Fairfax turned in his chair, then, spotting me, got awkwardly to his feet, bumping the table and spilling a little tea. “Good morning, Miss Mireaux.” He bowed to me.
I bobbed a wobbly curtsy. “Hello.”
He smiled at me and gestured to the table. The air was so steamy I dreaded sitting in that iron seat in the direct sunlight, but I nodded and moved toward the chair, heart racing.
Every movement felt significant as I lowered myself into the chair, fingers brushing the hot metal, eyes finally meeting the nobleman’s.
For a moment, he did not ask me any questions, did not fill the silence with small talk. He waited silently, brutally, for my answer.
“I…” My words halted and I swallowed. Then, before I could lose the courage, I said, “My sister. She’s too young to work, and my mother…I’m the sole provider for them.” The money Mama made from her scarves wouldn’t come in until a few monthsfrom now, when the weather turned cool and people again reached for things to keep them warm. And Bennett’s money was poison. It might fall out from under them one night, like a paper bridge.
Fairfax leaned forward, bushy brows moving like lively caterpillars on his face. “I will ensure they are provided for. Whatever your wages, I will double them. I want you towantto do this, or I want you to leave now.”
I bit my lips to keep from gaping. “My mother could use a job,” I said, pushing my luck. “Even with extra money, she will need something to do or she will…”Turn to shadow. “Get restless. Something respectable. A woman’s job.”
“Consider it done.”
Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. It was too good, almost like he was showering me with gifts before sending me to the slaughter. There had to be a catch I was missing.
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs. “What are you wanting to ask me, Miss Mireaux?”
I looked away, embarrassed. “It sounds like everything I’ve ever wanted, and that scares me.”
His long silence only made my heart beat faster. Then, finally, he said, “Dreams do not come without sacrifice. I do not pretend to offer you the world on a platter. What I am offering you is the chance to change the world. To topple it from the platter where it rests, out of reach for people like you.” His smile faded. “But the risk is that it will crush us both as it comes tumbling down.”
I nodded, unsure what to make of that. As I looked everywhere but at his face, every green leaf in the courtyard reminded me of the dragon I’d met in the forest. Of the elation I’d felt standing before him.
If it would help Evie, if it would help Mama and Bennett and every other bottomsider who ever dreamed of one day crossing the skies on dragonback, then it was worth it.
“I’ll do it,” I said, meeting his gaze.
His smile did not return like I’d thought it would. Instead, his chin sank almost to his chest and his posture slackened. “Ah,” he breathed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Then, his gaze rising, he added, “It is time to find you a dragon.”
My heart jumped inside me. “I…think I might already have.”
CHAPTER 6
Fairfax choked on his tea. “I beg your pardon?” he sputtered, setting his cup down, but not before I noticed how badly it was shaking.
My pulse quickened, and a fresh wave of sweat bloomed on my skin. Staring at his teacup, I recalled the sensations I’d felt in the woods with that dragon. Choosing my words carefully, I said slowly, “In one of the books I took from the Belleville library, it talked about the nature of bonding, and how it’s…this connection that doesn’t really make sense until you feel it. Today, when I was on my way here, I saw the same dragon from the Covingtons’ lair yesterday. He…I think he might have?—”
“Thatwilddragon?” he interjected, brows rising toward his hairline.
I bit my lips and nodded.
Fairfax rested his chin in his hand and said nothing for several minutes. “Where did you see him?” His eyes were fierce, far from his easygoing manner he’d displayed since I’d met him. A flicker of fear coursed down my spine.
“He found me in the forest.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Fairfax’s knuckles had gone white as he gripped a handle of his chair. “What happened?”
I described the way the dragon had mimicked the beat I’d played at the Covingtons’ lair. Fairfax listened with wide eyes.
“And then, I felt…” I wrung my hands in my lap, unsure how to word it. It sounded foolish in my head.
