Page 70 of Of Fate and Phantoms
"Have you got one for me?"
"Depends." He hammered on the trapdoor.
"On what?"
"On what answers you give Mink."
The trapdoor flipped back and Mink's greasy head appeared. He peered at me through the curtain of hair and rested his elbows on the floor. He gave me a thorough inspection then climbed all the way through.
He glanced at the exit. "Your man out there again?"
I nodded.
"He's protective."
"He is."
"Does he treat you well? Or does he…?" It was impossible to see if he blushed, but from the way he dipped his head and wouldn't meet my gaze, I suspected he did.
"Fuck you?" Finley finished for him.
"Finley!" Mink sounded mortified.
"Pimp you?" Finley offered with a shrug.
"Bloody hell, you're an idiot."
I laughed to show him I didn't mind. A few crass words didn't shock me. "Lincoln treats me well. He employed me as a maid when I first lived with him, and now I work for him in the ministry."
"Ministry?" Mink asked. "That's who we're working for?"
"So you've accepted?"
"Depends. What's in it for us? Be specific."
"Regular food, warm clothes, money and blankets."
Mink scratched his neck. "We want medicines, too, for when we're sick."
"Yes."
"And supplies to fix this place up." He shoved his big toe, protruding from his boot, into the wall. Plaster sprinkled from the ceiling like snowflakes. "It's getting real old."
"You need to move out of here," I said, eyeing the ceiling. "It might collapse."
Mink snorted. "And go where?"
"You can come and live with us," I blurted out without thinking it through. What would Lincoln say to five extra residents, and adolescents at that? At least we had room. Gus's aunt did not.
Finley's face lit up. "Really?"
Mink put a hand on Finley's arm. "Depends on how this arrangement turns out," he said. "You trick us, we'll cut you up. You got it?"
I nodded, even though I didn't think Mink or Finley were capable of cutting anyone up. They might be desperate, and would protect themselves with violence if necessary, but Stringer was the cutting up for revenge sort, not these two.
"You can trust me," I said. "You know me."
"Aye, but can we trust him?" Mink jerked his head at the hole in the wall.
