Evie’s face lit up as she spoke of our older brother. To her, he was the only man in our family. She had no memories of Father. “He’s just checking on us.”
Busy with the fire, I didn’t press the matter. But Bennett only visited our apartment when he was short on cash, usually after a bad night at the gambling hall. He must have deduced money was coming in from somewhere while I was away at school.
Ender, help me. Don’t let me lose her, I prayed as I struck a match and laid it on the kindling.
The first halfof the winter break passed with little excitement, other than a few shouting matches with my mother and increasingly heated arguments with Evie about how often she went out with her friends to the movie house or the plays. Spending money we should be saving.
Myth was content each time I checked on him, and our flights were the best part of my days. Following Rush’s advice, I flew Myth mostly during the day. A wild dragon, he reminded me, would hunt mostly at night, and as such the Hunt wouldn’t bewatching the skies as much in the day. Also on our side was the general assumption that only flameless dragons could bond.
Of course, the duke and his Empire knew the truth.
The day before Rending, Evie had been invited to attend a dance with this seventeen-year-old she worshipped from her school, and to my chagrin, Mama allowed it, not hearing a word of my protests. The boy’s father was accompanying them, and my mother didn’t see a single problem with the whole ordeal.
A few minutes after Evie left, I slipped out of the apartment, coat pulled tight around my neck, and marched determinedly toward the tavern my brother frequented.
The place had fewer customers the night before the holiday, but I found Bennett smoking a cigarette and sipping whiskey in a booth near the back. He stood up when he saw me.
“Hello, Ari.”
“Evie is out with a boy.” I pointed toward the door. “Since you have nothing better to do with yourself tonight, drop in and check on her. She’s going to Archibald’s Dance Hall.”
Bennett’s eyes widened. “You always hated it when I followed you around.”
“She’s not me.”
He snorted. “That she is not.”
“Ben, she’s fourteen.”
He sighed. “All right, Ar.” He gathered up his wool hat and scarf and tossed back the rest of his drink. “Where are you off to?” he asked as we marched back toward the door.
“You don’t need to know. You’re going to watch Evie, not me.”
Braced to open the door for me, he paused. “It’s already dark out. You should go home.” When all I did was tilt my head sideways, he blew out a long breath. “Fine. But if you go anywhere tonight, take your knives.” He reached for my arm.“It would make me feel better, Ari, if you had everyone in the Serpents looking out for you.”
His hair was slicker, his brow harder than the last time I’d seen him. But his clothes were no finer, and he looked tired. He was still my brother, even though the man I once knew was morphing into the men I tried to avoid every time I walked these city streets. A carriage trundled by, clopping hooves delaying my reply.
“I’m not joining your wretched gang. Just check on Evie, please. I’ll be fine.”
“Let me hail you a cab, at least?” he said, lifting his hand before I could protest. “There’s more gang activity this week than normal.”
“With what money, Bennett?”
He glared at me. “Look, you might think I’m no better than Pa, but I won’t leave you the way he left us. I’m not going to let my sister walk alone in this city tonight. If you won’t let me tail you, at least let me know you’re going to get wherever you’re going safely.”
A horse-drawn cart rolled up. Not as fancy as the automobiles, but safer than walking and clearly the best Bennett could afford.
I rode in silence, grateful for the relative safety of the cab, though we still traveled bottomside. Bennett might have won a round or two, but he was still a bottomsider, and this was still Treston. Until he could buy his way into the newly minted self-made upper class, like the merchants who owned the steel mill west of town, or the railroad tycoons Evie had mentioned, he’d be forced to use his foul money on things like horse-drawn carriages instead of the more expensive gas-powered ones. I’d given the address of a library two blocks from the Covingtons’ townhouse, in case Bennett had been listening. A short, brisk walk would take me where I needed to go.
The key in my pocket to Rush’s townhouse was as much a comfort as the knife I held as I hurried down the street, past the large stones that served as the foundation for Treston’s oldest library. The topside bridges arced overhead, their burning lamps like moons in the world above.
Myth was ready to fly when I arrived, but I told him it was too cold. He nudged my arm, then turned his nose aside and shot out a plume of sparks, straight into the air.
“Whoa, boy. Don’t do that.”
Plenty of people would be shooting fireworks tonight and tomorrow, but I didn’t want his flame to be part of that.
He flapped his wings, then flopped dramatically on his belly in the courtyard.
