“I, er, yup . . .” Ed Gemmell fiddled with the straps of his backpack. “Heh. Can’t really argue with that.”

“Can you imagine being so naive as to start university already in a relationship?” Vectra returned to the Grace issue.

Esther was very aware of Ed Gemmell looking at her when she said, “I know. What a chump.”

Vectra shrugged. “Screw love.”

“Yeah, screw it. Hammer it. Sand it down like a dodgy plank.” Esther stopped herself. Would Vectra respect this level of DIY puns? It was a risk . . . but Vectra gave her an indecipherable look before nodding toward the S.U.

“Want to come bitch about love with me over a disappointing panini?”

“Sure!” Esther beamed, dialing it down a bit when she saw Vectra’s expression.

“I . . . er . . .” Ed Gemmell looked wildly about and pointed in the opposite direction. “Just got to go do a thing.”

They watched him scurry off toward the English faculty.

“You should keep him around.” Vectra nodded after him. “Virgins make excellent sacrifices.”

Already, the walk up to the House of Zoise was starting to feel less like a journey to a yoga session and more like coming home. It helped that the walk between the Archaeology Department and the suburb in which Jasper and Elise lived took Daisy through one of Sheffield’s many parks. Sometimes, if she closed her eyes and held her breath, she could imagine she was back in Crickleton, the ploop of an upended duck in the pond, a breeze riffling the last of the leaves, the damp grass turning the toes of her shoes soggy . . .

The hiss of tires from an oncoming cyclist, about to knock her over.

You didn’t get that in Crickleton. No one there was ever in enough of a hurry.

When Daisy knocked on the door, Sister Chloe opened it. Sister Chloe had been inducted into the Brethren the week before Daisy and wore a cyan belt around her robe.

“Hi, Daisy—no, wait.” She stopped Daisy from coming in. “Zoise embraces you. Welcome, Sister.”

Chloe grinned as she opened the door wide. She held a duster in her free hand, and a can of furniture polish peeped out of the pocket of her robe. Noticing the direction of Daisy’s glance, Chloe shrugged. “So, I couldn’t get any of my friends to come, and I don’t want to just hand over all my stuff, but, like, I want to progress. Get the goods and the belts. So I had a word with Jasper, and he’s put in this scheme where you can volunteer to share your time with the Brethren. So if I come here, sleep in Mei’s barely occupied bedroom, and do all the housework for a week, bing, bang, bosh, I’ve paved my path to the next level.”

“You sleep here?” Envy nipped at Daisy’s insides; how lucky Chloe was to spend more time with Elise.