Chapters (46)
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
“The kennels?” Sometimes James had the strangest ideas. “There are less guards, but that’s because they don’t need to patrol an area housing several dozen guard dogs. We’d never get through without raising the alarm.”
“Do they bark at you?”
“No, but I’m a dog talker. They’ll stay quiet for me, but I in’t good enough to get four strangers through.”
“We can drug the dogs. I’ve something that will put them to sleep long enough to get us by. They’ll be groggy in the morning, but not enough to alarm the handlers.”
Kyra cocked her head. “Put a kennel full of dogs to sleep? How strong is this medicine?”
“It’ll do the job, if you can get it into their water bowls.”
She wondered for a moment how much easier life as a thief would have been if she’d been able to get dogs to nap for Flick and the other boys. Kyra looked at the map with new eyes, intrigued by the possibilities. “How long does it take to put them out?”
“You’ll want to wait at least three hours to make sure all the dogs have taken some. Even then, you’ll need to be on the lookout for any that didn’t get enough. Not all of them will drink it right away.”
“I can do that.” She could probably encourage them to drink too.
“When the dogs are ready,” he continued, “you can meet us outside the east wall.”
She nodded, forgetting her doubts about the Guild as the excitement of planning took over. “I can lead you in from the perimeter. Between the wall and kennels, there’s one guard we’ll have to dodge. We’ll be safe enough passing through the kennels if the dogs are asleep. On the other end, there’s one other Red Shield, but he only passes once every thirty minutes. Once we’re inside the storeroom, we’ll be fine if we close the door and keep the noise down. They hardly ever check inside.”
“Good.” James looked down at the map. “Then the question is who to bring. I’ll need my best.”
“Bacchus?” asked Kyra. He seemed to be one of James’s favorites.
“No. Whoever goes in will have to take orders from you, and I don’t trust him to do that.” The corners of his mouth crept up when he saw Kyra’s expression. “Aye, I do notice what goes on in the Guild. Bacchus is one of my best. He’s loyal. He’ll take a knife for me without question, and he’s gotten us out of trouble more times than I can count, even when it was my mistake that put us there. But he can be…stubborn, about some things. He’ll come around with time.”