Midnight Jewel (The Glittering Court #2)(29)

“Protection? Hardly. Lemon juice is a rookie’s trick. But Aspen didn’t know what reagents Silas was using these days.”

I didn’t know what a reagent was, so I pushed what I did know. “My father used ciphers and codes and masks and—”

“Yes, yes, I get that. What I don’t get is why he did all that if he wasn’t a spy.”

Grant looked at me expectantly, and I realized this was the last thing that stood between me and the job. No one in this new life of mine, except Cedric, knew about my father’s past. How would Grant take that knowledge? Deny me? Share it with others? I might not be an Alanzan, but no one would believe it. On the other hand, my gut told me that if I lied to Grant, he’d know.

“My father was a crusader of sorts. He was known best for smuggling Alanzans out of Sirminica. Before the war . . . well, the king and the church did horrible things to them. My father couldn’t stand aside and let that happen, even if we didn’t share their faith. He used every resource he had to help them—and that included his family.”

“Where is he now?”

“Dead.”

Grant’s expression didn’t change. “Okay, Mirabel,” he said at last. “I’ll sign on to this plan, fool that I am. What is there to lose? Aside from the entirety of Osfrid’s colonial holdings. And my future. But don’t trouble yourself over that.”

“You know, you make it a little hard for people to like you.”

“You don’t have to like me, Mirabel. You just have to work with me.”

“Most people call me Mira.”

“And I call you Mirabel. Now get out of here before someone finds you. I have enough to worry about without the Thorns coming after me.” He began replacing the trunk’s contents.

“Not yet. We haven’t talked about money. You said assets get paid.”

“You’re not getting two hundred. I’ll give you . . . twenty.”

“Fifty.”

“Thirty.”

“Fifty.”

He threw up his hands. “That’s not how negotiation works. You’re supposed to come back with forty, and then we settle on thirty-five.”

“Fifty,” I repeated.

“You’re a little short of your contract price, you know.”

I let him think that paying my Glittering Court contract was my primary goal. “I’ll worry about that other one hundred fifty.”

“You’re going to have to worry about one hundred sixty. Because I can’t go over forty. I’m already giving away money that isn’t mine to give.”

I bit off a protest and asked instead, “Could you use your resources—the agency’s resources—to track a bond servant who came into Cape Triumph last year?”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the bunk. “Ah. Got someone else in mind for a husband?”

“Nothing like that. He’s—a family friend.” Even across the sea, I couldn’t reveal Lonzo’s identity. “I know the company he signed on with, but I don’t know who bought the bond or where they went. Just somewhere in the outer colonies.”

“No.”

“You didn’t think about that for very long.”

“I don’t have to. Even if I got Silas to sign off on using our connections, it’s nearly impossible to track a poorly documented bondsman. And I’ve just got too much other stuff going on to waste my time with that.”

“But—”

“No, Mirabel.”

I kept the disappointment off my face. “If you can’t help with that, then I’m not budging on fifty.”

“Come on!”

“Fifty—or no deal. You’ll regret it if you lose me.”

“I have a feeling I’ll regret this no matter what.” Grant held out his hand to me. “Fifty it is.”





CHAPTER 8


I NEVER LOOKED AT GRANT THE SAME WAY AGAIN.

Or at least, I never looked at his public persona the same way again. As our journey went on, I continually felt like I was at the theater. Whenever I ran into him in the company of others, he’d behave as the paragon of etiquette. I couldn’t take it seriously, not when I’d seen his true nature: gruff, sarcastic, and blunt. He looked the same but might as well have been putting on another disguise.

“You know how to be nice,” I told him one day as we stood at the upper deck’s railing, a few weeks into the journey. “You know how to be genteel. Why not just do it all the time? You’d make more friends.”

“What makes you think I don’t already have legions of friends? And just because I know how to do it doesn’t mean it feels natural. I know how to wear a suit, and I don’t really like that either.” He tugged at his collar.

“There’s wearing it, and there’s wearing it. And yours don’t fit. A little tailoring would do wonders. Didn’t that letter say your mentor’s office is in a tailor’s shop? Maybe you can get a discount when we arrive.”

Grant shook his head in exasperation. “Congratulations on your amazing memory. Now tell me how you used it to learn something.”

This had become a game of ours. Every day, I’d try to discover something new about one of the passengers, either by outright eavesdropping or coaxing them into conversation. It wasn’t always easy. I could find a reason to talk to girls from the other manor, but propriety frowned on my striking up a conversation with a sailor or even an unknown male passenger. I’d started to enjoy these tests. Adelaide rarely wanted to come above deck anymore, and Grant—frustrating or not—was a good diversion.