Page 50 of A Dangerous Bargain

I think of the crimson trickle down her chin, those too-sharp teeth and too-bright eyes.

Do you know what she really is, Master?

A hot rush races through me. I don’t like Verrocchio’s implication that Lupa is somehow less than any of us. “She’s a part of our workshop, is she not? The most valuable member, given her magic. Perhaps someone was trying to steal her for themselves.” It’s the only explanation that makes sense. The man Piero killed wanted an angel of his own. The people at the golden fountain would’ve hurt me to take Lupa.

Verrocchio watches me carefully; his stare is a palette knife, scraping through all my layers to the bare canvas beneath. “She has value,” he agrees. “Much like the horses that bring the marble to the workshop, or the cats that keep mice from the kitchens.”

“She’s no animal!”

“No, she’s even more dangerous. See that you don’t forget it.”

What does he mean by that? My fingers tighten over the armrests of my chair. Does he know the angels are demons? If anyone else in Florence did, it would be the workshop masters. For the first time, I find myself edging away from my mentor, doubting him.

Verrocchio’s mouth twists. “I’d like your key to the workshop, please.”

My hand darts to the slender silver length. “My key?”

He gave it to me over a year ago, the day after Christmas. It wasn’t a gift, but it felt like one. After months of putting my head down and working when Niccolo disappeared, Verrocchio giving me the key felt like a sign that my sacrifices were paying off. Like the future might finally work out for me.

“I’ll lead the morning exercises myself from now on.” He holds out his hand. “If Lupa leaves the workshop again, you’ll be leaving too. Do you understand?”

My fingers are fat, clumsy salumi. It takes a few tries to untie the key and drop it into Verrocchio’s palm. “Yes, Master.”

Watching his fingers fold over it feels like bargaining away the last bit of my soul.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

What a stronzo!” Leonardo shouts so loud, several people give him scandalized looks. “Verrocchio didn’t threaten to evict me from the workshop, and I was there with you!”

“That’s because you’re too valuable for him to lose,” I say miserably. The day matches my mood. Sullen rain has pummeled the streets all day, turning Florence into a drab smear of gray brown.

“Where did you go last night?” I looked for Leonardo after Verrocchio snarled at me, but he wasn’t around. I waited up for him in the workshop, scraping off the bits of marble and dust that had stuck to the Medici wedding portrait. I would’ve stayed up even longer except Verrocchio kicked me out after dinner. I tried not to sulk when I saw him lock the door with my old key.

Leonardo’s hand twitches guiltily, making it halfway to his neck before dropping. “Visiting a friend. Why does it matter?”

My temper flares. A friend? He was out with a friend last night? I know exactly what kind of friend this is because I’ve heard him give the same excuse a dozen times before. My teeth grit at the thought of Leonardo sharing a flagon of wine with this so-called friend. My insides seethe imagining him leaning in close and laughing when Leonardo whispered a joke. I don’t want to meet this friend. He’s not allowed to come to our home and be confused by Lupa or pet one of the sodding cats.

Cristo santo, perhaps I should be grateful. If Leonardo hadn’t crawled into someone else’s bed so soon after I realized I have feelings for him, I might’ve acted on them in a fit of mortifying weakness. I kick a loose cobblestone more savagely than it deserves. “It matters because what we’re doing is secret! And you have a habit of…”

A sideways look from him. “Talking too much?”

“Being too much.” He recoils a bit, and I hurry to clarify. “Being too much the sort of person people want to talk to. Know more about.” Where is this coming from? I need to be stopped. “It’d be easy to let something slip.”

“I wouldn’t,” he says. “Even if I did, my friend’s a chambermaid where I’m taking us. She’s discreet.”

His friend is a girl? I swallow, cheeks flaring hot. I pray that he doesn’t notice so I don’t have to explain myself. “Where are you taking us?”

Leonardo goes guilty-still. I shoot him a sideways glance, and he bites his lip. “Remember how you wished you’d caught the address your brother worked at? I have a very keen memory. I see something once and remember it for years.”

I glare to hide my jealousy. Bargaining for a power like that would take at least a decade, and of course he gets to have it without sacrificing anything. “You’ve known where my brother works for days and you didn’t tell me?”

He lifts placating hands. “It was written in a shorthand that I couldn’t figure out. That’s why I met my friend. I wanted to be sure before I promised you anything.”

I know he’s trying to be helpful, but all it does is add thunderclouds to my dark mood. “I said I wanted to investigate my brother alone.”

Leonardo runs his hands down his thighs. There’s a nervous edge to his disarming smile. “I know you did. But—well, the thing is, we’re already there.”

I tilt back my head—up and up—to take in the massive building dominating the entire block ahead. I’m confused, until my eyes snag on a stone shield adorning the building’s corner and its five red balls. “Oh merda.”