The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

most of the time unless she had a particularly large supply of goods awaiting her attention. She hadn't felt comfortable Building that many things at once for a couple of years now, but that might have to change with Rhysto's threat of surveillance.

Loretta reached under the shelf at mid-thigh height and pushed an unseen button fitted seamlessly into the copper. The barest sigh, more like breath than steam, was the only result for several seconds.

The pipes in this part of the house had to be remarkably well built and insulated to avoid corroding everything around her, or spoiling the things she and Gemma had gone to so much trouble to make possible.

The whisper subsided, and the shelves folded sideways upon themselves. When the wall was exposed, Loretta stepped forward onto another spot with a scale built in. She stood forward on her toes, being careful not to touch the retracted shelves or the wall in front of her. The security features down here were a bit more serious than upstairs.

With that same faint sigh, the wall to her left split and moved to her right. That seam looked no different than the others at regular intervals around the room. Not even Loretta herself could spot the important one. When the wall had fully retracted, she lowered her heels, counted to three, and stepped forward into the room.

All the lamps in this small chamber were electric. She'd agreed with Gemma that gas would be too dangerous in such an enclosed space even though she found the light terribly harsh and bright. These walls were lead instead of copper, and most of the room was taken up with a floor-to-ceiling safe.

The combination was simple and easy to remember as long as the operator knew exactly where to place her feet and where to touch the handle of the safe. If any of that were not done properly, the enclosed space would become a gas-filled coffin before the thief realized anything was wrong.

The lock clicked, and Loretta pulled the heavy door open. Inside were shelves, but none of these were empty at the moment. Coin was by far Loretta's preferred method of payment, but she'd been known to accept rare gemstones or jewelry on occasion.

She added the contents of her bulging purse to the glittering arrangements, keeping only enough coin to carry her through the next few weeks. Even with all of her safeguards, coming down here while Rhysto threatened to appear without warning was a risk she’d rather avoid.

With her safe locked and the shelves back in place against the wall, Loretta turned her attention to her inventory. She recalled where each item would be delivered as she placed them in the bags, wrapping them in black silk if they were fragile.

She never wrote such things down, a habit she'd picked up a long time ago. Even if her need, and her desire, for secrecy weren't so great, carelessly dropping a list of who had requested these sorts of items would be the quick end of her business. Bags loaded and mental notes made, she turned to the one remaining item on the shelves.

This wasn't anything so common or distasteful as a shriveled tongue or a coat made out of carefully matched human scalps. And no price, not even the considerable contents of Loretta's safe, would come close to what her most treasured possession was worth.

She touched one of the bell ends of her Dragon, then ran her finger along the length, careful not to dislodge or break any of the tiny gears, pulleys, or hair-thin water pipes.

The time to Build again was close, and so was the desire to throw herself into the thrill and excitement of the work. Building suited her personality and needs far more than socializing and selling, but one truly could not exist without the other. Loretta sighed, caressed the opposite bell end one more time, and turned back to her curios.

No shaw pilot, not even one as powerful and well positioned as Rhysto, could stay on the ground forever. Business and temperament kept them all from lingering in Waldron’s Gate. Odds were good he'd be on his way again before the week was out. That would give Loretta plenty of time to make her deliveries and gather up new requests.

She already had many nights' worth of Builds stored up in her memory for when the time came. With attention newly being paid to her activities, she might have to push the schedule more than she wanted to. Despite Rhysto's barely veiled threats, Loretta had not forgotten the scare Mr. Norwood had given her, either.

Moving so quickly, with so many Builds packed into each night, was hard on her, and far harder on the Builders. But until she could find a way to get Rhysto permanently out of her life, Loretta would have to take her chances.

She opened the column in the middle of the floor and put the bags on the large scale hanging inside. Weights clinked into place above her head, enough to offset the load she was carrying now. Loretta closed the column and pushed the bronze button again.

When the floor moved down enough for the pantry lamp to light her way, she extinguished the lamp beside her. She made sure she had a good balance before she stepped onto the pieces of wood and pushed the button one more time. Loretta gazed at her Dragon as she and her few remaining deliveries ascended back into the light.

Chapter 12

The tendons in Karl's forearm ached from holding on so tightly, but he could only force himself to relax for a few minutes at a time. He'd made the trolley ride from the hectic train station to his old neighborhood hundreds of times. He knew every stop, every turn. The journey had never taken as long as today.

Over and over again, he stepped down, let others get on or off, and stepped back up so he could be close to the exit. He wasn't