“You know already, don’t you?” I laughed, nudging her.
“Doesn’t matter,” she sniped. “The girls have already told each other. Now it’s a process of elimination.”
“How clever you must think you are,” I teased. “Will you tell me who you have?”
“No.” She pressed her lips in a thin line.
“Fine, keep your secrets.” I laughed and took another slice of orange from her palm.
When we finished looping around the market, I spotted Silas again. He and Luka were with the rest of the girls. Luka passed him a small, rectangular piece of paper. They spoke with their heads close, Silas looking toward the ground, stone-faced, while Luka carefully emphasized his words. Silas was creasing the paper inhis blank-stared grip, the snowfall already blotching the eggshell paper.
Luka left him to follow the girls, leaving Silas in their wake alone. The sable-haired man seemed to hover close to Edith, despite my warning for her to keep her distance from the likes of him. Of course she decided to wander closer, like a sheep in need of instant direction.
“Do you have any reservations about them?” I didn’t look at her as I spoke. “Do you ever worry about the implications of him having the financial power?”
“I do, but he wouldn’t be here if not for you.” Phoebe sighed. “Plus, everyone knows it to be fact. No one would question your position, especially since if you left, he would, as well.”
“How do you know?”
“He is a wallet to them, a means of survival. You are the power that orchestrated it all.”
In the distance, Silas’s eyes met mine. Everything became quiet once we spotted one another again. It was enough to ignore even the elements, tunneling with only one way out.
“That could be so.” I broke my trance to look down at samples of fudge on one of the tables in front of us. Under my shoe was a small bunch of mistletoe wrapped in a crumbled, soiled ribbon. I leaned down to pick it up, inspecting the damaged good. “Let us hope he is as obedient as you assume he is.”
33
THE FIXER
Alina requested that we come to the lab after hours. It took both Silas and me by surprise that she would willingly want to spend time around us. I guess a perk of this business arrangement meant that she wasn’t going to kill us, at least.
The apothecary was creepy and off-putting after hours, just like its owner. I would never get used to seeing it.
We were let in through the side door by Edith, who was quieter tonight than usual.
It was like she had been told specifically not to talk to us. We were to be let in and nothing more.
The staircase seemed narrower and longer, but maybe that was because it was like we were being led to an execution. The ambiance was less than hospitable.
When we entered the flat, we were graced with quite an image. It was almost hard even for me to swallow.
Dangling from the ceiling was a cocooned silhouette, a body hung by a hook in the ceiling. I imagined the most abominable moth would emerge from such a casing. As wonderful as that would be, though, it was merely a man. At the bottom of the form,slow drips seeped from it and landed in a bucket of dark liquid. Only then did I realize it was a Vipera, bound and being drained of his blood like a pig in a butcher shop.
My stomach lurched from both disgust and the reminder of my hunger. She was a cruel thing, planning on starving me out. With the deal in place, I could only hope she meant to let me eat soon enough. So far, none of the other Hosts had budged.
A few members of the Nest stood off to the side, with the exception of Rebecca and Alina. They were standing in front of five men, who were propped up against the wall. Rebecca had a fist full of one man’s hair to keep his head up.
Alina stood, tall and dark like some phantom. As always, she was dressed in black, but she wore men’s clothes for this endeavor. I suspect it was for practical reasons.
When Edith closed the door behind us, it caught Alina’s attention. She was like a raptor bird, dialed in to everything in her domain. Her eyes traveled from Edith to the two of us, lingering on Silas.
Silas held an impersonal demeanor, but I could tell there was a silent standoff between the two of them. It dawned on me why we were here. She was sending a message. She was making a point.
“Edith.” Alina’s voice was sweet but dangerous. “Take Rebecca’s place today.”
Edith flinched at the call of her name.
Oh Edith, Alina will eat you alive if you cower like that.
