Chapter2

Legs dangling over the side of the canal, Scipio pulled a banana out of his backpack. The markets were just starting to get busy in Venice, and when they did he would begin his life as the Thief Lord. His stomach tightened into a tiny knot at the thought of stealing things for real. He had already made the mistake of lying that he was a thief, but now he was going to be a thief. A real one.

Finishing off the banana, a gang across the canal caught Scipio's attention. The canal wasn't wide so he was able to get a good look at everyone. To anyone on the street they would have looked immediately like thieves, but Scipio knew better.

They wore baggy clothes with joints sticking out of the corners of their mouths. They only pretended to be thieves when in real life they were fat spoiled kids who got meals made by their mothers. Scipio was about to turn away from them when someone else in the group caught his eye, someone who didn't seem to belong.

It was a girl.

She was a skinny girl with long, wavy blonde hair wearing a fantastic bright red coat that was made up entirely of pockets. Her tiny waist was wrapped around with one of the boys and she was laughing loudly with them. Scipio watched her for a moment, wondering what she was doing with them, when suddenly the girl's hand slipped into the pocket of one of the boy's jackets. Out her hand came with what looked like a wallet and she slipped it into one of her own pockets.

Scipio's mouth dropped. She was a thief!

Just then the girl's porcelain face was staring at Scipio, a tiny smile perched on her peach lips. She nudged her head, signaling to Scipio she wanted him to come over. Scipio hesitated, wondering what she could possibly be up to. At the girl's second head nudge, Scipio jumped to his feet and crossed the bridge, approaching the group. Their voices lowered into nothing the closer they got, and circle formed a line so the six of them could face Scipio.

"Wha' you want?" the one with his arm around the girl said gruffly (he also happened to be the biggest one there).

Scipio froze, because he wasn't sure what he was doing there. He looked at the girl, hopefully to get some sort of answer, but his only response was a wink from her grey eyes. Letting out a sigh, he decided to just go for it. He was a thief after all; they're supposed to have some fun.

"Yeah, this is my girl you're with," he snapped back, "so get your arm out from around her or else."

The biggest one in the group let out a laugh. "Or else?" With that, he took a step forward to take a swing at Scipio's head. Scipio just ducked in time, only to get smacked in the back by someone else in the group. He covered his head, sure that he was going to get beaten to death when the girl suddenly spoke up.

"Hey now," she said, her voice calm and smooth, "this is just ridiculous." She walked toward Scipio and helped him up.

"Gabriella," the big one spoke again, "what do you think you're doing? Get your ass back over here."

Gabriella gave him a wicked look, her eyes almost seeming to turn a darker shade of grey. "Don't you tell me what to do! I can't help it if this boy is more attractive than any of you bastards." She let out a cackle as the group of boys were about to jump on Scipio and her. Grapping Scipio's hand, the two of them began to run at full speed with the gang following them.

"What the hell was that?" Scipio gasped as he ran after her, "Were you trying to get me killed back there?"

"Hey, you were the one who walked over," shot back Gabriella as she glanced over her shoulder. The two of them were smaller and faster than any members of the gang. "I needed some sort of distraction to get away from them and you happened to be just that."

They ducked into an alleyway behind a dumpster. Couching on the ground, they both took in deep breaths until their hearts were at a normal pace. "I'm sure you could have just walked away from them if you wanted to," Scipio scowled.

Instead of responding, Gabriella just shot him a warning glance. "You don't know who those guys are?" she asked a moment's pause. Scipio shook his head, feeling like he was some little kid. "They call themselves the Bloodhounds. You don't want to mess with them."

Scipio rolled his eyes. "Please, if you can hang around them I'm sure I can."

Gabriella just shook her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She paused, "Besides, I know what I'm doing. I'm a thief in case you didn't realize."

Scipio grinned. "What a coincidence," he responded playfully. Gabriella looked at him closely, her face hard, trying to see if he was kidding or not. At last she smiled.

"I'm Gabriella," she said, "Not Elle, Ella, just Gabriella."

"Scipio," he nodded, "but you can call me the Thief Lord."