The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

magicalicus stones, carefully cataloged. They wash up here at the academicos, and we collect them and wait for their wizards to turn up. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t; we have lots of stones and not many wizards, you see. We keep the stones, just in case.”
    I nodded. But I reckoned people from the Twilight didn’t show up often to claim a stone.
    â€œHere’s what you must do,” Brumbee went on. “Go through the boxes carefully. Touch each stone but be sure to put it back just where you found it. If your locus magicalicus is here, it will call to you.”
    Right. “What does the call sound like?”
    Brumbee pursed his lips. “It is different for every wizard. For some, the call can be nearly undetectable, like a whisper. For others, it is a kind of tingling connection. In some rare cases, I’m told, the call of the locus stone is overwhelming, like being caught up in a gigantic wave ofmagic.” He shook his head. “At any rate, if your stone is here, you will know it is yours when you touch it.” He smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Now, I must go to Magisters Hall. I will leave you to it, shall I?”
    â€œThank you,” I said.
    â€œYou’re welcome, my lad,” Brumbee said. “Best luck.” He went out, and the candle flames jumped in the breeze from the door closing as he left.
    I looked at the boxes, tidy, labeled rows of them, piled from floor to ceiling. Going methodically through them would take days.
    And my locus magicalicus was not here, I knew it already.

----

    Too much to do. Device construction going very slowly. Can’t get cursed verity crystals properly aligned. Hardly a drop of slowsilver to be found in city. And spent fifteen hours in academicos library, still have thousands of pages to read, notes to transcribe, collate.
    Need secretary. Absolutely certain boy hasn’t temperament for secretarial work. Asks too many questions. And his handwriting is terrible. Will ask Brumbee for advanced student at academicos to assist me.
    Left library late, close to midnight. Walking through tunnel toward Heartsease, came to locked gate. Boy curled up in corner shadows, asleep.
    Had forgotten about him. Cursed nuisance. Nudged him with foot to wake him up.
    Pulled out my locus magicalicus, said the opening words.—Well, boy, I said.—You’ve been waiting all this time. Why didn’t you just pick the lock to get through?
    He stood up stiffly, followed me through gate when it opened.—I tried to, he said.
    Imagine the lock singed his thieving fingers for him.
    Walked through tunnels to Heartsease without speaking further. Went up to kitchen. Benet asleep, so told boy to make tea while I warmed my fingers before the fire. Cursed academicos library cold and damp has gotten into my bones.
    Note to self: Must get Benet stove for cooking.
    Boy brought cup of tea and a biscuit. Very quiet.
    Come to think of it, boy often quiet. Not a chatterer. Fortunate because will not tolerate chattering. Drank tea, warmed up.
    â€”Well, boy, I said.—You are a master lockpick, are you?
    Boy nodded.
    Finished tea, went up to study, where I keep several locked boxes. There, boy taught me to pick locks. Not as easy as one might think.
    Some of boy’s instruction:
    Keys have flanges.
    Trick is to insert wires into lock to replace flanges.
    Easy to do when key has just one flange; wire turns lock like a bolt and, as boy says, YOU’RE IN.
    Some keys have flanges all around barrel. These, boy says, are TRICKY.
    Other keys have crenellations or studs, and some have flanges, studs, and crenellations, and these, boy says, are REALLY INTERESTING.
    Locks are like puzzles, according to boy. But good lockpick can open even trickiest puzzle lock in under a minute.
    Â 
    Boy also advises that lockpick should carry at least two sets of wires, and one should be hidden in case he’s taken up by city guards. Picked up