For a moment we were quiet. Hate and guilt mixed in my gut.

“I know you’re smarter than this,” he said finally.

“I needed work.”

“Needed wor—?” He pressed his fingers into his temples, taking a deep breath. “You know ten experienced debtera have already been through there, don’t you? Wasn’t that enough of a hint to stay away?”

“They told me you refused the job,” I said, forcing myself not to cry, even with tears burning the backs of my eyes. “Why?”

He looked at me like it was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. “What do you mean why?”

“You’re the only debtera alive who has experience with a hyena. Magnus probably would’ve paid you more than he’s paying me.”

“I’ve told you a thousand times, it’s dangerous to take a job purely for money. Wearing an amulet doesn’t mean you should deliberately tempt the Evil Eye.”

“But even without the money, he needs our help.”

“So?”

“How can you be so selfish?”

“Selfishness is a good survival habit.”

For a moment we didn’t speak, but the room was loud, regardless. My heart pounded in my ears, my throat was tight with a trapped sob. “All I need to know is how to cleanse it.”

“You’re not going back to that house.”

“You don’t get a say in my life anymore.”

“Then you don’t get to ask for my help.”

“Fine,” I said, grinding my teeth. I opened my satchel. “It’s not a favor, then. I’ll pay you for the information.”

Jember opened a drawer on the side table and took out his amulet. It was bigger than mine, on a heavier chain, most of the silver wrapped with black iridescent thread. He held up his amulet in my direction, warding off the money as I took it out from the secret pocket. “I’m not taking your tainted money.”

“This tainted money?” I said with a smirk, and dropped some on the dirt floor.

His glare was as cold as the castle I’d left. “Pick that up.”

“God knows you need it, old man.”

He put on his amulet. “I never accept money from a household that hasn’t been cleansed yet, and neither should you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing bad has happened to me.”

“Your bandaged hand says otherwise.”

I froze, the memory of the beast chilling me all over again, even in the heat of the desert, and suddenly I had no desire to tease him anymore. I picked up my money quickly and put it away. “You’re the only debtera in the past twenty years to have successfully cleansed a household of a hyena—that’s why the church recruited you. But you’ve never talked about how to cleanse it. Please, Jember. You’re the only one who can help me.”