Page 34 of A Steeping of Blood
8JIN
Jin had thought sneaking into the Athereum when they needed to steal the ledger was difficult, but it wasn’t much easier even with the newly minted head of the society escorting them. He was thankful for the shadows as they steered clear of the crowds stomping their feet and shouting at the top of their lungs. He had to stop himself, more than once, from reaching for Flick’s hand to pull her close and out of harm’s way. They snuck through the buildings behind the Athereum, navigating the narrow backstreets guarded by Athereum vampires until they reached a tunnel. It was still dropping clods of dirt as protesters stomped their feet aboveground, but it took Jin and the others within the gates without being seen. Chester was having fun. Flick nearly lost control of Opal more than once.
“Should have thought of this when we were breaking in during the Festival of Night,” Jin remarked, ducking beneath the low opening.
“Yes,” Sidharth said just as lightheartedly. “Not a single vampire would have heard you digging away.”
“You’re no good at sarcasm, by the way,” Chester said.
“Not one bit,” Reni added.
“They’re right,” Jin said.
Sidharth gave Jin a look with a quick raise of his brows. “I make up for it in other ways.”
That was not the direction Jin wanted their conversation to go.Between them, Flick cleared her throat. Reni shook his head in disappointment. Even Opal looked at Sidharth with scorn.
“Forgive me, my lady,” Sidharth said, leading them through the doors and immediately into the locked corridor Arthie had gone through great lengths to infiltrate many nights ago. A couple of vampires turned their heads at their arrival, and Jin saluted them as if they were old friends. He only assumed they could be trusted because Sidharth nodded at them as they passed.
“The Athereum! Can you believe it, boys?” Chester said, nudging Felix and pointing to everything Jin and the others had spent days figuring out how to manipulate for the Festival of Night, when the crew was stressed and tense, but had yet to be defeated.
Arthiehad yet to be defeated.
As angry as he was, when Flick had announced that his parents were on Ceylan and Arthie’s gaze had shattered, it was a blow to his stomach. Arthie had relegated the island to her past, and now she was being forced to confront it again. Acknowledge its existence beyond importing tea and coconut.
Wicked knives, he was still growing accustomed to the fact that his parents were alive—truly alive, and not just a hopeful notion—but on an island far from the shores of Ettenia? OnArthie’sisland, no less. It was hard to believe how much of their lives were intertwined so deeply.
Sidharth took them to a wing of the Athereum with a spacious hall leading to various rooms. “You’re safe from the mobs here, but I suggest making yourselves known as little as possible. We haven’t weeded out every traitor within our own walls just yet.”
The dark way in which he spoke made Jin think he had found some of them, and they hadn’t met very good fates.
“Any word on the missing humans?” Jin asked.
Sidharth shook his head. “We’ve scoured a good portion of the city,but as far as we can tell, Arthie’s right. Vampires aren’t responsible, and the Ram may well have taken them herself. We’ll keep looking. You’ve got enough to handle.” He unlocked a door and gave them each a key. “I’ll let you know if and when the others return.” Then he gestured for Chester, Reni, and Felix to follow. “Right this way, lads.”
With a wave at the boys, Jin closed the door behind them, and when he turned around, it was to find Flick standing stock-still in the center of the wide room as Opal leaped from her arms and ran for cover.
Jin came alert in an instant, grip tightening around his umbrella. “What is it?”
She sounded small. “It’s a bedroom.”
Oh. Jin immediately felt his guard relax. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed, or felt joy, for that matter. “A lavish one at that.”
Flick looked about but said nothing. The room served as both parlor and bedroom, with a canopied bed to the right and a seating area to the left, and a desk against the curtained wall. It was dark and sultry, the kitten’s fur bright as she explored the space.
“Is that a problem, love?”
She swallowed, glancing into the attached bathroom. “N—no. Of course not.”
Clearly anxious for something to do, she pulled the ledger out of her satchel, but not before Jin saw the tremor in her hands.
“We need to see what else we can find. Before you—before you leave for Ceylan. It’s hard enough on Arthie as it is.” Then she paused and narrowed her eyes at something on the bed. “Are those our things?”
“You know, if you want me in your bed, there are better ways to go about it,” Jin teased.
Flick ducked her head. “I’m serious!”
Indeed, she was. Jin picked up his bag, riffling through his extra clothes and belongings, what little he owned now that Spindrift wasgone. Something small and brass glinted at the bottom of his bag, and Jin felt a flutter at the reminder. He’d picked it up what felt like forever ago, after he’d noticed that Flick had stopped carrying around that infernal lighter.
