“That’s it. You’ve done it to us this time, Jade!” Legend whispered harshly in my ear. I wanted nothing more than to push my unbearable little brother away from me, but if I did we’d be caught for sure.

“Keep quiet, idiot. We can still get through this.” I said even more harshly. Despite his usual doubts, he kept quiet and waited for my lead.

We crouched in the shadows of the rooftop overlooking the townhouse of the merchant we’d come to find. I gripped the edge of the slick roof while the endless rain fell off my water-resistant cloak. I peered through the rain and mist and watched the merchant’s vicious guard dogs circling the area.

They’ll never trace our scent. Not with the storm raging this hard. I thought to myself and smiled as they ran off snarling in the opposite direction. A moment later the light in the third-floor study went out.

“The storm is with us again.” I grinned at Legend while he shook his head.

A chill went down my spine just before a bolt of lightning lit up the sky — and some poor fool’s house. “That was the sign,” I whispered to Legend. I pulled my mask up to my eyes and started the climb down from the roof.

“You put way too much faith in the storm.” Legend grumbled as he scaled down after me.

Tarragon was a country that had been ravaged by an unending storm for the past sixty years, and civil war followed soon after the crops flooded. Now, the country was little more than a rain and mist-filled hell where only the strongest survived — or the most clever.

“She hasn’t let us down yet.” I reminded him. The bolt of lightning had ruined the night vision of the few men that were standing guard. That, combined with the low-hanging mist, made us all but disappear.

We scaled down the townhouse with ease from countless nights just like that one. I stopped when I reached the study window on the third floor and moved over so Legend could position himself in front of the window. “That’s rubbish, and you know it. The storm doesn’t take sides.”

I slid my hand into his pocket and handed him his lock pick set.“Hurry up, or I’ll shove you through.” I told him, even though we both knew I could never do it.

“Try it, and you’ll reach the ground a lot faster than you want to.” He gave me one of his boyishly charming winks and a smile before he slipped inside.

I rolled my eyes while fighting off a grin of my own and followed him into our mark’s home. Only to find the merchant waiting for us.

By sheer luck or the grace of the universe, the merchant didn’t notice us enter his study. Almost instantly after we entered the room, we merged with the shadows that covered the room.

It wasn’t long before I realized the reason the merchant hadn’t noticed us was that he was out cold in his chair. In one hand, he held a mug of some dark brown liquid while the other hung at his side.

I turned to my brother, and without a word needing to be said, we silently crept up to the sleeping merchant and carefully started searching the drawers on his desk.

“It isn’t here.” Legend said as he slid the last drawer closed. “Are you sure he wasn’t lying? It wouldn’t be the first time someone lied to us because we’re kids.”

He does have a point. I thought, but I had a good feeling about this tip. “It has to be here. Everything we’ve learned has led us to this man, and he never keeps anything of value anywhere other than his study.” I ran my fingers along his desk, searching for a hidden compartment, when I saw a glimmer of something shiny beneath his mostly unbuttoned shirt.

I nodded at Legend, and quick as a cat, he had the necklace unfastened from around the merchant’s fat neck. Dangling from the end was the ruby ring we’d been searching for the past month.

He dropped the ring in his pocket and we quietly made our way back to the window. I had just slid it open when the study door opened and the light came on.

“Master Baldin, Mistress was wondering if you intended to retire soon.” I turned around and locked eyes with who I assumed was the butler coming to check on his master.

As soon as he realized who we were his eyes became hard as steel. “Guards! Guards! Thieves in the study!”

“No use being quiet now.” Legend said before he vaulted out the window and scaled down the building.

I was out the window and on my way after him before the butler reached the window. “Don’t let them escape!”

We sprinted around the building only to find the dogs heading our way. I grabbed my brother and pulled him against the building, where we crouched into the shadows. The dogs ran right by, unable to track us in the raging storm.

After they’d passed we scaled the building to the roof while the merchant’s guards continued to search the courtyard.

“Let’s see it then!” Legend said excitedly.

“I don’t hear you complaining about my plan now!” I gloated as I pulled out the ring. In the center was a giant ruby surrounded by emerald gemstones. 

“We haven’t gotten away yet, have we?” Just then, the sky erupted with another round of deafening thunder, and the wind picked up dramatically. While the merchant guard dogs whimpered and ran for cover and his men ran for the safety of their lord’s manor, we stood tall in the only shelter we’d ever known.

“Don’t you dare say it.” Legend growled as the lightning cleared and the shadows of the rooftop returned. Quickly and quietly, we disappeared through the shadows until the merchant’s manner was far behind us.

“Well, if it isn’t the Storm Twins. Only you two would be stupid enough to pull a job on the most dangerous night of the year.”

Sebastian was easily the most annoying man the boss kept around. Every time I saw his leering gaze I felt my skin crawl.

“What you mean is, you wish you had the balls to pull off a job like that,” Gene told him before giving us a wink as we walked by them onto the compound. “Welcome back, kids.” Gene was the only mercenary who didn’t look at us like they wanted to gut and rob us.

“We won’t be staying long,” I told her with a grim smile.

This time, he’ll tell us what we want to know.

After passing through the main entrance, we walked into the large foyer, where two men were waiting to escort us to the man we came to see. 

The entire compound had the feel of a fortress there were so many mercenaries around. That was because Andrea, “The Ruthless,” or Master Andrea if you were smart, controlled the largest network of mercenaries in Tarragon. It was also said there was no one he couldn’t find.

Which is what brought us to the master assassin’s door.

Our silent escort led us through corridors where many of the mercenaries were training, eating, gambling, or just fighting until we reached a pretentious set of double doors with two brass knockers.

One of the overpaid bodyguards knocked twice and waited for the men inside to open the door. A dark-skinned man with a scar on his chin opened the door and briefly looked us up and down before turning his head around and calling in a deep voice, “Boss, those kids you sent after the ring actually survived.”

He stepped out of the way and let us into the library where the assassin spent the majority of his time.

When he’s not killing people. I tossed the thought from my mind and looked at my brother but from the way he scanned the room for exits, I could tell he was thinking the same.

It doesn’t matter. We can’t turn back now. Not when we’re so close. I told myself as we approached the intimidatingly large man with a serial killer’s smile. 

“Jade! Legend! I must say, after you told me about your plan to break into the Arch Merchant’s manor, I didn’t expect to see you again!”

“Now you see why everyone calls them the Storm Twins.” The scarred man chuckled from in front of the door.

“Do you have the information or not?” I blurted out in frustration. Nothing aggravated me more than that stupid nickname.

Master Andrae’s smile vanished and was replaced by a glare that was made more eerie by the flashes of light that shined on him from the lightning strikes outside the window.

“What my sister meant to say is, we have what you asked for.” He pulled out a cloth from his pocket and unwrapped the ring.

The assassin’s anger faded as quickly as it came when he laid his eyes on the ruby ring that was said to have belonged to the first prince of our kingdom.

He reached his hand out for it, but Legend quickly put it back in his pocket. “Did you find her?”

Andrae snapped his fingers, and the scarred assassin sprinted across the room for my brother. He was fast, but the room was big, and he was on the other side. I crouched down and stuck my leg out just as he passed me, sending him sprawling to the ground. I kicked him in the face and turned around to see Andrea holding a gun pointed at my head.

“You’re as hot-tempered as I remember. Now, give me the ring.” Legend clenched his fist as if he intended to fight his way out.

No. No matter what, we have to live. We have to hang on until we find her. I told myself. “Give him the ring.”

Legend looked at me as if I’d grown wings. “But, Jade-”

“Give him the ring!” I snapped at him. I swallowed my fear and looked the assassin in the eyes. “I have a good feeling about this,” I said in a surprisingly even voice.

Reluctantly, Legend handed the ring over to the assassin while the scarred man got to his feet with murder in his eyes. He took three steps toward me before his master brought him to heel.

“I only wanted to make sure it was real.” Master Andrae said with another sinister grin. “I found the woman you were looking for, Lillian English.” 

The hair on my arms stood up as I watched his smile become even more like something out of a nightmare. “The woman you’re looking for is a slave in Tarragon City.”

“You’re lying!” Legend yelled, refusing to believe it.

“You think so, do you? Well, You’d better get used to reality kid, because I sold her there myself not a week before you two showed up at my door.”

“You-you knew. You knew this entire time where our mother was, and you never told us.” My voice was barely above a whisper as I took in every heartbreaking detail. For years, we’d been searching for our mother after we’d been taken from her by mercenaries who raided our village.

Legend and I were lucky enough to use the time when Tarragon’s constant storm was at its worst to escape them, though most of the other children with us weren’t as lucky. We returned to our village, but it was nothing but ashes. Everyone had been taken.

We promised each other that we’d do whatever it took her, and we’d never been so close.

“Why would I tell you for nothing? Information is power, little girl; you had better learn that quickly.”

My brother fell to his knees with a look of utter hopelessness in his misty eyes. Think, Jade, there has to be a way! There has to be something you can do! You can’t let it end like this!

I knew what we had to do.

“You’ll have to buy her back,” I said with all the confidence I didn’t feel but couldn’t let him see.

He turned to me with a glint in his eye, like a cat playing with a mouse before its meal. “Why on earth would I do something like that? I sold her because she was prone to rebellion, and despite her beauty, you’d have to be suicidal to force her into your bed. I have no use for a woman like that.”

I put my hand on my brother’s shoulder, and his back instantly straightened. He rose to his feet dry-eyed. “We’ll buy her freedom from you.” You couldn’t tell from his voice, or by the way he addressed a man who could kill him without even thinking about it, that he was only eleven years old.

The assassin who controlled the underworld of Tarragon reclined in his chair and grinned coyly at us. “What you’re asking won’t be cheap. I’ll have to pay more than double what I sold her for.”

“Name your price.” I fired back.

Andrae smiled again and pretended to think for a moment. “200,000 jubles should just about cover it.”

My heart sank when I heard the number. I had no idea where we were going to get that kind of money, but I knew we didn’t have a choice. “We’ll find a way to get it,” I told him.

“I had a feeling you’d say that. Which is why I took the liberty of buying her back as soon as I learned who she was.”

“You..wanted this to happen?” Legend asked, growing confused.

“I wasn’t lying when I told you I didn’t plan to see you again. I had every intention of feeding her to my sharks. But this, this, is a much better idea.

“You two have made quite the name for yourselves. You’ve managed to steal from some powerful people on your little adventure to find mommy.”

“How long do we have?” I asked, forcing my voice passed the lump in my throat.

“I’m a generous man, so I’ll give you one year from today. However, if you fail to come up with the money in time, then you two little thieves will join my crew. What do you say, kids, do we have a deal?”

Legend and I looked at each other, and we knew we didn’t have a choice. We both nodded to the assassin and headed for the door.

“Oh, and in case you were thinking about running out on me when the year’s up, just remember, there’s no one I can’t find.”

“Where are we going now?” Legend asked me once we’d made it back to our horses outside of the compound.

“Well, the longer we take to get the money, the longer Mamma’s forced to stay there with him. So I say, we go after something worth 200,000 jubles.”

He nodded in agreement until he caught on to what I had in mind. “Please tell me you’re not planning what I think you are.”

“Relax,” I told him as we kicked our horses into a gallop and took off into the stormy flooded plains. “I have a good feeling about this.”