CHAPTER 30

“This is all we have,” Magnus said, laying out two swords, three rifles, a case of pistols, and a handful of kitchen knives. He blinked at my significantly larger pile of household items. “What is all that junk?”

It was easy to find weapons in such a huge house. Curtain rods, fireplace tools, plenty of solid-wood broomsticks that could be sharpened into spears or used as clubs.

But I guess if you weren’t used to fighting for your life, they could more easily be overlooked.

“You need a little more imagination,” I said. “And these”—I moved the knives away from everything else—“won’t do any good. We want long-range weapons, only.”

“Ever heard of ‘knife throwing’?”

“That’s a thing?”

“They do it all the time in the carnivals in Prague.”

“What’s a carnival?”

“It’s the greatest show on earth.” Magnus grinned and took my hand, lighting it on fire, a feeling so glorious I never wanted to let go. “When this is all over, I’ll take you.”

I blushed, turning away to sort the weapons. “I’ve never been out of the country before.”

“We’ll be able to go anywhere. Everywhere. You’ll love it.”

“Well, I mean, I have to see if there’s time between clients.”

“Oh.” His smile slipped away slowly. “Right. Of course. Your job.”

“Why work for a patronage if you’re not going to use it afterward?” My words sounded shallow to my own ears, but I couldn’t stop them. I was doing to Magnus exactly what I hated Jember for doing to Saba.

He helped me sort, though he was sorting differently than I was and messing up everything I’d done. “I was thinking about hiring someone to run the chocolate business. I mean, when I’m twenty-one and it’s mine to command. They’ll do all the boring business things, and I’ll get to sit back and focus on my art.”

“Really?” I’d been counting the weapons but lost the number somewhere between twenty-one and twenty-six. “That’s great. You should definitely do what you’re passionate about.”

“I figure you can do art any time of the day and still be able to sell portraits overseas. At night, for instance. Plenty of countries are awake while we’re asleep.”

I lost count again and stopped trying. “Magnus, we really need to get these things organized.”

“And debtera work at night, too. So, you know, we’d be awake at the same time.”

“Right. Okay.” I raised my eyebrows at him. What did art and exorcism have to do with each other? “Are you going to help me with these weapons?”

“We could be together,” he clarified. “And we could be nocturnal.”