“You’re working awfully hard to make me trust you.”
“Is it working?” he asked.
“Here’s an idea,” I said. “Why don’t you go back to House Gray and tell them there’s nothing out here but brush and dirt, and there’s no reason for any other House or my father’s old enemies to come looking?”
“Even if I did that, it wouldn’t change things. By now the other Houses have obtained your mother’s message. Old enemies might be the least of your worries.”
“Ominous, Mr. House Gray.” I pushed the last bite of my sandwich in my mouth and dusted my hands.
“Are you allergic to it?” he asked.
“What?”
“Saying my name.”
I paused over my tea. He was watching me, taking in the details of me again, like I was a photo fading all too quickly before his eyes.
“First names seem too friendly, since I’ve only known you for a day. You laughed at me when I called you Mr. Seventh.” I shrugged.
“Vail,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s my true last name. Though I’d prefer you didn’t use it around company or strangers.”
“Why not? Are you ashamed of it?”
He sat back, shook his head. “I forget how young you are, Matilda. That”—he held up one hand before I could defend myself—“isn’t a slight. It’s just . . .” He glanced over my shoulder, staring at the nothing in the shadows there. “Abraham Vail is a name from a life lived long ago.” His gaze shifted back to me. “It was a good life. And it is a good name.”
“All right,” I said. “Mr. Vail. I hope you don’t mind my manners, but I’m going to turn in early too.”
We finished eating. Abraham cleared the dishes, and I put the roast and veggies away in the cold box and wrapped the bread so it wouldn’t go stale.
“Nice job on the floor, by the way,” I said as we walked into the living room.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “It’s been . . . interesting. Good night, Miss Case.” He gave me a nod that was almost a bow, then walked down to his room.
Yes, I stared after him. I was having a hard time remembering he wasn’t on our side, wasn’t to be trusted. Especially since he hadn’t done anything untrustworthy all day.
Well, he’d showed up with drones tagging his location. But he’d called them off and had been mostly reasonable. If you didn’t count the whole thing about me having to leave my family home and get claimed by a House if I didn’t want to lose everything I’d spent my life fighting for.
I sighed and scrubbed my fingers over my scalp. I was tired, but took a second and peeked into Grandma’s room. She was sleeping, the little sheep snuggled around her, that ridiculously long scarf she’d been knitting draped over the foot of the bed like a wooly coverlet.
Down the hall, Abraham’s door closed with aclick.
Grandma was sleeping, Neds were sulking, and I had a stranger who was the eyes and ears of one of the most powerful ruling organizations in the world bedding down in the spare room.
Not to mention fifty people out in the desert counting on me to save their homes.
I’d catch a couple hours of sleep, then head back down to the basement and see if I couldn’t dig up a miracle.
I stripped out of my coat, my overalls, and my shirt, leaving them all in a pile on the willow chair in the corner of the room. I needed a shower, and tromped off to take one in the little bathroom on this side of the hall.
I didn’t linger in the hot water, but instead scrubbed the dirt and dried blood off me, then toweled off quick. I pulled on a tank top and a pair of shorts and walked down to my room and crawled under my covers, shivering a little from the cool sheets.
Three deep breaths was all I got before the bell rang out. Not just one little jingle like earlier today; this was nonstop clanging.
Something was going very wrong with someone in House Brown.
