The Glass Magician

“I’m putting you on parole, Miss Twill,” Mg. Aviosky said, folding her arms tightly across her chest. Beside her, Delilah stared at the floor, digging the toe of her shoe into an eyespot in the wooden boards. “Unfortunately I can’t initiate a house arrest, given the circumstances, but should you act out again I will have to consider a dismissal of your apprenticeship.”


Ceony felt as though she had shrunk to a foot tall. She swallowed any argument in her throat and said, “That’s fair. I’m so sorry. Delilah, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Delilah only shrugged. “We’re all chipper now, aren’t we?” she asked, but her tone was all melancholy.

She pushed by the two Gaffers, but only made it one step down the stairs leading to the front door before Mg. Aviosky asked, “And where are you going?”

“To find Emery,” she said, not caring that it was his first name that formed on her lips. Mg. Aviosky’s frown couldn’t deepen any further anyway.

She took the stairs quickly, but thankfully her ankle held up well. She peered into the front room, then followed the hallway toward the dining room. She heard Emery’s voice and followed it to a small sitting room at the far end of the first floor, passing Mg. Hughes, who was still tapping away at the telegraph near the kitchen.

She found Emery at an antique desk with a telephone piece pressed to his ear.

She caught the end of his conversation. “—out front. Yes. Thank you.”

He hung up.

“What are you going to do?” she asked. “You can’t just tell me Grath and Saraj are your problem and expect me to be content with that.”

“You have no say in the matter,” Emery said, keeping his voice low. “And the decision is not only mine.”

He walked past her, heading for the front door.

“I have no say in the matter?” Ceony repeated, catching up to him. “You’re just going to keep me in the dark, after all this?”

Emery laughed, a mirthless sound. He stopped walking. “I wish I could keep you in the dark,” he said, cool and blunt. He kept his voice low to prevent Mg. Hughes from overhearing. “But you won’t stay there. I could plead with you on my hands and knees and you still wouldn’t stay there, Ceony. You’re a candle that won’t be snuffed, and now the darkest parts of this world can see you. And they don’t tolerate the light.”

He shook his head and continued walking. Ceony followed him into the hallway.

“I said I was sorry,” she said, the words shaking in her throat. “I’m so sorry, Emery. Please don’t be angry with me. If I could go back in time and change it, I would.”

“It’s unfortunate that time is not a material,” he said, pausing just long enough to open the front door. He stepped out into the afternoon light, searching the street beyond the short front yard. He folded his arms. “And I am angry with you. I am so”—he paused—“so angry with you. But I will take care of you, Ceony. I swear my life on it. I will take care of you.”

Ceony’s heart twisted in her chest. Gooseflesh prickled her arms, despite the heat. Her gaze dropped to her feet, and all she could think to say was, again, “I’m sorry.”

Minutes later an automobile pulled up to the curb and Emery walked toward it. It had no passengers, but when the driver stepped out, Ceony recognized him immediately.

“Langston,” she said.

Emery said, “Thank you, for doing this.”

“It’s not a problem,” Langston replied.

Emery turned to Ceony. “You’re going to stay with Langston for a little while. He’ll see that you have everything you need.”

Ceony’s jaw fell. “I . . . you’re transferring me?”

Langston said, “It’s only temporary, until things clear up. I promise you’ll be safe. I keep a good watch.”

But Ceony shook her head. “I-I don’t want to be safe.” To Emery, she said, “I want to stay with you.”

Emery avoided her gaze. “Take care of her. I’ll try not to take too long.”

“Take too long?” Ceony repeated. She grabbed Emery’s shirtsleeve. “What exactly are you going to do?”

“Please, Ceony,” he said, just a murmur. “Please do this for me. If nothing else, please just get into the auto.”

Ceony retracted her hand, feeling as though Emery had slapped her. Her cheek throbbed anew. Unable to bring up words, she merely nodded, and Langston opened the passenger-side door.

Emery turned back to the house without a good-bye. Ceony stared at its doors as Langston drove away, but he never reemerged.





CHAPTER 17