Page 25 of Court of Shadows
“We...” He trailed off, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I found he had seated himself at the table, but would not meet my eye. His dark mane of hair fell in front of his eyes and he traced a circle on the table with one finger. “Sparrow and I are watching the house. It’s part of why we are here. We came to observe, and I know that sounds incredibly intrusive, but perhaps you can understand, given...”
“Given that a ruddy huge wolf just attacked me in the woods?” I finished. “Forgiven. And if it means anything, I don’t mind you so much. The others...”
“It’s a shame. A damn shame.”
Scrutiny. Mr. Morningside had mentioned that he was not looking forward to their poking around. He would probably be furious if he knew they had been floating about the house at night.
I managed a tired smile and measured out the tea, listening to Chijioke and Mrs. Haylam fuss as they brought Mary up the stairs to her room. “Should you be cursing?”
“Oh, don’t be fooled by the wings,” he said with a wink. “We can be dangerous.”
“That’s what everyone promises me. What shall they say now that you saved my life?”
His mirth faded and he flinched, dropping his elbow onto the table and his chin into that palm. “We were close once, you know. You are a newcomer to our worlds, so all of this must be deeply confusing. There was more than just passing civility in the old days. We were allies, those of our world and of Henry’s. We had to be. Now we just exist in a kind of... tense civility. I hope it can last but I fear it will not.”
“It is hard to imagine you and someone like Chijioke getting along. He is not fond of your kind, not even a little.” I filled the cups and let them steep, finding small comfort in the fragrant tea steam that drifted up from the darkening surface. “What caused the... How would you describe it? Rift?”
The promise of tea helped, even if my hands were still shaking. When I blinked, I saw the beast’s purple eyes and maw.That hellish voice would forever darken my dreams.
I joined Finch at the table, grateful for the rest the chair provided. It was only then that I noticed my hands were skinned and scratched, and drops of blood stained the housecoat’s sleeve. The blood of the beast. I shivered.
“We can talk of cheerier things,” Finch murmured, noticing.
“As if that were possible,” I said. My hands smoothed around the teacup, absorbing its warmth. “I have seen all manner of horrors here, but never have I seen a wolf like that.”
Finch took up his cup, too, holding it with both hands just under his chin. “There have been no wolves in England for hundreds of years. Maybe that hound I’ve seen skulking about the house has gone feral.”
“Do not tell me what I saw,” I told him sternly. “It was a wolf of a kind, taller than a man, with glowing eyes, and it couldspeak. Truly you did not see the thing properly if you could mistake it for Bartholomew. Besides, that dog is more interested in napping than hunting these days.”
I heard Mrs. Haylam’s pointed boots clicking on the floor outside the kitchen, and then she swept inside. She had come to retrieve a basin and some rags, which she did, but not before making her displeasure known. Standing in the door, she hitched the basin higher in her arms and nodded toward the kettle.
“Clean this up before morning,” she said curtly, then left in a huff and a whirl of skirts.
“Do not trouble yourself with my well-being, Granny,” I mumbled to where she had been. “Just a bump or two, nothing to fret about.”
Finch sipped carefully at his hot tea and tilted his head to the side, watching me. “If I may be so bold, Louisa, you are not like the others here. I get the feeling that you would not just follow Mrs. Haylam or Henry blindly.”
I shrugged off the praise. So far, I had done too much of what Mr. Morningside wanted. What would Finch think of me if he knew I had just that day signed a contract vowing to help him? Well, that was private. He did not need to know about my father, and I had promised to keep the journal and its contents a secret.
“How could I?” I looked into my teacup, hoping he could not sense the deception. “He was wrong about my friend Lee.”
“Right. Exactly. That’s good—I mean, not good that he was mistaken—but you should bring that up at the Court. It’s important that we have the truth, and that you give honest testimony.”
“Testimony?” I laughed. “Mr. Morningside is under the impression that this is some kind of party....”
“He would be. I doubt he’s taken anything seriously in his life, which is how we got into this mess in the first place. Just reap souls, send them on their way... how hard could that really be? Why does he have to make a mess of everything?”
Sighing, I stood and drained my teacup, then carried it tothe deep porcelain tub beside the range to wash up. I hadn’t exactly seen Mr. Morningside sending souls anywhere but into birds, but perhaps that was what Finch meant after all. I said nothing to contradict him. Finch’s chair scraped across the tiles as he stood and brought his cup to sit next to mine. The cold knot in my stomach only hurt worse the closer he came.
“Did I say something to offend you?” he asked softly.
“I’m... tired. Tired from the day’s work, tired from that ordeal in the forest, and tired of all of you speaking in circles above my head.” It came spilling out of me in a rush of words; whatever thread of patience I had left had finally snapped. I leaned hard against the washbasin and covered my face with both hands. It took just an instant before I could muster the will to take up a rag and rinse out the teacups. “I did not mean to lose my composure.”
Finch returned to the table and brought me the rest of the porcelain we had used as well as the spoons. I stared for a long moment at the tea-stained curve of one of the spoons, feeling heartsick at the thought of that creature bounding off into the forest with the one Lee had given me. Another wave of hopeless exhaustion crashed down, and I wondered if the next time I closed my eyes I would simply drift off to sleep standing up.
“I would be more worried if you weren’t overwhelmed,” he said, and out of the corner of my eye I could see him give a polite bow before he moved toward the kitchen door. “Try to rest if you can. I wish I could say the days will get easier, but Iwould not want to give you false hope.”
Nodding, I dried the teacups with a worn cloth and listened to his retreating steps.
