Bean Works had transformed for its evening clientele. The cheerful daytime bustle had given way to a more subdued atmosphere, with the lighting dimmed and the seating rearranged to create intimate conversation nooks.

  "There she is," Brakar murmured. "With her team."

  Thadan nodded. "Let me handle this. Professional courtesy and all that."

  Rytha herself didn't look up from her maps. "Brightsteel. Caneca. To what do I owe the displeasure?"

  Thadan flashed his most charming smile. "Evening, Rytha. Hope we're not interrupting anything important."

  "You are," she replied flatly, still focused on the parchment. "State your business or leave."

  "We need to talk," Brakar said. "It's about the mimics."

  That got her attention. Rytha finally lifted her gaze, studying them both with unnervingly intense eyes. After a moment's consideration, she gestured to her companions. "Vess, Pez, give us a few minutes. Check the perimeter."

  "Sit," she commanded, rolling up the charts. "And explain what kind of trouble you've managed to find yourselves in now."

  They complied, Thadan launching into an explanation of the strange events plaguing their business—the malfunctioning mimics, the missing inventory, and Vermil's unexpected information about the Wellington Estate. Brakar watched Rytha's reactions carefully, noting how her skin darkened to a deep indigo when they mentioned the theft.

  "We need to investigate the Wellington Estate," Thadan said. "As soon as possible—maybe tomorrow night? But their security is tight."

  Understanding dawned in Rytha's expression. "Ah. So you need my shadow abilities to sneak onto a heavily guarded noble compound in the dead of night, potentially angering one of the most powerful families in Ironweave." She leaned back, crossing her arms. "I'm a hunter, not a spy. Breaking into noble estates is outside my usual services."

  "But not outside your capabilities," Thadan countered. "And whoever is behind this might be planning something potentially dangerous. Aren't you at least curious about what they're doing?"

  Before she could respond, Naia stood in front of them, her wings unfurled in agitation, with Miles right behind her. Both looked out of breath and deeply distressed.

  "They're gone," Naia gasped. "Every last one."

  "What?" Thadan's voice was barely audible.

  "The mimics," Miles explained, his normally precise tone shaking. "All of them. We were organizing the inventory, and I went to check on a formula component in the cellar. When I came back up, Naia was unconscious and every single mimic was missing."

  "Even the display pieces?" Brakar asked, his mind struggling to process the catastrophe.

  Miles nodded. "Gone without a trace."

  Tears formed in Thadan's eyes, a reaction so unexpected that Brakar momentarily forgot his own shock. In all their years of friendship, through dungeon collapses and monster attacks, he had never seen Thadan cry.

  "Son of a bitch," Brakar cursed, slamming his fist on the table hard enough to make the coffee cups jump.

  Rytha's eyes widened, her skin flashing to a surprised turquoise. She glanced between them, clearly startled by the reversal of their typical emotional responses—Thadan showing vulnerability while Brakar displayed anger.

  "I thought it would be the other way around," she said to herself.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Thadan quickly wiped his eyes, composing himself with visible effort. "Naia, Miles, you both should go home. Get some rest. There's nothing more you can do tonight."

  "But we can help search," Naia protested. "I've already alerted the night watch, but they said they can't spare anyone until morning."

  "Of course they can't," Thadan said bitterly.

  "We want to help," Miles insisted. "This is our business too, in a way."

  Thadan shook his head firmly. "No. You've both done enough for today. This situation could be dangerous, and I won't risk either of you getting hurt. Please, go home. We'll handle this."

  They continued to protest, but Thadan remained resolute. Eventually, after extracting promises that they would be updated first thing in the morning, Naia and Miles reluctantly departed.

  As soon as they left, Vess and Pez returned, curiosity evident in their expressions.

  "Trouble?" Vess asked, her hand instinctively resting on the pommel of her sword.

  "More mimics have been stolen," Rytha explained, her skin now a determined deep blue. "All of them."

  Pez whistled through his teeth. "That's a substantial heist. Those things aren't easy to transport, especially in numbers."

  "Which means whoever took them has resources and knowledge," Rytha agreed. She turned back to Brakar and Thadan. "I'll help you."

  "Thank you," Brakar said sincerely.

  "Don't thank me yet." Her expression was grim. "I'm not doing this out of charity. Nobles stealing from small businesses is nothing new, but this level of coordination suggests a larger purpose."

  "We'll pay you, of course," Thadan began, but she waved him off.

  "We'll discuss compensation after we know what we're dealing with." She glanced at Vess and Pez. "Are you two in?"

  Vess nodded immediately. "Been too long since we had a proper mission."

  "Besides," Pez added with a grin, "Rytha gets territorial about hunting grounds. If someone starts hunting mimics in her preferred dungeons, she’ll be impossible to live with until it’s sorted out."

  Her skin flushed briefly to an annoyed pink before settling back to blue. "We'll need a plan. The estate is crawling with guards, and we can't afford to be caught trespassing."

  "Reconnaissance only," Brakar agreed. "We just need to confirm if our mimics are there."

  "And then what?" Vess asked, leaning forward. "The authorities won't be much help against nobility."

  "One problem at a time," Thadan said, his voice regaining its usual confidence despite the redness around his eyes. "First we find our mimics. Then we decide how to get them back."

  She gave an approving dip of her head. "Smart. Let's focus on the immediate objective." Rytha spread a map of the city on the table. "The property is here, bordered by the Silverleaf Gardens to the north and the Highmarket Square to the east. Main entrance is heavily patrolled, but there's a service gate on the western wall."

  "That matches what Vermil told us," Brakar noted. "He specifically mentioned deliveries through that staff gate."

  "The wall itself is around eight feet high, with iron spikes on top," she continued. "Guards patrol the perimeter every twenty minutes, but they're predictable—more concerned with looking imposing than providing actual security."

  "How do you know so much about the estate's security?" Thadan asked, impressed.

  "Research, coupled with the fact that all these noble houses are all the same," she replied. "I make it a point to understand defensive patterns in every district. You never know when such information might be useful."

  She continued outlining what she knew of the Wellington property—guard rotations, likely places where stolen goods might be stored, potential escape routes if they were discovered. Brakar found himself increasingly grateful for her methodical approach. This was clearly not her first covert operation.

  "Vess will trigger a distraction at the main gate to draw the guards away. When they respond, we’ll move to the service entrance," Rytha said, pointing at a sketched map of the estate. "Thadan and Brakar, you're coming with me, but you stay close and do exactly what I say. If I tell you to freeze, you freeze. If I tell you to run, you run. No improvising. Pez will stay outside as our lookout. If he signals trouble, we abort and regroup immediately at the rendezvous point. No hesitation, even if we’re separated. We move tomorrow night at 11:00 PM. That gives us time to gather equipment and prepare mentally." She eyed their merchant attire critically. "And please buy something less conspicuous. You look like walking targets."

  With the plan laid out, Vess and Pez left. Brakar lingered near the edge of the table, fidgeting with a loose thread on his sleeve, while Thadan watched the door they'd just exited through. Rytha stayed behind. "I'm surprised," she admitted quietly. "When your friends burst in with news of the theft, I expected you to fall apart," she nodded at Brakar, "and you to rage," she indicated Thadan. "Instead, it was the opposite."

  Thadan managed a wry smile. "We contain multitudes."

  "Apparently." She studied them both with new interest. "Perhaps I've underestimated you."

  "A common mistake," he replied, some of his usual bravado returning.

  "Don't make me regret helping you, Ginedras."