The Awakening of Ren Crown

Chapter One: In the beginning...

I would do absolutely anything for my brother.

“This is hardly a high-security lock, Ren,” Christian whispered, motioning at the precise movement of my hands. “Now isn't the time to be perfect. Scrub those pins.”

“Scrub these,” I whispered back to my twin, my lips barely needing to move in order for him to hear me. We had perfected the art of nearly silent communication over the past seventeen years. I carefully pressed in the torque wrench and slid my lock pick across one pin at a time, feeling them, discovering their secrets, movement, and depth. A schematic of the lock drew itself in my mind, and I rotated the picture to determine which pin to move first.

Brilliant, but impatient, Christian would always be a scrub and bumper, raking a pick across the pins. Which had always worked quite well when our parents were away, and we were uncovering Christmas presents or retrieving items that had been locked up. But uncovering the secret of each lock was what I found fascinating, and doing it silently while my parents were within hearing range increased the thrill. I loved the feel of visualizing the lock, of finding the order, of fitting each pin perfectly in its slot.

I felt the tiny give as I pressed the last pin into place. “Ta-da.”

“Brilliant.” He flashed me a grin as I finished and soundlessly pushed open the door.

So far, so good.

No alarm on the garage. No pets. No houses nearby. Three clear exit routes through the yard. Points checked off in my mind on my “Cover for Christian” checklist. Although Christian controlled everything on the field and in his social circles, he needed me to make sure he made it out of each adventure safely.

My brother attracted attention and exuded magnetism like a planet pulling in satellites, and he would be the one to get in trouble if we were caught. I had tried to take the heat before, but people always looked amused by my attempts. Quiet, little dreamer, Florence Crown? Right.

I put my pick set in a pocket where I could easily retrieve it and dump it into a bush, in the event that an unnoticed alarm was triggered and we were grabbed by the cops. Having a pick set? Fine. Having a pick set and being caught breaking and entering? Not so fine.

Christian flashed me his widest grin, hiked his bag high onto his back, and prowled into the garage. I entered after him, as always, and quietly closed the door so we could use our flashlights.

We were on our own this time. Christian didn't want his friends to witness his idea of epic romance. After spending two hours with him this afternoon, twisting red tissue into roses, I thought that was probably wise.

I held my light steady as Christian opened the door of the cherry-red convertible, then slipped inside.

Something outside scraped across the vinyl siding on the garage, creating an eerie noise. The wind had been unusual all night. I concentrated all of my senses and took stock of our surroundings. Adrenaline was nicely buzzing through my veins, but other than the branches scraping outside, the house and garage were quiet.

Christian reappeared with a careless and easy grin on his face, sapphire-rimmed teal eyes winking. “Player?” he prodded.

I walked over, wedged the flashlight between my cheek and shoulder, and carefully unzipped my bag. “You don't want to leave it on Sleeping Beauty's pillow?”

“I'm tempted.”

I could practically feel his rakish grin. I rolled my eyes, my fingers finding the wired player we had Frankensteined earlier. If he hooked it up correctly, it would start playing when the car door was opened in the morning.