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market or otherwise shopping, where they might not even notice a few coins missing, and if they did, might think they’d merely dropped them by accident or spent them without remembering.
    The second rule that served them well was that they were to stick to their own areas and never go off to steal in places they weren’t familiar with. Dagger assigned each an area and changed it weekly, so the normal residents in those neighborhoods wouldn’t start to recognize any of them. Danny was breaking that rule, too.
    Another rule pertained only to her and a few others, since their age and height marked them as no longer children. The logic was, the taller they were, the harder time they’d have reaching their hand into a pocket. So when they reached a certain height, they graduated into the “specific jobs only” class, which meant they did no stealing on their own, only jobs that Dagger sent them to do. Danny was definitely breaking that rule.
    Dagger had arrangements for these jobs with three taverns and one inn. And because Danny was very recognizable due to the color of her hair and eyes, Dagger no longer let her do any job other than “sleepers.” She’d never failed before, but then, she’d never walked into a deliberate trap before either.
    The trouble she was in pertained only to her though. If one of the other boys had been captured instead, she had no doubt Dagger would have called it an exception and been glad of the unexpected riches that would tide them over for quite a while. There would be pats on the back and a celebration. But because she was the one captured and forced to break the rules, Dagger’s attitude was going to be just the opposite—because he’d been looking for a reason to give her the boot.
    For over two years now, nearly three, she’d been on the outs with Dagger. Whereas they used to get along just fine, used to joke and laugh a lot, now it seemed that he despised her. He singled her out for reprimands every chance he got. He criticized her constantly, deserved or not. He couldn’t be more obvious that he wanted her gone, but she’d given him no reason to kick her out. Until now.
    She didn’t even know why he’d turned against her, but it had started about the time she’d surpassed him in height. It could just be that as leader, he figured he should be the tallest. But he wasn’t a tall man to begin with, only about five feet seven inches. And she was flamboyant in her dress, whereas Dagger was nondescript. This impressed the children. Many of them modeled themselves after her and came to her when they needed something.
    She supposed Dagger might be fearful that she wanted to take his place. She didn’t. She didn’t even like to steal herself, so she certainly didn’t want the responsibility of sending out others to do the same. She felt it was wrong, an ingrained feeling that she’d never been able to shake. But she hadn’t had much choice in the matter, living among thieves. However, she’d tried to subtly reassure Dagger that his position didn’t appeal to her, without actually discussing it, but it hadn’t seemed to help.
    She could lie to Dagger, say they’d carted her out of the tavern to take her to jail, but she’d managed to escape, that it just took her a long while to find her way back home. Dagger couldn’t kick her out just because she’d walked into a trap. She had to settle for that hope.
    Her distress stemmed not just from knowing what she’d have to face when she got home. It was also him, that Lord Malory. He’d disturbed her so much she couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe. But not only that, he frightened her to her core because he mesmerized her.
    Danny had never in her life imagined anyone could look like him. He wasn’t just handsome. His looks were so far beyond handsome, she simply couldn’t find a word to describe them. The closest she could come was beautiful, yet in a masculine way, which was a combination that was utterly