The barmaid placed three more drinks on the table and Bri thumbed her a silver druni.

“Drinks on me,” Bri said, pushing a glass toward Silvie as Terez dragged her onto the dance floor.

“Why thank you . . .” Silvie paused. “Wait, what is your name?”

“Does it really matter?” Bri shouted back to be heard over the fiddle and drums. She threaded her fingers through Terez’s and her eyelids drooped.

“No,” Terez breathed. “It doesn’t.”

Chuckling, Bri lost herself in the warmth spreading through her from the drinks and Terez’s soft body pressed against her own. These two would probably swap stories about the stranger in the bar for years to come . . . and she’d survive another sleepless night.

* * *

The pleasant hum of liquor buzzed through her limbs as Bri wound her way down the narrow paths. Her hand skimmed over the curving walls as she ducked under clotheslines.

Her mind focused on the information she had just learned. Someone in the palace knew more than they were saying. She was becoming increasingly convinced that it was an inside job. No one was beyond suspicion.

Shouts rang out from up ahead. “Stop, thief!”

Bri rolled her eyes. Of course.

The buildings were different, the food unfamiliar, but these seedy parts of a city were always the same. She turned the corner just in time to see a cloaked figure racing down the path. One snarling, muscled fae chased after them. The thief darted down a side road, one Bri knew led back the way she came.

With a smirk, she turned around, putting her plans for sleep on hold for another hour. Maybe this thief knew about the recent events in the castle. Her grin widened. It didn’t matter—she loved the chase.

Leaping over piles of refuse, she barreled toward the other end of the alley. Judging by the brief glimpse of the thief, they were an entire head shorter than her, with heavy, thundering footsteps. She estimated the time it would take them to run the long way round. They were headed toward the markets. Smart. The perfect place to get lost amongst the labyrinth of stalls. First, they would have to make it down the road up ahead, and those fae chasing after the cloaked figure looked like they were gaining on them. If Bri judged it just right, the thief would be stumbling out the other side . . .

Now.

She collided with the figure, knocking them back. The cloak didn’t slip from the thief’s face as they yanked a hand axe from their belt, their other hand clutching a large coin purse.

A fae lay behind the thief, clutching his stomach and groaning. Despite being smaller than Bri, they had already incapacitated him before she’d caught up.

Bri smirked. “Impressive.”

“Get out of my way,” a feminine voice snarled.

Bri’s brows lifted, expecting an entirely different-sounding person. The thief turned toward the noise of feet echoing off the cobblestones.