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After the moon disappeared behind the thick bank of stor the waves Since it was too dark to see the path, he carried a bull’s-eye lantern and kept a sround in front of hi for a ship’s light Nothing

The edge of the storainst his black cloak The castle’s seamstress, Dilana, had soaked the material in a liquid wax to help repel water, but Valek had learned froed

Gusts of wind blew ashore, flapping his cloak and threatening to extinguish the lantern’s flah he pulled the hood over his head, the salty spray stung his eyes and burned his nose

The rolling sand dunes along the coast turned rocky and steep A blast of air fro the storh he was unable to spot the sheer bluffs in the darkness, theira spot that he’d pick if he was on a boat and searching for a place to land Then he hunkered down, closed the lantern’s slide and waited

He wondered what Yelena, Ari and Janco had discovered about the glass-house plants It had been thirteen days since they parted Was she on her way to the rendezvous point? Worry for her and the baby swirled

At least she hadn’t reached him with one of her desperate mental calls Thrice before, she had been in dire trouble in Sitia and reached for hih hiiant monster’s sharp claws Each tith and immunity to her across the miles It had saved her life, and those tiically connected Except now His blood ran cold Without her ic, would Yelena be able to reach hi in the rain, hoping to spot a gang of young thieves Was this important to him? No Catch these thieves and more would just pop up someplace else He needed to be with his wife, even if she wasn’t in danger He’d let his job keep the All he had to do was retire, and once free of the Commander’s orders, he’d assassinate Owen

Valek stood and wiped rain froh escaped his lips As o, he’d never leave a job unfinished He revised his to-do list Catch the Storm Thieves, retire, assassinate Owen He returned to his position and tried not to fret over Yelena After all, she was resourceful and sht

Hours later, a light bobbed on the water Valek watched it with keen interest The light broke into two points The second one appeared to head for shore As it drew closer, it clarified into four lanterns The yello revealed a large rowboat with four figures rowing and four others holding the lights When they reached the shalloater, the rolling waves around the boat smoothed flat Valek squinted No rain or wind buffeted the craft, either Sticky ician Despite his earlier clai about these thieves, excitement warmed his chest

Two men jumped out and pulled the boat’s prow onto the beach There was enough light for Valek to distinguish h to observe facial features Three men and tomen hopped onto the sand They carried two of the lanterns Exchanging a feords with the wo inland

Theup the oars, they rowed toward the light still bobbing in the ocean The water under the boat reician had stayed with the rowboat Valek’d bet a gold coin it was the wo spotted to get a clear view of theSixteen,dark hair At least she wasn’t one of the Stormdancers

Unable to follow the rowboat in storroup that had been dropped off If they were a raiding party, then why did the boat leave? Perhaps they planned to rendezvous later at another location That would be rather smart

As the Storm Thieves traveled east, Valek recalled the map of the area No towns or far of value to steal Maybe they’d hidden a stash of goods and were retrieving their stolen supplies After hiking twothe coastline The wind eased and soon it stopped raining

When they bypassed Gandrel, the half-h a film of wispy clouds Valek suspected that the Stor on the storht when everyone was asleep An unexpected e thief

But hoould they transport the animals? Someone would hear the hooves on the wooden planks of the dock And he doubted they would bring them back to the beach where they’d landed That boat was too small unless they carried one steer at a time In that case, they’d have tofor them up there Now the question reh to make it work?

A quarter of a mile before the steer farm, they turned east, not west as expected Curious, Valek closed the distance between therown lane and into a barn with a sagging roof and weathered wood Valek looped to the back of the dilapidated structure A rusted chain wrapped around the handles of a set of warped doors An oversize padlock cinched the chain tight