fact that he wore jeans and an unassuming blue checked shirt, Edward radiated strength and magic. Eli could feel the air in the room thicken with his power as it physically pressed against her skin.
Double gulp, don’t just sit there like a ninny, she berated herself mentally, for Goddess sake apologise, and when you are through apologising get down on your skinny scabbed knees and beg for mercy. With that in mind she opened her mouth. “Miss Blakely hates me and I’m not sorry one little bit that I yelled at her.” Drat, it was official, her big mouth was out of control.
Eli bit the inside of her cheek as Edward’s brown eyes narrowed for a split second. Grrr, she refused to quiver or quake in his presence, fixing him with a stubborn resentful scowl instead. She might be scared but it appeared anger had currently taken over the driver’s seat when it came to her mouth. There would be no apology offered today, surely military school wouldn’t be all bad.
Silence stretched between them. It was agonising, like waiting for thunder after lightning had just lit up the sky directly overhead.
Finally, Edward reached up running a hand through his thick, closely cropped grey hair. “Miss Blakely doesn’t hate you-”
Eli failed to suppress the loud derisive snort that erupted unexpectedly. Miss Blakely so hated her. She never called on her anymore, forgot her name, locked her out of the classroom, and more often than not looked right through her with a blank cutting expression.
Which didn’t just make her angry, it really hurt her feelings.
When she’d started the year she’d loved Miss Blakely. Her teacher was young and tried her hardest to make learning fun. She had naively believed Miss Blakely had liked her in return… obviously not, given the icy change in Miss Blakely’s attitude towards her.
Edward paused for a moment, a thick dark eyebrow rising in reprimand.
Hot colour flooded Eli’s cheeks as she fought the urge to squirm. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Edward nodded slowly. “Now, as I was saying, Miss Blakely doesn’t hate you, Eli, she just doesn’t have any idea who you are.”
Eli’s mouth dropped open in shocked surprise before she snapped it shut, compressing her lips tightly together as a frown settled on her brow. A dozen questions begged to be asked, she clamped her lips together tighter still.
She would not be at the mercy of her runaway mouth again. Great-Uncle Edward was the Head of the High Council, he didn’t pull pranks or make jokes lightly. He seemed to seriously believe what he was saying.
Eli took a deep breath and then another one, releasing it slowly. “I… I don’t understand.”
Edward nodded again slowly, as if she had passed some test. “It appears your magic has developed a little ahead of schedule.”
“Magic.” Eli echoed, her eyes widening with instant understanding. Of course, her magic, oh, this was so cool. Her sister Fraser, all her friends, they were going to be so jealous. Her magic had arrived, no waiting around for puberty for her… she was on the magic fast track. “Cool, so what do I have? Do I turn invisible? Because that would explain a lot.”
Edward shook his head, an emotion flickering in the depths of his brown eyes that had Eli’s insides clenching in fear, was that sympathy she saw…? A sick dread settling over her. Uh oh, this couldn’t be good.
“People forget you, Eli.”
Eli scrunched up her nose, people forgot her? That sounded kind of lame, and it didn’t explain that look in Edward’s eyes. So big deal, people forgot who she was. Then she thought about Miss Blakely, who used to tell her silly jokes to get her to smile, and would assign her the same books the boys got to read because Eli thought they sounded like more fun.
Miss Blakely, who now either frowned in confusion when she looked at Eli or stared right through her as if she didn’t exist. Miss Blakely, who locked her out of the classroom and never called on her anymore… because she couldn’t remember who she was. “Oh.”
“Are you alright, Eli?”
She bit down on the inside of her cheek, blinking rapidly to prevent tears from falling. She was not a cry baby. Then a terrible thought had the blood draining from her face. “My parents, Fraser, my friends, are they all going to forget who I am too?”
“No, anyone who is family, anyone connected to the magical grid covering the Sanctuary should be able to recall who you are.”
Eli’s shoulders slumped in relief then instantly tensed up again. “Should?”
“Coming into your magic so young… it could be an indicator that your power will be particularly strong. But at this stage I don’t think we should get ahead of ourselves. Starting tomorrow you’ll change classes and join Mrs Saine’s class. She’s family so that will solve the problem of your schooling.”
Eli grimaced and nodded. “Okay.”
“Now, there’s one more thing we need to discuss.”
“Another problem?” Eli queried warily. Something worse than her favourite teacher forgetting she existed?
“Not a problem as such, an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?”
“Yes, have you ever heard of the Southern Sanctuary Retrieval Expert?” Edward leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk in front of him.
“Retrieval Expert?” Eli scrunched up her nose as she shook her head, ponytail swinging. “I don’t think so.”
“Hmm, well, as it happens my dear, you may be uniquely qualified to become one.”
“A Retrieval Expert?” Eli frowned, the title had a faintly clinical sound and she wasn’t fond of science. “What would it involve?”
“Training. Lots and lots of training. I see from your school records that you like gymnastics, how do you feel about heights?”
Heights? “Um, I don’t know.”
“Any claustrophobia?”
“What’s that?”
The right side of Edward’s mouth tilted upwards for a split second. “The fear of small spaces.”
“I… I don’t think so.”
“What do you say we start your training and go from there? From now on, every day after school, you are to report to your Aunt Elisabeth at the fitness centre. She’ll be the one over-seeing your training.”
“Aunt Elisabeth.” Eli breathed out the name of the woman she idolised. Aunt Elisabeth, who had climbed Mount Everest…. twice. Who had gold medals from both the Summer and the Winter Olympics. Aunt Elisabeth, who could shoot, ride, swim, climb, fly, drive, skate, tumble and leap better than anyone Eli had ever known, was going to train her… her!
Aunt Elisabeth, who controlled her eleven children with no more than a slight narrowing of her eyes and the occasional sharp intake of breath that had her off-spring instantly ceasing whatever nefarious high-jinks they were in the midst of planning.
“You’ll work har
“Um…” Eli wasn’t sure what she should say.
“Yes, you have a question?”
“It’s just, I still don’t know what a… Retrieval Expert does exactly?”
For the first time since he entered the room Edward smiled. “In the simplest terms possible, a Retrieval Expert is in effect, the family thief.”
Eli’s blue eyes widened. Thief? Great-Uncle Edward wanted her to train to become the family thief? She should probably talk to her folks, or her big sister, Fraser, about this. Maybe take some time, it sounded like a big step.
Of course her mouth had a completely different idea. “Cool, I’m in.”
* * *
Thirteen Years Later…
Eli’s left foot tingled, she adjusted her trajectory accordingly. Thanks to the magic guidance trackers in her boots she was once more on target. Good thing too, as her carefully chosen landing site was barely one foot wide. Not that she minded a challenge. Thanks to her family she too often tackled nothing but challenging assignments.
It’s just she would have appreciated just a little more time to plan this rather delicate high profile snatch and grab.
Mentally she reviewed her progress so far this evening. Seedy bar – check. Approach and flirt with flying instructor – check. Giggle inanely and mention how she’d always dreamt of joining the mile-high club – check. Cruising altitude, bail out on would-be Romeo – check. Plummet to earth in a free fall as confused pilot flies off, probably wondering to himself why he’d chosen to go on a midnight joyride by himself – check. Deploy Great-Uncle Gard’s biodegradable paragliding chute in three… two… one.
Her right foot tingled this time and she flexed her right shoulder, the sensitive glider chute adjusted accordingly. She could see her destination clearly now. The massive dark roof of the sprawling remote mansion, light streaming from a multitude of windows. Men and dogs patrolled the property but not a one of them thought to look up as Eli swooped downwards from the star-filled night sky.
Even if they had looked up she was all but impossible to spot. Both the chute and her skin tight body suit were made out of magical light refracting properties. As long as she didn’t make a sound she was pretty much the text book definition of invisible.
Which was why it was so important she stick the landing.
The stone edging of the ornate guttering running around the west wing was perfect for her purposes. Her gel soled boots wouldn’t make any noise on the stone and the line of sight was awkward for anyone patrolling the grounds.
Finally, she was close enough to spot her targeted landing site, automatically she adjusted her trajectory to the right a fraction more. She might have magical navigational equipment in her boots, but nothing beat the human gut factor.
Grinning broadly as she touched down perfectly, soundlessly, bent knees absorbing the impact.
In quick practised movements she shed the chute. As soon as it was detached, the unique material began to disintegrate, flaking away to nothing. Pulling down the hood that had protected her ears during the free fall, she paused for one quick moment to get her bearings.
Game on. Time for the real fun to begin. Eli’s eyes sparkled with anticipation and amusement.
She wasn’t amused seven minutes later as she lowered herself into the narrow dark shaft that would lead to the super-secret hidden treasure room of one Ezra Errington; reclusive dead billionaire and pain in her ass.
Cripes, her contact hadn’t been joking when he’d supplied her with the information that old Ezra, some four decades ago, had secretly transformed an ancient dumbwaiter into a personal elevator. For several moments Eli dangled in space, wondering if the tiny elevator was at the top or the bottom of the shaft. She didn’t mind climbing, but in the pitch black narrow space she’d prefer to ride.
The toe of her boot came in contact with the roof of the elevator. Yeah. Lowering her weight down carefully, Eli felt around for the access mechanism. It was too dangerous to use any kind of light so she had to operate on feel alone. Luckily the handle wasn’t rusty and reasonably simple to open.
Instinct… self-preservation… something had her hesitating from dropping into the inky darkness of the elevator below. Her contact, an almost blind Mexican electrician, had assured her there were no booby traps but for some reason Eli found herself pausing.
Moving whisper quiet, she leant forward to take a look but the relentless darkness below gave her no clue as to what had set her internal alarms clanging. It was probably just the adrenalin wearing off she decided, the free fall, the last seven minutes squirming through ridiculously tight air ducts. The idea of arriving at her destination in an elevator was almost too easy.
In her line of work easy didn’t occur often, and when it did there was usually a recently installed security system, or a newly electrified fence, just waiting to trip her up. Deciding she was just being pessimistically fanciful, Eli swung her body around and dangled her boots into the opening… see, no attack dogs waiting to seize her. Rolling her eyes at her own silliness, she turned over onto her stomach and began lowering herself down into the elevator.
Biting back a cry of surprise as her right boot was instantly seized in what felt like an iron grip. She grappled for something to hold on to, trying to kick free and pull herself back up. But whoever had hold of her was too strong as they began to steadily pull her downwards.
Eli fought the urge to cry out, noises echoed and travelled strangely in old houses. At the moment she was dealing with one unknown assailant, she didn’t need a whole security team descending upon her location. If she could just… she lifted her left leg, intending to kick out but it too was suddenly seized in a vice tight unbreakable hold. Futilely she attempted to shake off her mysterious captor with the grip of iron.
Damn, it seems they were at an impasse, no way was she letting go and there was nothing this bozo who had hold of her by the boots could do about it… except give a quick hard yank that had her scrabbling for leverage. Her hands gripping white knuckled to a metal beam. She issued a frustrated hissing sigh under her breath. She wasn’t going down there and no power on earth could make her.
Unfortunately, Eli’s plan didn’t account for the large hand now making its way slowly up her left calf, over the back of her knee, encircling her thigh where it seemed to slow its pace even more. She bit back a cry of outrage. Great, not only had she been caught by some random guy, she was being felt up, as the large hand skated over her left butt cheek… was that a squeeze?
Ooh, she tried to kick back but the man’s hold was unbreakable as he exerted even more pressure, intent upon dragging her down into the waiting inky darkness below.
Eli really didn’t want to let go, but what choice did she have? It was either let the stranger pull her down into the elevator or be torn in two. Not much of a choice really. Reluctantly she released her grip, her adversary showing no sign that holding her weight at this angle was any big deal. Heavens, who was this guy?
Well, he was tall for a start and built… Eli fought the urge to shudder as she found herself lifted down into his all too obviously muscular embrace before he slid her slowly, oh so slowly, down his body to the floor, her buttocks and back gliding against every inch of him until finally her boots touched the floor.
The space available was tight and the mystery guy was huge. Eli’s back was plastered against him, his body heat all but scalding her, his warm breath stirring the short hairs on the back of her neck.
“I’ve been waiting for you, little thief.”
Oh Goddess, that low rough masculine whisper, it was like velvet wrapping around her senses. Eli had to fight to remain stiff an unyielding in his embrace. “Sorry, but you know us women, first I couldn’t decide what to wear and then there was the endless primping.”
“A woman… I must say this is an exceedingly pleasant surprise.”
“Especially given the current tight quarters, I bet. So, since I’m pretty sure you’re not security, and you’re not one of my competitors because you’d have already cleared out the secret room and been long gone… just who are you Mister, and what do you want?”
