“I promise,” Grace said. And she meant it.
She felt the faintest twinge within her as Earnest put his arm around Lillie and led her away. She told herself she was being silly.
She turned around and was faced with Theodore Parker. Again.
“I don’t have to tell you that this could be quite dangerous,” he said.
“I know,” she said.
“It’s dangerous in the Tunnels. But it’s also risky to be poking around this. If someone murdered Harriet, they probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone else who got too close to the truth.” His eyes darkened.
“Does this mean you’re concerned about me, Theodore Parker?” she asked.
“I’d hate for you to get murdered just when you’re starting to grow on me.”
“I have that effect on people,” she said. “I’m irresistible.”
“Hmm,” he said. “Some would say tolerable.”
“These are for purchasing andthenreading,” the newsstand man said curtly, stepping forward to block Grace’s view of the newspapers. He crossed his arms.
“Leave her alone,” Theodore barked, turning on him. “I’m buying whichever one she wants.”
A ray of warmth winked through Grace and she selected one of the papers. “This is going to help us.”
She showed him a printed image of Harriet’s face.
Theo cocked an eyebrow. “Good thinking,” he said.
He paid for multiple copies, and they began walking down the Pike, toward the Tunnels.
“Aren’t you worried about your reputation?” Grace asked. “What will people say about you going into the Tunnels with a girl so below your station?” She kept her voice light, but they both knew the dark streak of truth that lurked beneath it.
He said with disdain, “I’ve better things to worry about than big mouths paired with small minds.”
She snorted. “Those things do end up together quite frequently, don’t they?”
“Here we are,” he said. “Stay close to me.” He took her by the arm, a little more forcefully than she was expecting. “I’m serious, Covington.”
A cracking spark of electricity shot through her skin, her spine, the tips of her fingers. She stole a look at him and wondered again,Why are you so different now than you were that night?
“I won’t leave your side,” she promised.”
Then she followed him into the deep shadows of the Tunnels.
There were flickering lanterns and small alcoves tucked beneath the Tunnels’ eaves. Most people eyed Grace and Theodore warily as they passed, slipping their drugs and paraphernalia away, but a few made to approach them with a hungry gleam in their eyes. Both the smoke and the laughter in the air held a sour undercurrent. The chambers were too crowded to walk shoulder to shoulder, so Theodore glanced behind him every few steps to make sure Grace was still with him—until finally he tired of it and took her hand in his. His palm was dry and warm, mostly soft but a little calloused. It felt like the embers ofa fire in a grate on a cold morning, burning just bright enough to make her want to draw nearer to them.
Once they had made it deeper into the bowels of the Tunnels, the crowd began to thin a little. The air was dank and decaying and Grace attempted to breathe through her mouth. The smoke left a bitter, filmy taste in her throat.
“Where did you see Harriet?” Theo asked in a low voice.
“There,” Grace said. With her free hand, she gestured to an alcove a few yards beyond them. She remembered the patterned silk banner that was draped above the makeshift doorway.
Theo led the way, navigating around people smoking in the alleyways.
“Excuse me,” Theo said, ducking his head into the small shop. There were beads and small coin purses out for display, as well as a cluttered mass of pipes and ashtrays. The woman behind the display came forward. Her white skin was tinged gray, and her mouth was lined with wrinkles that looked like exaggerated parentheses. She narrowed her blue eyes as she inhaled a long cigarette.
“Yes?” she asked cagily.
