Page 40 of A Thief to Die For

‘I wouldn’t offer if we didn’t.’

‘Interesting.’ He sits back. Pulls on his beard with his long fingernails. ‘But the answer’s still no.’

My brows slam down.

‘However … we are getting somewhere. It appears we have more to discuss.’ The Commander thinks for a second. ‘You can stay. For now. I’ll give my counteroffer when I return. Marian will entertain you while I’m gone.’

Islip into Agatha’s room and shut the door.

Her head whips back, and annoyance creeps over her face. ‘What do you want?’

I take in Dezzy leaning over something at the end of Agatha’s worktable. We’ve never needed a reason to invade each other’s rooms before.

Agatha bugs her eyes out when I don’t answer.

‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘To hide for a minute, I guess.’ At least until Atlas and Coatl leave. Then I’ll be in charge, which mostly means nothing. Everyone knows what they have to do.

‘Hide in your own room.’ She turns back around, attending to whatever she’s working on.

‘You don’t come to my room any more.’

‘That’s because you have nothing in it.’

It’s the first time she’s commented on the missing things I’ve slowly been donating to Brother Thomas for the Dresden. I frown. What’s with the attitude? It can’t still be about the sparring incident. She seemed mostly fine at our dinner with Ryland yesterday.

‘Why are you hiding?’ Dezzy asks, raising her chin. ‘Is there a grizzly bear outside?’ Her words drip with a mix of sarcasm and righteous disdain, because anything short of a mauling bear is not a reason to avoid work.

I roll my eyes. ‘Can’t a girl take a quick break?’ Although avoiding Atlas isn’t my only reason. After flirting with Ryland – as per my mission – there seems to be a light, yet persistent, fluttering now in my chest. I need it to calm down.

Agatha leans into Dezzy and whispers something.

Okay, that’s rude. Whispering to each other is our thing – something we did frequently during Dezzy’s lessons, until Dezzy got so frustrated, a rare curse would slip out.

I exhale, trying not to be sore about it, and draw closer. ‘What are you working on?’

‘Your sister’s found potassium nitrate,’ Dezzy says, her accented voice animated in a way she only gets when discussing academia. ‘She found the white crystals of it growing on the walls outside the barns. It appears the ammonia gas from the animals’ excrement reacted with the bacteriums there to make a nitrate. Then that reacted with the potassium minerals found in the stone.’

I try to look fascinated, even though I enjoyed studying the elements as much as I’d enjoy an eye exam with rusty tweezers. I can still appreciate the impressiveness of those words. ‘Sounds important.’

She points to the large jar on the table. ‘It means we have a natural source of potassium nitrate from the stone walls of the barn.’

Now that makes me smile. Agatha finding her elemental compounds within Notting territory should keep Atlas off her back. ‘And what do you plan to use it for?’

Agatha barks a frustrated laugh.

Dezzy’s face falls in disappointment. ‘It’s an oxidiser –’

‘Don’t,’ Agatha says, cutting her off. ‘Don’t tell her any more until we’re out of the discovery phase. There’s nothing to report right now.’

‘Agatha,’ I say, affronted. ‘What’s going on? Are you still upset about the sparring?’

‘Why are you really here, Marian?’ she demands, crossing her arms.

Her anger feels misplaced. Unfair. ‘I’m here because I want to be with my sister. Who I miss.’

‘Liar.’

My head rears back. ‘How is that a lie?’