My rising hopes vanish as quickly as they came. I can’t help letting my shoulders fall. With a reputation like his, of course he must have been approached in the past by other Elites. What made me think he would agree to side with us? “Why do you work alone?” I ask.

“Because I don’t like to share my spoils.”

I lift my head and give him a small frown. He has to join us, the whispers in my head urge. The Daggers would have killed for an Elite with his powers on their side. What would Enzo or Raffaele have said to entice him to join the Dagger Society? I think back to the way Enzo had recruited me, what he whispered in my ear. Do you want to punish those who have wronged you?

Beside me, Violetta squeezes my hand in the darkness. She glances at me from the corners of her eyes. “Find his weakness,” she murmurs to me. “What he wants.”

I try a different tactic. “If you are the most notorious thief in the world,” I say to him, “and you are so good at what you do, then how did you get captured by the Inquisition?”

Magiano props an elbow up on one knee and swings his legs. He gives me a curious grin … but behind it, I see what I’d hoped for. A spark of irritation. “They got lucky,” he replies, his nonchalant voice a little bit sharper than before.

“Or maybe you were careless?” I press. “Or are you exaggerating your talents?”

Magiano’s grin wavers for an instant. He sighs and rolls his eyes. “If you must know,” he mutters, “I was in Dalia to steal a chest of rare sapphires that had arrived from Dumor as a present for the duke. And the only reason the Inquisition caught me is that I went back for one more sapphire than I should have.” He holds up both hands. “In my defense, it was a very heavy sapphire.”

He can’t help himself, I realize. This is why one of the world’s most notorious Elites still runs petty street games for money, why he just spent an entire night’s pouch of gold talents on a useless, jewel-encrusted lute, why he has gold leaves sewn into his clothes. There are never enough gold talents in his pockets or jewels on his fingers—not when he knows there are more to gain. I glance at his fine silks again. Money pours into his hands and flows right out between his fingers.

Violetta’s tightened hold tells me she has come to the exact same conclusion. This is our opening.

“Kenettra’s royal treasury holds a thousand times the sapphires you tried to steal in Dalia. You and I both know this. You managed to steal the crown jewels once before—now imagine all the gold behind that crown.”

As expected, Magiano’s eyes take on a gleam so intense that I have to take a step back. He tilts his head suspiciously at me. “You tell me this as if I’ve never considered stealing the entire Kenettran royal treasury,” he says.

“Then why haven’t you done it yet?”

“You are so naïve.” He shakes his head, disappointed in my answer. “Do you have any idea how many guards watch over that gold? How many locations it’s scattered across? What a fool attempt it would be for anyone to think he could take it all?” He sniffs. “And here I thought for a moment that you had some magical idea to take it too.”

“I do,” I reply.

Magiano lets out a short laugh, but I can tell he’s studying me seriously now. “Then please, Adelina, share it. You really think the entire Kenettran royal treasury can be yours?”

“Ours,” I correct him. “If you join us, you would never need to scramble for gold again.”

He laughs again. “Now I know you’re lying to me.” He leans forward. “What—are you planning to cloak yourself in illusions and sneak into the treasury to take one armful of gold at a time? Do you know how many lifetimes that would take you, even if you made dozens of trips a night? And even if you could steal all that gold, how does one even begin to transport it out of the country? Out of Estenzia, even?” He stands up on the beam, hops lightly to a spot where he can reach a higher beam, and starts to turn away.

“I never said anything about stealing it,” I call out.

He pauses, then turns to face me. “Then how do you plan to take it all, my love?”

I smile. A memory burns through my mind: the cold, rainy night; my father talking to the stranger downstairs; I’m sitting along the stairs, pretending from my perch that I am a queen on a balcony. I blink. The power of that desire rushes through me like a wild wind. “Simple. We take away the throne from Queen Giulietta and the Inquisition Axis. Then the Kenettran royal treasury becomes ours by right.”

Magiano blinks. Then he starts to laugh. The laughter grows louder, until his eyes shine with tears, until he finally stops to let himself catch a breath. When he composes himself, his eyes slit, glowing in the darkness. In the silence that follows, I press on. “If you join us, and we take the Queen of Kenettra’s throne, then malfettos will have a ruler like themselves. We can stop Teren’s thirst for our blood. You can have more gold than you ever dreamed of. You can have a thousand diamond-encrusted lutes. You would be able to buy your own island and castle. You’d be remembered as a king.”

“I don’t want to be a king,” Magiano replies. “Too many responsibilities.” But his answer is halfhearted, and he doesn’t move. He’s considering my plan.

“You don’t need to be responsible for anything,” I say. “Help me win the crown and save the country, and you can have everything you’ve ever desired.”