“I told you before: I appreciate that you value people over protocol. That’s how it should be. Your father believed the opposite, and I’ve spent the last four years trying to reverse course and get us on the right heading again.” He reached over and gripped my bicep. “You can help me do that. Merrick will only continue to get in the way.”
“Then thingsaremoving forward?”
“Not as quickly as I would like.” Levitt sighed again, this time out of irritation. “While the Sentinels will no longer risk publicly appearing to support Merrick in his personal vendettas, there’s work to be done yet to win them to our side. I won’t risk moving too quickly and showing our hand. This is too important.”
This had already dragged on longer than I’d wanted. I’dhoped to see progress prior to the third Oath, on the off chance I could have spared Penny from going through with it, but we were at the mercy of a tight-knit group of people who all had firm opinions on whose methods were better. Those would take time to change.
I nodded. “I understand.”
“Give me a few more weeks for the dust of all of this to settle and to lay a little more groundwork,” Levitt said. “When I’m assured we’ll find success, I’ll call the vote. In the meantime, try to stay out of trouble.”
That was a difficult ask considering trouble incarnatelivedwith me and now shared my bed. I smirked. “I’ll do my best. Update me when you can.”
“I will.” Levitt stood to pull his cloak on, hesitating as he fastened it at his throat. His mouth pressed a thin line and his brows drew down as he looked at me again. “I’m glad you’re all right. Both of you. And I’m sorry about Reimond. I know you and Penny were fond of him.”
My throat tightened, and I had to force out my response. “I’m sorry, too.”
I stood to walk Levitt to the door, plagued by memories of the quiet, earnest man who couldn’t keep a secret. Reimond had only pursued his Oaths to impress Thoma, who didn’t need impressing, and who now had to live without the man he loved. The injustice of it all gnawed at me because I cared enough about Penny to seek help and, if Reimond had faced down his third Oath with Thoma, I was certain Thoma would have done the same. Instead, Reimond had suffered and died with no one but Anders for company.
The blast of cold air when I opened the door wicked away those somber thoughts. Levitt stepped outside and paused on the stoop to look me over.
“I know you’re taking good care of Penny, but don’t forget to take care of yourself too.”
I managed a tight smile. “I’ll try.”
With him off and Penny likely to return from the market any minute, I took advantage of the quiet to retrieve the package from the coffee table. I moved it to the top shelf of the cabinet above the sink, the one Penny always struggled to reach.
As I lit the fire in the cookstove in anticipation of my recruit’s return and our impending breakfast, my mind replayed my conversation with Levitt. Hedidknow me well, even after all this time. I had to consider whether Levitt might know more about what Penny and I were doing here than he let on. At several points, he seemed to be hinting at something, though he could just as easily have been fishing and hoping I’d take the bait.
For a moment, I considered coming clean about our plans, chasing Levitt down before he reached the Ossuary and telling him everything. It would feel good to be honest and clear the air. But if I was misreading the situation, it wasn’t justmylife and safety at risk. And for as much as I liked to think I still knew Levitt as well as he knew me, he wasn’t the same man as he’d been at twenty.
And he had kept things from me before.
34
Penny
Ireturned from the market regretting having shopped on an empty stomach. Eggs, bread, cheese, dried beans, and vegetables scattered across the counter while I fried eggs and sausage in the skillet.
Given a decent night’s rest and a bath, Kit looked lively. It was good to see him fresher and more at ease than he’d been in days, though it made it hard to concentrate on preparing our meal and not to go to him and sniff his skin scrubbed with lye and touch his smooth cheeks dabbed with the oil that smelled like evergreens.
His mood had improved, as well, and he hummed to himself while placing plates and flatware on the table. The dramatic shift was enough to make me wonder.
“The talk with Levitt went well, I gather?” I turned and leaned beside the cookstove with my arms crossed.
Kit nodded. “Things are progressing as planned despite Merrick’s best efforts.” He smiled, but the mention of my half-brother made me scowl.
“He’s not the type to give anything up easily,” I grumbled, then sighed. “Has he done something else?”
Kit finished setting the table and took his seat. He reached for the cup of coffee he’d just brewed and held it in both hands. “No damage, thankfully. Though, he tried.”
That was enough to raise my eyebrow as Kit went on.
“Harlan told him about what happened during the third Oath. That I threatened him. And, of course, Merrick took that information to Levitt.”
I shoved away from the stove, suddenly rigid with tension. “He knows? What is he going to do about it?”
“Nothing.” Kit’s calm was maddening. “He said if Eeus wanted to take you, he would have regardless. Which I suppose means I want you more thanhedoes.”
