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Lady Camilla sat behind her desk inside her home office. She held a sketchbook and a pencil, wanting to draw. But her mind was elsewhere. Stella's corpse haunted her. She remembered when the nurses told her Stella had died. She had cried, screamed, and broken things. When she calmed down, she contacted Michael. He had ears all over the city and associated with people who knew magic users.

An hour after their conversation, Michael had sent a witch to the hospital. She had warned Lady Camilla about using a demon to revive her daughter. There would be consequences, the witch had assured. What were they? The witch never revealed. But she had implied the effects would fall on Stella and not Lady Camilla.

If it was legitimate, this worried Lady Camilla. I overheard her speak to herself. Has the demon presented itself to her?

She didn't know much about Dark Arts, but her deceased husband had studied it. And every night, he would provide her bits of information about it. One of them was it could bring someone back to life through demonic magic.

I wish you were here, Tomas. I require your guidance now more than ever.

She turned to her left and regarded a picture of her Tomas hung on the blue wall. He was smiling as he stood between her and Stella, his hands on their shoulders.

I remember when we took that picture; it was the day of our anniversary. Stella had a stomach ache, and we had to cancel dinner midway so that we could accompany her to the hospital.

She then looked at the next framed photo on the wall. It presented Tomas on his deathbed, holding Stella's hand. They had cried after the doctor revealed Tomas had a week to live.

Cancer. Lady Camilla sighed, then scratched her forehead. Tomas had refused revitalization, claiming he wanted to see if he would end up in Heaven or Hell. You were stubborn; that's why I loved you. She rubbed off the tears streaming down her face.

A knock came on the door.

"Come in," she said.

An older man in oil-stained overalls and a straw hat walked in. He hadn't waited for her to speak, taking the chair opposite Lady Camilla. "Are you all right, Pa'ner?" he asked, staring at her with wicked eyes.

After leaving Stella's room, a servant had approached Lady Camilla with urgent news. A man from Sin City had claimed to know who stole the wings and sought an audience with her. But he had refused to divulge the information unless she arranged a tour of her home. Lady Camilla ordered the servant to show him the living room and kitchen, then take him to her home office. She would wait there.

"Indeed." She cleared her throat. "What do you know about the thief?"

He crossed his arms. "I know who he is, Pa'ner."

"And?"

"And..." He stared at the jaw of Furz on the desk. They were small, round, brown sweets made from sugar, roasted coffee beans, and cat feces. They were rare and expensive, making it one of the most in-demand desserts in the world.

Lady Camilla noticed the old codger licking his lips as he stared at the sweets. She opened the jar, grabbed a handful of Furz, and handed them to him.

"Much obliged, Pa'ner." He chewed some and stored the rest in his overalls' front pocket.

"Now, can you tell me who–"

"I need," he rubbed his fingers together, "coins, Pa'ner." He laughed.

"I understand." She nodded. "How much would you like?"

"A pouch of silver, Pa'ner." He smiled, revealing the gaps in his teeth.

"I possess something better." She opened her desk's drawer and took out five gold coins, handing them to him. "That's more generous, right?"

"Yes, Pa'ner." He bit each coin. "They are real too." He looked shocked. "Forgive me, Pa'ner, I've received fake ones countless times. I had to make sure."

"No problem. You never divulged your name to me."

"The name's Old Man Booty, Pa'ner."

Lady Camilla chuckled. "Old Man Booty, please describe what you know of the thief."

"He has white hair. Chestnut eyes, if not brown. It was pitch-dark. I couldn't see clearly. Slender body and–"

"Why does it sound like you encountered him?"

"I did. He fell from the sky with his Pa'ner. But honestly, I think it was his ex-girl. He looked disappointed when he found out she had run away from him." He shook his head. "Kids these days; they get girls with nice round booties, and they let them go. If it was me, back in my day, well, you know me–"

"I'll stop you right there, Old Man Booty." Lady Camilla wasn't interested in his thoughts. She perceived what he would declare. Most men his age supported his sentiments. She opened her sketchbook and set her pencil on the blank white paper. "Now, tell me his description again." She drew as Old Man Booty spoke. When she finished, she revealed the image to him.

"That's him, Pa'ner." He said in excitement. "You're a splendid drawer."

"Much appreciated." She appreciated the compliment. She loved drawing. It was something dear to her heart. She had tried teaching Stella, but the girl cared about urging boys to worship her. It was her fault, though. "What is his name?"

"Funny you should ask, Pa'ner."

Please, don't recite one of your stories again. Lady Camilla sighed in frustration. All she wanted was the thief's name.

"I embarked on my short-lived adventure to find out about the white-haired man. Or, in your case, Pa'ner, the thief. I realized the wings he asked for–which his ex-girl had fled with–had to be from Virtue City. And I was accurate. I went to the brothels because the wenches are the first ones to know everything going on in the country. They said a white-haired man had spoken about stealing from you before getting paid."

Before getting paid? "Someone hired him. Someone who knew I possessed the wings." it could be one of the heads of the Founding Families or Michael. King Solomon is out of the equation. That leaves Michael, my right-hand man. Nash, my adversary. Lin, my crucial supporter. And Ibrahim, a kind soul.

"Pa'ner, don't you want to know about the ex-girl."

Lady Camilla looked at him. "Ex-girl?"

"Yes, Pa'ner. She had freckles and nice round booty." He moistened his lips, his eyes glowing with impure thoughts.

Freckles? She opened her sketchbook, flipped to the following page, and showed him a drawing. "Is this the woman you saw?" Stella had described what her attacker looked like before she left for the basement.

"Yes, Pa'ner."

I was accurate about them working together. Lady Camilla bit the tip of her pencil. Someone hired them to steal the wings and kill Stella. I can think of one person who would go to such lengths to hurt me.

Lady Camilla stayed silent, having figured it out. After she apprehended the two, she would torture them until they gave up their hirer. Even though she had concluded who it was, she wanted to be sure. Accusing a leader of The Founding Families without proof was punishable by death. And she was walking on a thin line after using magic to revive Stella.

"What is the thief's name?" she asked.

"Don. He steals from the rich in other cities. People in Archaic know him."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Lady Camilla answered. A guard–the one who had escorted Stella to the basement–walked in. "Henry, what do you need?"

"Stella got a name and address from John, Duchess," he replied.

Lady Camilla looked at Old Man Booty. "Thank you for the information. Have a safe trip to Sin City."

Old Man Booty stood. "We will meet again." He bowed. "Until next time, Pa'ner." He left.

Lady Camilla waited until the door closed before asking Henry, "What's the woman's name?"

"Sky."

"Stella made John confess?"

"Yes, Duchess."

Is this the change the witch implied? Is Stella capable of doing things she didn't have the stomach for before? Lady Camilla smiled, then wrote Don and Sky's names below their drawings on the sketchbook. She tore off the papers and handed them to Henry. "Place an unlimited bounty on them. And add it comes with a free residency and an outstanding job in Virtue City. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Duchess."

"Spread them throughout Sin City. Don't miss any streets or corners."

Henry had nodded before leaving.

Lady Camilla sat behind her desk, grinning. At long last, she had identified the thief and attacker. It wouldn't take long before they got caught and delivered to her.

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