Anji felt her cheeks flush and looked around the room while Kit said something unintelligible into Jared’s shoulder. He held Kit at arm’s length, wiping away a tear and coughing a choked laugh, his hands on Kit’s bony shoulders.

“Food,” he said, “and tea.” He looked her up and down. “Maybe something a bit stronger.”

Kit actually giggled, then let herself out of Jared’s grasp and bent to the mattress to gather her things. She was nearly back to the door where Jared stood waiting when she caught Anji’s eye.

The room rang with a terse silence, and Anji caught a frown twisting at Jared’s mouth, but Kit spoke before either of them could.

“Up,” said Kit, her face stony once more. She ran shaking fingers through her gray tangles and rolled her eyes to Jared. “I hope she hasn’t given you any trouble. She isn’t exactly—”

Jared held up a hand. “None at all,” he said. “Let’s eat.”

Chapter 29

29

Berip skirted around the table, hardly making eye contact with Kit. Anji sagged in her chair and relished her wrists’ newfound freedom, the absence of the hunger that had taken root in her stomach over the last few days. The kitchen gurgled and creaked around her, steam wafting from the ever-churning stew on the stove. The little boy flashed his giant green eyes once at the woman sitting at Jared’s side, then scooped up a dirty dish from the middle of the table and brought it to the wash basin.

“Quite the cook,” said Kit, shoving her half-eaten bowl toward the table’s center.

“He’s not useful for much else around here,” Jared said, not unkindly. He cast a look across the space at Berip who was now pushing a broom with mixed success across the floor on the island’s opposite side. The scratching bits of straw filled the silence for a moment before Kit leaned forward across the table and grabbed Jared’s veiny hand with her liver-spotted one.

“I meant to come back,” she said, as though Anji wasn’t in the room. “There weren’t enough of us yet, and I didn’t know—”

Jared waved away her comment, but didn’t remove his other hand from hers. “There’s no need, Kit. I’m doing alright for myself here.”

“We have the numbers now,” said Kit, her voice even. Her slim frame was perched halfway over the table. “This job will more than cover bribes and supplies. There’s a garrison stationed on the Everrun’s western shore—out of sight, with more coming in every day. We could still do this. It’s already happening.”