Luca stared at her, open-mouthed. Then he went to pull the nearby security alarm. Seven lunged before she thought about it. She grabbed Luca by the shirt and shoved him into the nearest closet, ignoring his muffled protests. Luca shoved back, and Seven felt at least some of his strength and size—before her Luck kicked in and she shoved him back into the wall and shut the door, plunging them both into darkness.

  The air shifted nearby as Luca lunged for the door, but Seven grabbed the nearest broom and pinned him against the wall, wincing at the grunt of pain that left his lips.

  Light blossomed nearby, and Pocket peeked his glowing head out just in time to see Luca’s pained face, the broomstick pinning him there, and Seven on the other side, both panting.

  “Bad timing,” Pocket whispered. “I’ll, uh, just stay over here.”

  “Seven, what the hell is wrong with you?” Luca snapped, still shoving against the broomstick. Seven’s palm glowed faintly against the wood. She stared at it for a moment, shocked, but was forced to focus on Luca again as he lunged. She shoved him back into the wall, a little too viciously.

  “You were going to pull the alarm,” she hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Of course I was going to pull the alarm,” he said, still struggling against the broom. “Are you insane? How did you even get in here?”

  “A keycard, same as you.”

  “They don’t give janitors keycards to that door,” Luca said, grunting as he shoved against the broom again. “The only people I’ve ever seen go through that door are corporate born and bred, so either you’re a spy, a mole, or you’re breaking in. Regardless, I don’t want any part of it.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” she said, thinking fast. “Because I’m not letting you out until you agree to stay with me, and I’m certainly not letting you pull the alarm.”

  Luca laughed, the thing bitter and slightly nervous. “Who do you think you are? House Veil?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he looked her in the eye again, studying her, mouthing the words. Shit, Seven thought. She knew she should have done something different with her hair, her face, her…her anything, really. It was a miracle that most people hadn’t already looked through the dirt and mud of the mines on her face to find Seven lurking below.

  Don’t connect the dots, she pleaded silently. But she saw recognition in Luca’s eyes and knew it was too late. The words left his mouth, and she couldn’t help but wince visibly. “You are House Veil,” he whispered in wonder. “The hair, the eyes…” He trailed off, then frowned. “But I don’t recognize the face.” Then, his face went completely pale in the dark. “Luck take me, I’ve been arguing with House Veil. You’re…you’re royalty.”

  He tried to bow, even with the broomstick against his chest, and Seven swore violently. “Stop that,” she hissed. “Seriously, stop.”

  “But you’re—“

  “It doesn’t matter what I am,” she whispered. “What matters is that you don’t turn me in, Luca. I do have a job to do here—an important one.” Let him think what he wanted about House Veil if it would get her past him without an issue. Let him bow to her foolish family if only he’d let her pass without raising a fuss. For once, maybe, her family name could serve as a boon instead of a curse.

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  “LMC stole something from me,” she continued, her voice level and measured—not the softer, slang-filled accent she’d picked up in Veilhome over the years, but the careful diction of a ruler. The same tones of her father and mother. “I intend to get it back, one way or another.”

  Luca’s eyes went wide, then narrowed all at once. “If you’ll forgive me saying so,” he said, “This is probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.”

  “I threw myself down a mineshaft yesterday with you.”

  “Second dumbest.”

  “I palmed a dice once.”

  He flinched at that, making the sign against evil across his chest. “Top five, easily. My point stands. Can you let me go now?”

  Seven considered, then shook her head. “You’re coming with me. If you work here after hours, you’ll know the layout of the place, and besides that, I don’t trust you not to rat me out—House Veil or not.”

  Luca frowned at that. “I wouldn’t rat you out.”

  “Maybe not now,” she agreed, “but if my royal status is the only thing keeping you from doing it, you’ll have to earn my trust.”

  Luca sighed, then nodded. “As long as you promise we’ll be done soon—I’ve got mandatory training tomorrow morning.”

  Seven smiled, then loosened her grip on the broom, still wary of Luca lunging. But, well, he seemed sincere. “I need Cheryl’s office,” she said, stepping over a few dustpans on the ground. “Can you show me the way?”

  “Of course,” Luca said, following her. “I can smell the cheap perfume from here.”

  ***

  Luca was good as his word. Whether because some sort of tenuous trust had formed between them that night in the mines, or because Seven was royalty, she couldn’t be sure. But she was grateful for his presence at her side as they wove through the labyrinthine hallways of corporate’s HQ, a maze of offices, break rooms, and meeting rooms, all shining in stark white lighting stabilized by the dice overhead.

  With Luca’s directions, their pace was fast, and Seven was beginning to doubt she would have made it in and out of the building in time without his help. She didn’t touch her spelunker dice at all, but there was something strange about the locked storage rooms of the building; each hummed with the undeniable power of dice that would have rivaled some of the best ones in the palace.

  She’d felt dice before, in the sort of way one felt the heat of a fireplace nearby. Yet she’d never felt them quite so strongly as here. Even the palace’s stores paled in comparison to whatever LMC was storing here in the winding corridors of their headquarters, and it was all Seven could do to tear herself away from each room.

  It’s for the best, she told herself as she jogged down a hallway with Luca, past another room full to bursting with dice that might have changed her life. She had the card to access the room, of course, but what good would it do if Luca saw the extent of her powers—or worse, decided he’d had enough of corporate espionage? She had a feeling—given his increasingly agitated face—that he was only helping her now because she was the victim. The moment LMC became one was probably the moment he would pull the alarm again.

  As they jogged down another hallway and into a fine sitting area with leather couches and a snack bar, Seven whispered to Pocket: “Watch him,” she said. “Pancakes later.”

  Pocket flashed a few colors—probably in excitement—and hopped from her pocket to land on the couch nearby as Luca gestured at a door and bent over to catch his breath. “Cheryl’s there,” Luca said. “Jom Rook next door.”

  Seven couldn’t help it—she asked. “What about the other Rook? The one who owns the mines?”

  Luca frowned at that, straightening to push sweaty hair from his face. “I’ve never seen him here. I think I’d recognize it—he made the deal with my family that landed me here.”

  “He what?”

  Luca waved her off. “Long story. I’ll share later, assuming you don’t get me thrown into the deep sector by the end of the night.”

  Seven nodded slowly, though she was itching to ask Luca more questions. Still, she had a job to do—and a card to recover. She inched over to Cheryl’s door and swiped her keycard.

  The door creaked open. The light flooded the hallway.

  And Seven screamed.

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