Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“If you say so,” Kingston said, dismissing the conversation.
Graves and Kierse exchanged a look, reading each other in the span of a second.
“Let’s go before he starts up again,” Graves said with a tip of his head.
Kierse followed Graves and Kingston to the elevator. George was idling with the limo, and Kingston swept inside. Graves stepped up to her before she could follow him into the car. “Try not to filch the entire museum.”
She scoffed. “As if I’d let you see what treasures I nicked.”
And was pleased to see his amusement.
The drive to the Met was quick in Graves’s limo. Kingston prattled on the whole time, and Kierse watched Graves evade Kingston as deftly as he did her. Then George parked out front and opened the door for them.
Kierse had stood outside of the Met hundreds of times, staring up at Coraline LeMort’s all-seeing statue. She’d eaten from her favorite bakery right around the corner. She had stolen from wealthy patrons off these steps.
But never had she imagined that she’d be allowed in through the front door.
The museum used to permit everyone within its walls. But after monsters appeared, several prized paintings had been stolen during the looting, so they’d closed their doors to the public. Admittance was by reservation only, and the price for entry had become steep. Nearly impossible for most people. Another elite club that she never thought she’d have access to.
Entering through the high white columns in her dress and heels made her feel like a fraud. The only thing from her old life was the wren at her neck. Did they know they were letting a thief on their grounds? But Graves and Kingston held their own esteem, and no one even looked at her as hands were shaken and pleasantries made.
Graves seemed to have no taste for the museum itself, but Kingston came alive inside it. This was his area of expertise, after all. Kierse’s eyes bounced along the white marble walls and the intricate entrance that gave way to galleries upon galleries of artwork.
“Do you think it’s wrong that they hide all this art from the rest of the population?” she mused aloud.
Graves tilted his head, his gray eyes considering her, though he was clearly surprised by her question. “Art has always been collected, catalogued, and coveted by the wealthy. It is no surprise they do so here.”
“Everything is like that with the wealthy.”
“True,” he conceded, coming to her side as they walked. She could almost brush his arm. Her stomach flipped at the brief contact. “They closed the museum, thinking they were protecting the art, but all they did was close it off. Art flourishes in the dark times, in the pain and heartbreak. I feel many of those not admitted would understand these paintings in a way that the wealthy never can.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “If you’ve always had a full belly, how can you understand hunger?”
“Precisely.”
She leaned in closer to him. “I feel as if we’re wasting this day with Kingston. Shouldn’t we be doing reconnaissance?”
His eyes met hers, darting to her lips only briefly. She could feel his warmth intensify. “Sometimes there’s information to be found when you’re not looking for it,” he said mysteriously.
She believed him, but the winter solstice was a ticking bomb in the back of her mind. Their time was running thin.
“Now, now,” Kingston said, wagging a finger at them. “None of that. I can feel the heat from over here.”
Graves pulled back, taking his warmth with him. His face turned perfectly neutral. “I have no idea what you mean.”
Kingston shook his head at them both, and she blushed. “Come along. I want to see the new exhibit first. It’s Egyptian.”
“Haven’t you been to Egypt?” Graves asked as they fell into step.
“Naturally.”
Kierse listened to their easy banter as they moseyed through the museum. After only an hour, she wondered why she had ever wanted to be in this place so badly. Of course, the answer was because it was forbidden. And forbidden things tended to be the things that she liked best.
But otherwise, it was insanely boring. Kingston must have been getting something from all this aimless wandering, but all Kierse got was sore feet. Why had she sprung for heels when she had perfectly good sneakers?
Kierse forced down a yawn as they left the Egyptian wing and headed into an exhibit filled with portraits. She needed the conversation to turn or she’d never make it.
“I know that look in your eye,” Graves said.
She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “What look in my eye?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to rob us all blind.”
“Who says I haven’t already?”
Kingston laughed. “We surely would have noticed.”
“Where is your pocket watch?”
Kingston reached into his jacket to take it out and show her. But then he froze. It wasn’t there. “By god, I must have misplaced it.”