Page 238 of Stay Scared

“For you, it is international travel.”

His mouth almost moves, I still catch it.

I could ask dozens of questions about the apartment. Whether he furnished it, what he does there, whether he knows how to exist in a room without turning it into an operations center.

I choose the least useful one.

“Does it have anything on the walls?”

Ash gives me a long look.

“One thing.”

“What?”

“You are enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

He looks away.

That alone tells me the answer is good.

“A print from the aquarium.”

I stare at him.

“You bought aquarium art.”

“It is a photograph.”

“Of jellyfish?”

His silence tells me everything.

I laugh hard enough that Ash reaches for my arm and catches himself before touching me.

His hand falls back to his side.

That movement matters almost as much as the answer.

I step close enough that he does not need to reach.

“You know what I like about this?”

“I suspect I am about to find out.”

“It’s completely useless.”

Ash’s eyes stay on mine.

“The apartment does not help me operate Crimson Night. Jellyfish cannot explain how to survive you. Knowing you bought a picture because you liked looking at it gives me absolutely nothing.”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“Because now I know something about you that you didn’t design for me to know.”

The control in his face shifts.