Page 52 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

He smirks. “Thanks.”

“Shall we?” I gesture to the ticket counter.

He buys us tickets, popcorn for Ruby, and a box of snowcaps for me. I pocket them and follow them into the theater. Sebastian negotiates his way between Ruby and me, and under normal circumstances I might be worried.

Instead, I check my phone and do my best dramatic gasp.

“What?” Ruby asks.

“I’m so sorry. Family emergency.” I rise, frowning. “This was fun, but I’ve got to go.”

Sebastian half stands. “Do you need a ride—?”

“No, thanks.” I pat his shoulder and get the hell out of there.

Once I’m outside the theater, I dig his keys out. He didn’t notice me take them when I ‘fell’ into him, and didn’t think to even check for them while he paid. That was the riskiest part, but now I’m free and clear.

And I have a vehicle.

My fascination with cars has to be understandable, right?

Metal and glass and plastic, all put together with some gasoline, seemingly indestructible. But they’re not.

Anyway, I’ve stolen Theo’s cars more than once. Gotten into trouble a handful of times by my grandparents, worse by my parents when they found out. There was the time I crashed my dad’s car…

So, sliding behind the wheel of Sebastian’s Audi doesn’t feel wrong—it’s the opposite. I lock myself in and release my breath, taking a moment to appreciate the purr of the engine. I adjust everything: the seat, the mirrors, the height of the steering wheel. I change his preset radio stations to my favorites, clear his saved GPS locations.

This is the first time I’ve relaxed in seven days.

Since I kissed Theo and everything shifted.

I narrow my eyes. My plan isn’t to go marching up to Theo and demand he pay attention to me. My plan is to make him come to me. As we’ve always done, time and again. Our push-and-pull will be the death of me, one way or another. I may as well stop fighting it.

And fucking with Sebastian just seems like a grand idea, with three days left until their bet expires.

I find Theo’s street and spot his car. I scout the windows of the brownstones, wondering which one he lives in. I was able to narrow it down, obviously, but he didn’t let me in.

With a sigh, I park Sebastian’s car in a grocery store lot a few blocks away and lock the keys in it. I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to get it back—it’s got GPS enabled, anyway, and he’s surrounded by Devereuxs. If he can’t afford to find it, Ruby or Hale can.

I hop out and pull my hood up, slinking into the shadows. No use going to all this trouble just to get caught on the store’s shady security camera.

My nerves are on red alert when I reach Theo’s car. I run my finger along the passenger side, eyeing the lit-up windows. If he catches me, I’m dead.

Nothing comes between Theo and his cars—nothing except me. When I want something, or need something, or am feeling extra ornery.

I put a dish of hardboiled eggs under his seat once. They’d been left to sit in the sun for most of the day, and then trapped in his warm car. He had been particularly upset with me, even threatening to leave and never return.

Joke’s on him. He left, but he did come back.

That’s what I focus on as I open the driver’s door. The alarm shrieks, lights flashing. I quickly duck down and fumble with the keys. It only takes me a few seconds to shut the alarm off. I close myself in the car and stay low, holding my breath.

Adrenaline pumps through me, and I grin. If I’m going to get caught, it’ll be now. When people are drawn by the noise, hunting for it. People are predictable with their worries: that the alarm could be their car. That someone’s stealing it.

Theo knows I still have his spare key—knows, but seems to have forgotten about it. He might just not care that I have it. Either way… I start the car, and it roars to life. I let out a little whoop and fix the seat, the mirrors, then get the hell out of dodge.

Lucy Page—car thief.

Sebastian will find his car. Hell, he might be pissed.

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