“Ms. Madison has been disowned. There’s no hope of her paying the tithe. Let’s not pretend otherwise.” Linus folded his hands behind his back. “She has no priors, her record is spotless, and she has pursued an education tailored to providing valuable services to our community. All things considered, I propose a lucrative compromise that will please us all.”
His mother watched him with a sparkle in her eyes. “I’m listening.”
“Grier is also a victim,” he reminded the room, “and she is owed reparations for the grievous injury she sustained helping me contain Ambrose when the Elite failed in their duties.”
A low sound, too fierce to be a mere growl, drew my eye toward Boaz, who still cradled Amelie.
Who had earned that fury? Ambrose for hurting me, Linus for exposing Amelie, or himself for what he saw as a failure to protect both of us?
A tittering debate rippled through the amphitheater before the Grande Dame asked, “What is it you propose?”
“Grier is in the process of rebuilding her household. She has no employees to help her manage her finances or her property.” The High Society gawkers each gasped at my wretched living conditions. “I ask the assembly to consider allowing an advance sale of Ms. Madison’s bond. Grier has already mentioned her willingness to pay the tithe, and she could use someone with Ms. Madison’s skills to advise her. She was just reinstated, after all, and her inheritance requires routine maintenance.”
Her nails started tap-tap-tapping. “And the mandatory prison sentence?”
“Allow Ms. Madison to serve the time under house arrest at Woolworth House.”
“That’s quite a large favor to ask,” she mused. “What guarantee do we have she won’t escape?”
The concern was me allowing her to run. That much didn’t have to be spelled out for me.
“I will bind her myself.” He cut his eyes toward me, and they belonged to a savvy businessman making a deal, not a friend striving to save another person from hurt. “For an additional fee, of course.”
There was no hesitation on my part. “I agree to pay the fee.”
“You haven’t asked what it is yet.” The Grande Dame chuckled. “Be careful you don’t go too far in debt.”
“I trust Linus to be fair.” As I said it, I realized it was true. I did trust him. At least this much.
“The deal is struck,” he murmured to me before turning to the Grande Dame. “Mother?”
With a put-upon sigh, she conferred with her advisors. There was much whispering and nodding, a few head shakes and some laughter. But at last the three women straightened in their chairs. “It is the decision of this assembly that Grier Woolworth be allowed to pay the tithe for Amelie Madison. It is also the decision of this assembly that Amelie Madison be allowed to spend her six months of confinement within Woolworth House as penance for the crimes committed against Grier Woolworth.”
In the aftermath, I was too afraid to glance at Boaz. He hated the High Society. This added more fuel for the fire. I couldn’t check on Amelie without risking his reaction, so I examined Linus instead. His hands were still pinned at the small of his back, his expression bored, but his knuckles were white, and his nails bit into his palms.
“Ms. Madison will be released into my son’s custody as soon as we receive confirmation the tithe has been paid.” The Grande Dame rose, and her advisors stood in tandem a moment later. “Now if you will all excuse me, there are other pressing matters that require my attention.”
Yet another trap clamped shut, this time around the master vampires the Grande Dame had lured into the Lyceum with the promise of justice for their clanmates. Through their greed, she had captured six additional sources of information on the whereabouts and identity of the Master.
The gratitude I ought to have felt never manifested. The cost for this intel had been far too high.
Mr. Hacohen appeared in the vacuum left by their exit like a magician and whisked me away to a private conference room to do the necessary paperwork. A half hour later, I was the proud owner of Amelie’s indenture. Except pride wasn’t what I was feeling, not at all. The roiling in my gut kept churning over how simple the transaction had been. Until tonight, I hadn’t known purchasing bonds was a thing the Society allowed. Na?ve of me, I know, considering how it was a means of recouping costs, and they worshipped at the altar of the almighty dollar.
Linus waited for me in the hall, and Mr. Hacohen left me with him while he went to file the paperwork.
“I can’t decide if I’m mad at you,” I told him. “I want to be, I should be, but you saved her.”
“I wanted to tell you. Everything. I didn’t agree with the decision to keep you in the dark, but I understand why it was made.” He mashed his lips together. “I hope you can forgive me.”
“I need to think about who you are, and which Linus is the real one. Growing up the way we did, the way you did, I understand you needed to build yourself armor, but it fits you too well.” The Linus from the Lyceum snugged him like a second skin, but then again, he wore so many faces and with such ease. “I can’t see the real you between the seams when you’re suited up, and that worries me.”
“I understand.” He hesitated a moment. “I told Mother I would bind Amelie to your property.”
“Yes, you did.” A prickle of irritation worked its way to the surface. “I wish I had been in a position to decline.”
He nodded as though he’d expected as much. “I told her I would do it, not when.”
There was a clicking sound as my jaw opened and then shut. “W-what?”
“I didn’t tell her when I would perform the binding. I might wait until we’re in our three hundreds.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t mention what I would bind her to, either. Property has a broader meaning than land. I might choose to tie her to a toaster on your counter or a pencil she can carry in her pocket.”
“I made up my mind.” I launched myself at him, trapping his arms against his sides, and squeezed until he grunted. “I’m not mad at you. I might still have to dealphabetize your library to get you back one day, but right now, we’re square.”
“Your early-warning system is broken,” he deadpanned.
“I’m a hugger.” More these days than ever now that I was starting to reacclimate. The thing about love is, when you’re raised with an excess, the overflow splashes onto those around you. Not even Atramentous had broken that part of me. “You’ll get used to it.”
His heart beat fast beneath my cheek, and his breaths quickened. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Grier.”
The sound of my name spoken in Boaz’s tired voice sent my eyelids crushing shut on a soundless groan. I hadn’t been doing anything wrong, but I could imagine how it looked finding us embracing in a dark hall. What concerned me most wasn’t that he would assume it was anything romantic. What had my heart twisting was fear this might read more like collusion than a release of tension.
Boaz’s gaze skipped over me and landed on Linus, but no spark of jealous temper ignited. There was no light there at all. This close, I could tell he hadn’t thawed from that numb place where he had lingered since finding Amelie.
“The Grande Dame sent me to collect you,” he said formally. “They’re ready to release Amelie.”
“Hey.” I freed Linus and trotted over to Boaz. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”
“Mind?” Boaz shook his head, and his eyes cleared a fraction. “Why would you have to ask?”
The list was so long I couldn’t see the top to find where to even start. “Let’s go get our girl.”
I slid my hand into his and guided him down the hall, checking over my shoulder to make sure Linus followed. We entered the amphitheater as the sentinel in charge of Amelie unlocked her manacles. The chains clanked onto the floor, and he kicked them aside before he knelt in front of her to attach a thick metal cuff around her ankle. The whiff of blood and pennies on the air told me the sigils within it had been activated.
“What does it do?” I asked the sentinel. “Will it hurt her?”