The starry sky stayed totally silent as I scaled the walls of the museum. I pulled myself over the ledge onto the tiled roof, brushed the chalk off my hands, and took a moment to appreciate how pretty the city looked down below. Then I removed the glass cutter from my work bag. Time for phase two.

I wiped the dust and grime from the skylight, then traced a narrow score line around one pane. With one final stroke, I slashed through the clear surface, and the window fell to the floor with a distant crash. I heard an alarm go off, alerting the security guards in their post, but that was five minutes away in the north foyer. I didn't intend to be here that long.

I anchored my rope on a gargoyle, tugging on it a few times to make sure it was secure. Once I was satisfied, I tossed it down and watched it extend to the marble floors below. I slipped on my gloves and slid down the rope quickly but carefully. My boots made almost no noise as I landed, but their ink-dark color stood out like a sore thumb on the white stone. That was okay by me. I've always thought I look good in black.

All around me, I saw treasures: dinosaur skeletons looming up to the ceiling with their long necks, taxidermy lions and elephants casting deep shadows in the moonlight. The walls were lined with shelves of relics from around the world, surely priceless pieces of research for those who knew things about them. I wasn't here to admire the history, though. I was only here for one thing: the case in the very middle of the room, or more specifically, the 200-carat blue diamond inside it.

The Crystal Heart looked even more beautiful in person. I had seen it in pictures, and in my reconnaissance trips here earlier when I decided which window I would break through. But it seemed like this diamond was made for the moonlight. I walked towards it like a hypnotized rat to a snake, stretching out my fingers as if I could feel it from here. Nothing separated me from my prize except another thin layer of glass.

I didn't bother with the glass cutter. I smashed the case outright, which might have been a mistake, because a piece of glass cut through my glove when I picked up the jewel. I yelped and winced in pain. A bit of my blood dripped on the jewel, staining its blue surface red. Somehow, that made me happy. I had left my mark on it.

"Freeze!"

The guards. There were more of them than I had planned for--were those metro police officers with guns? I looked to the rope, some thirty feet up to the ceiling, and didn't think I could climb it fast enough to escape.

"Drop the jewel! Hands on your head!"

I looked down at the Crystal Heart, this beautiful thing that I had gone to all this trouble to get. Prison, I could get out of if I behaved well enough. But dying would be pretty bad all around. I dropped the diamond and kicked it across the floor towards the guards, and with it went all my hopes and dreams of the twenty-million-dollar payout. I was not going to die here. But I might die if I ended up in prison with no money, considering how expensive healthcare was.

"I said, hands on your head! Move away from the jewel! Do not fight back!"

The cops scooped up the diamond, putting it in a bag for safekeeping. Briefly, I thought about running for the rope. If I had the power to do that, I would have, but instead I backed up towards the wall until there was nowhere left to retreat. Just as I put my hands up, I heard a voice in my head.

listen to me if you want to get out of here

Who said that? I thought, but there was no one around. My gaze slid around to the wall of artifacts behind me, where a small onyx sphinx figure caught my eye. I could swear it was staring back at me.

yes, that's me, take me with you and run

Having no other option, I grabbed the statue. Instantly, I felt a prickling sensation in the back of my head. My vision went dark for a split second, and when it returned, the whole world looked off somehow. It took me a moment to realize what had happened: everything had frozen. The guards and cops stood completely still. But I could still move.

you have twenty seconds, use them well

I nodded, deciding I would figure this out later. I ran for the rope and climbed it faster than I had ever climbed before, putting myself safely on the roof when time started moving again. I slipped down the side of the building and disappeared into the shadows of buildings and trees, camouflaged by my outfit. For three miles, I stuck to the back alleys, moving down side streets where I knew no one would be looking for me, until I got to my favorite safe spot in an old clothing warehouse. Then I looked down at the stone sphinx that had enabled my escape. "What are you?" I murmured out loud.

It gave no answer for a few moments, and I briefly wondered if I had dreamed the whole thing. But then its eyes flashed silver in the moonlight and I felt something echo inside my skull, almost like distant thunder.

i am the keeper of the kings' secrets

you now are my keeper as well