Zara's POV
The rope burns my palms as I hang from the rafters, seventy feet above the marble floor. One slip and I'm dead. But I don't slip. Thieves who slip don't survive in the Ashwastes.
Below me, the Grand Auction hall glitters with a thousand candles. Rich people in silk robes bid on magical artifacts like they're buying fruit at the market. They wave their hands lazily. "Five thousand coins." "Ten thousand." They don't even blink at numbers that could feed my entire neighborhood for a year.
I hate them.
My fingers find the signal stone in my pocket. Three clicks and Davos will cut the lights. Then I drop, grab the Phoenix Tear, and we disappear before anyone knows what happened. Simple. Clean. Perfect.
Except my hands are shaking.
"Zara." Davos's voice crackles through the communication crystal pressed against my ear. "You good up there?"
I close my eyes and breathe. "Yeah. I'm good."
I'm not good. This is the biggest job we've ever pulled. Eight years of smaller heists have led to this moment. The Phoenix Tear is worth three hundred thousand coins. Enough to buy Lyra out of debt slavery. Enough to get us out of the Ashwastes forever. Enough to finally have a life.
Davos and me. A real future. Maybe even a house with actual walls instead of canvas and hope.
"I love you," I whisper into the crystal.
"I love you too, Zar. Now let's get rich."
His confidence steadies me. Davos always knows what to do. That's why I trust him with my life. That's why I've followed him into every dangerous place for eight years. He's never let me down.
Below, the auctioneer—a fat man with rings on every finger—claps his hands. "And now, honored guests, the item you've all been waiting for!"
Two guards wheel out a glass case. Inside, sitting on red velvet, is the Phoenix Tear. It's a gem the size of my fist, glowing with inner fire. Orange and gold flames dance inside the crystal like a trapped sunset. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
It's also cursed. Stolen from an ancient temple. Soaked in the blood of everyone who's tried to own it. The Magistrate bought it last month from a grave robber. Spent a fortune on it.
Now it's going to be mine.
The bidding starts at fifty thousand coins. Within seconds, it climbs to one hundred thousand. Then two hundred. These people throw around money like water while kids in the Ashwastes starve in the streets.
My little sister Lyra is thirteen. She got sick two years ago and couldn't work off her debt to the medicine dealers. Now they own her. She cleans their floors, serves their food, and sleeps in a closet. Every night I don't steal enough, she goes hungry.
Not anymore. Tonight changes everything.
"Get ready," Davos says in my ear. "On my mark."
I shift my weight, preparing to swing down. My heart pounds so hard I think everyone below can hear it. The auctioneer raises his hammer. "Three hundred thousand coins! Going once—"
"Now!" Davos shouts.
Every light in the hall goes dark.
Screams erupt below. I let go of the rope and drop through the blackness. Wind rushes past my face. I count seconds. One. Two. Three. At four, I grab the swing rope Davos rigged earlier. It catches my weight and swings me toward the auction stage.
My boots hit the glass case. I smash it with my elbow. Glass shatters everywhere. My fingers close around the Phoenix Tear. It's warm. Almost hot. For a second, I swear it pulses like a heartbeat.
No time to think. I pull the gem to my chest and whistle—the signal for Davos to meet me at the east exit.
The lights flicker back on.
And that's when everything goes wrong.
Guards pour in from every door. Not just a few—dozens of them. Like they knew exactly when to come. Like they were waiting.
"There!" someone shouts. "The thief!"
I run. My boots pound against marble as I race toward the east exit where Davos should be waiting with our escape route. Guards chase me, their armor clanking. Someone shoots a spell that explodes near my feet. I jump, roll, keep running.
The east exit is ahead. I can see the door. Just twenty more steps.
But Davos isn't there.
"Davos!" I scream into the crystal. "Where are you?"
Static.
"Davos!"
Guards surround me. I spin, looking for a way out, but there's nowhere to go. My back hits the wall. Twenty swords point at my chest.
"Drop the artifact," the guard captain orders.
My mind races. Davos will come. He always comes. Any second now, he'll burst through those doors with a distraction and we'll escape like we always do. Any second.
"I said drop it!"
"No." I clutch the Phoenix Tear tighter. This is Lyra's freedom. This is everything.
"Then you'll die holding it."
The captain raises his sword.
"Stop!" A voice echoes through the hall. A voice I know better than my own.
The crowd parts. And Davos walks through.
Relief floods through me. "Thank god. I thought—"
Then I see her. The woman walking beside him, her hand tucked into his arm like she belongs there. Long dark hair. Beautiful face. Wearing a silk dress I could never afford.
Isla. My best friend since we were eight years old.
And she's wearing a ring. On her left hand. A ring that matches the one on Davos's finger.
Engagement rings.
"Davos?" My voice cracks. "What's happening?"
He looks at me with eyes that are suddenly cold. Empty. Like he never loved me at all. Like the past eight years were nothing.
"I'm sorry, Zara," he says. But he doesn't sound sorry. He sounds relieved. "But you're under arrest."
The Phoenix Tear slips from my fingers and hits the floor.
And the Magistrate himself steps forward, smiling like a wolf that just caught a rabbit.
"Zara Kahrim," he says. "You're charged with theft, conspiracy, and treason against the crown. The Phoenix Tear was found in your private quarters three days ago. We've been watching you ever since." He gestures to Davos. "Thanks to my new Chief of Security here, who's been documenting all your crimes for months."
The world tilts. The floor feels like it's disappearing beneath my feet.
"Davos," I whisper. "Tell them it's not true. Tell them—"
"It's all true." He won't look at me. "Every word. You're a criminal, Zara. You always have been. I was just gathering evidence."
Isla steps forward. My best friend. The girl I shared secrets with. The girl who slept in my house when her parents kicked her out. She looks at me with something like pity.
"I'm sorry," she says softly. "But you were never going to be anything more than a gutter rat. Some of us want better lives."
She kisses Davos on the cheek. He puts his arm around her waist.
And I realize the truth. They planned this. Together. Davos and Isla. They've probably been together for months. Maybe years. Using me. Waiting for the perfect moment to betray me.
Guards grab my arms. Chain my wrists.
"The sentence for treason," the Magistrate announces, "is death. You'll be executed at dawn in three days. Take her to the Scorched Cells."
They drag me away. I don't fight. I can't. My body won't move.
As they pull me through the crowd, I look back one last time.
Davos is kissing Isla. His hand is in her hair. He looks happier than I've ever seen him.
And something inside me—something that believed in love and trust and futures—dies.
The guard captain leans close to my ear as they throw me toward the prison carts. "Your sister Lyra sends her regards, by the way. We arrested her an hour ago. She's in the cell next to yours."
My head snaps up. "What? Lyra didn't do anything!"
He smiles. "She's collateral. Insurance to make sure you don't try anything stupid." He shoves me into the cart. "Sweet dreams, little thief."
The door slams shut. Through the bars, I watch Davos and Isla disappear into the crowd, hand in hand.
And I make a promise to myself in the darkness.
If I survive this, I will burn their entire world down.