The Dream Thief, Kari Kilgore [reading well TXT] 📗

making quite a dent in her privacy by showing up in her living room would not be in anyone's best interests.

"I know how it sounds," Loretta said. "The important thing is I have been Building, and I haven't run into any problems at all. No one is out searching for Rhysto in the wee hours of the morning. You might have forgotten he was a bastard who not many people are going to miss. I'd wager most people would reward his killer rather than demand any kind of punishment."

"You don't know that, Loretta." Bess knelt in front of Loretta, looking into her eyes. "You didn't grow up here. I did. Murder is almost nonexistent, sure, but it does happen. Sophie didn’t grow up here either, but she learned that lesson in the worst possible way. No one in Waldron's Gate is happy about it when anyone is killed. Even an asshole. If the slightest rumor gets out that he's dead, you'll think Karl and me paying too much attention to what you're up to was child's play. Any secrets you hope to keep will be fair game."

Loretta stared at the floor again, her face pale and cold. Bess knew very little about her past, and Rhysto's death eliminated the only person besides her grandmother who knew more.

Fair or not, the reminder of Sophie hurt.

"I understand. One thing I don't think you understand is doing this keeps me sane, Bess. Getting out on my own, concentrating so hard, making something new that never would have existed otherwise, even if they're not fine art by anyone's standards. Nothing else in my life is normal anymore. I can't give this up, too. I'd end up one of Karl's patients instead of his lover."

Bess stood, shaking her head.

"That's more or less what I thought you'd say. I'll leave you to it. Assuming I'm still employed, when will you need my services again, ma'am?"

"You're still employed." Loretta stood and grasped Bess's shoulders. "Mainly because you're absolutely right. I am taking risks I shouldn't be, far too many to think about all at once. I appreciate your concern more than you know."

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you I don't believe one word of that. Tomorrow afternoon, then. Take care, Loretta."

Loretta watched her guard walk away, darkness thickening around her as the streetlights adjusted to their lowest setting. When Bess disappeared from view, Loretta followed her into the night.

Loretta's target Builder was only a few blocks away, leaving her wishing for more time to clear her head after such a difficult conversation. The example of her parents and especially her grandparents, not to mention her own past attempts, had given her more than enough reason to avoid the very situation she was in. Worrying about what a man would think.

Gemma had not been the happy, kind woman she was now when Loretta's grandfather was alive. He grudgingly kept her secret life off of Crumble to himself in return for a larger dowry than usual, but only if she promised to never make any of the things she dreamed of.

Loretta hadn't been lying about Building keeping her sane and calm. Gemma had been neither when she lived under such restrictions. Loretta often wondered if that torment had left her grandmother with her sometimes filtered grasp of reality.

She walked down the middle of the darkened street, watching the house for any signs of movement. During the day, this small, tidy one-story was a bright pink with pale blue accents, one of the more cheerful houses in the row. The muddy gray in the dim light made it hard to recognize, but Loretta never needed such obvious guides. She almost knew the number of steps it would take after studying her map.

This Builder wasn't a client. She'd have to have a strong focus, a challenge when her mind was so unsettled.

Her next path took her into the yard, a silent circuit to examine all the windows and doors. No one was about, and only her soft footsteps broke the silence. She didn't like setting up in the front of a house where she was so visible, but the man's bedroom wasn't accessible from anywhere else.

Loretta thought of Karl seeing her from the high turret in his parents' house, several blocks from here. None of the less grand houses surrounding her held such threats. She moved as close as her sightlines would allow and shrugged off her pack.

The noise, quieter than her own breathing, alerted her as she took out the case holding her Dragon and gyro-compass. With Bess's warning about murder investigations, her nerves were on a sharp edge. Loretta's hands kept moving, adjusting the tripod and putting the case as far under the bush in front of her as she could.

She stood and stared at the house with her head tilted, shifting her body so she could reach for the weighted club in the opposite direction the breathy sound had come from.

Loretta drew the club and turned in the same motion, and froze.

Karl stood a few feet away from her, several of his long strides from any kind of cover. He held his hands up and lowered his head. Loretta had to grit her teeth to keep from using the club on him anyway. She crossed the distance between them.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" she whispered. "How did you even know—"

"I haven't been sleeping well lately," he said. "Didn't take much deep thought to figure out where to find you."

Loretta forced her breathing to slow, trying to keep her anger from driving her on.

"You remembered the blasted map that well, did you?"

"Just one of those things," he said. "I don’t want to ask what you're doing out here."

"Then don't. What do you want, Karl?" Now that her heart was slowing, an ache set in, one she was terribly uncomfortable with. That ache demanded a sympathy Loretta wasn't sure she was capable of. "I... I'm sorry about the baby. I wish