Chapter 9

The sun hadn't even clipped over the horizon before someone banged at my bedroom door. I'd barely closed my eyes all night, unable to rest my mind enough to let it sleep. The plan rolled itself over and over again. Every step desired to be fine-tuned, flushed out, and foolproof.

"What the hells, Esme?" I rubbed my eyes to clear the haze of exhaustion.

"I need you to get something for me." The dark circles beneath the indentation of her welding goggles insisted she'd worked through the night as she promised.

"What is it?"

"Nonna's ring."

I frowned. "Did you ask her for it?"

She rolled her bloodshot eyes. "Of course not. She'd never give it to me after I've sworn off marriage. But you"—she gestured dramatically around me—"she'd let her favorite grandchild borrow it in a heartbeat."

"I'm not her favorite."

"That's highly debatable." Esme frowned. "Look. I'm very tired, and I need the ruby in her ring to help Bree make a portal. You wanted this done fast, and we figured it out—"

"Alright, alright." Saints, it was too early for this. "Just... wait here."

Nonna didn't have her ring anymore. I would know, because it was currently in my end table, next to my bed. On the same side Milla had made herself comfortable that night she slept in my room. Meanwhile, I had been on edge, worried she'd look in the drawer where I kept Nonna's engagement ring and spoil everything.

The ruby was still in its velvet box, sitting prominently in a gold setting. Its cut was exquisite. Nonna claimed my grandfather had worked his ass off for a year, saved every extra reole he had, to buy her the highest quality gem in the shop. Even by today's standards, it was an impressive piece of jewelry. The sentimental value, however, made it priceless.

I reluctantly strode back to the door to hand it to my cousin. "What do you need with it?"

She pulled the ring from the box and held it in the gas light lamps still alive in the hall. "We've been testing ways to bend the shadows to make a sort of projection instead of a contained portal. A mirror is most common, since it's large and has a solid plane to attach the shadows to. But something small enough to sneak by the Watch required a bit of brainstorming."

A kaleidoscope of colors refracted across the ceiling tiles.

"If light can be collected and projected," Esme explained, "perhaps the shadows can be as well. To do so, we needed a rather large gem that had enough cuts in it to form a large enough projection for you to pass through."

Science had never been a strength of mine. I nodded along anyway. "If it gets Milla back, it's worth risking."

"I promise it shall remain in one piece. Our grandmother will never even know it's gone." Esme smiled and pocketed the box. Turning to leave, she made it five paces down the hall before her quick steps slowed to a stop. "Hold on." She looked back at me over her shoulder. "Nico, why did you have Nonna's ring?"

The look on my face must have said enough. I sighed, that ache in my chest pulsing with the slow beat of my heart. "Just keep it safe, Esme."

She cleared her throat and answered with a quick nod, and I was thankful that, for once, she didn't prod for once.