AN UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE
1904—St. Louis
Ruth waited beneath the cover of the brewery’s wagon, across from the Jefferson Hotel, watching for some sign of what was happening within. Along the street near the front entrance, the dark bodies of police wagons blocked her view of the front door. She had more Antistasi stationed at the other entrances, just in case.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Ever since the legend of the Devil’s Thief was born after the train accident two years before, Ruth had always assumed it was a lie perpetrated by the Order and the other Occult Brotherhoods to stir up anger against her kind. Ruth had never really believed that a girl, a simple girl, could have done what the reports claimed she had. Which had not stopped Ruth and the other Antistasi leaders from claiming the Devil’s Thief as their own, or from using her name to unify their cause.
All across the country, there were pockets of Mageus who lived quiet lives, but something changed after the Defense Against Magic Act was passed. Ordinary people who were happy living ordinary lives suddenly realized they had never been safe. They began to look to the Thief for the promise of a different future, and groups like Ruth’s had been more than happy to provide them with hope.
When other deeds—small and large, across the country—were done by people claiming to be the Devil’s Thief, Ruth had always assumed that it was simply a group of Antistasi like her own. She’d never thought that the same girl could have been involved. The Devil’s Thief was nothing but a myth, a folk hero like Paul Bunyan or John Henry. Maybe she’d been a real girl at some point, but the Thief had become something so much larger than any single person. She’d become an ideal. A calling.
But then, earlier that night, North had seen the girl, the one whose face had been in papers across the land, and Ruth had to accept the possibility that she’d been wrong. She also had to face the possibility of a challenge to her own power in St. Louis. After all, stories are often easier to tame than actual hearts.
Ruth had no idea who this girl was or what she wanted. She didn’t even know if the girl was the Thief, though the police and the Guard certainly were treating her as such. At best, the girl’s appearance was a minor distraction. At worst, the girl might have come to the city to take control of it. Ruth had worked too hard, had far too much planned, to allow that.
Still, it wouldn’t do for the girl to be caught now. If she was, the specter of the Devil’s Thief would be useless as a shield against any retaliation that Ruth’s Antistasi might incur. There was too much at stake, so she’d brought her people to the Jefferson. They would provide a distraction for the girl to escape, and if possible, they would bring the girl to Ruth. As a competitor, the girl could be a problem, but as an ally—or better, a subordinate . . . Well, that idea held a certain attraction.
It had been too long. With North and his watch, time was flexible, but waiting was still interminable. As long as her people were inside, Ruth would worry.
She didn’t have to worry for much longer, though. Lightning flashed in a brilliant arc overhead, illuminating the street and the facade of the hotel, and before the thunder could break, a pair appeared out of nowhere. Ruth squinted through the rain as the taller of the two scooped the other up and ran. And she felt the crash of warm magic sift through the air, unusually strong. Impossibly pure. Ruth hadn’t felt power like that in her entire life.
A moment later four masked figures dressed in gowns appeared just out of the beam of the streetlamp nearby. They ran toward the wagon and were inside before anyone could see them. The back door of the wagon closed, and a window slid open near the driver’s perch.
“Did you run into any problems?” Ruth asked, peering back into the darkness of the wagon’s covered bed. North had already taken the mask from his face and was stripping out of the dark gown.
“Not one,” North told her. “Maggie’s devices worked like a charm.”
“They usually do,” Ruth said, a spark of pride for her youngest sister glowing within her.
“We didn’t find the Thief inside. Do you think she got out?” Maggie asked, pulling her own mask from her face. It was always a moment of shock to see Maggie dressed in scarlet, when Ruth was used to the girl wearing more sedate colors. From the look on North’s face—the open longing—Ruth suspected that he felt the same.
She looked back in the direction where the two people had appeared in the rain. “I think she did,” Ruth told them. “But North was right. She’s not alone.”
“Do you want me to follow them?” North asked.
Ruth considered his offer—and the way her sister’s expression filled with worry at the mention of it. With the power the Thief clearly had, having her on their side might be a boon, but she knew that if Maggie was worried about North, she would not be able to focus on the work necessary to complete the serum. Thief or no Thief, they were running out of time. “We have eyes enough in the city. If they surface again or cause any problems, we’ll know. For now, I need you close.”