Chapter 43
The name of the teahouse was Spheres.
Ren had forgotten that detail, but not the scent or the sight. This was where she’d had her first date with Pree Williams. A small line had formed at the entrance. Unable to seat customers in their exposed interior, the shop had rolled tables out into the street and scattered a selection of mismatched chairs around them. It was a fine enough morning that most of the seats were taken and gossip was already being traded back and forth. Boiling teas filled the air with steam. Ren’s eyes were inevitably drawn to the opposite side of the building.
Most of the debris had been cleared away, but that didn’t make the damage look any less devastating. Half of the roof had caved in when the seventeen-string crashed from above. She remembered a run of stained-glass windows on that side of the building. Now their frames were empty and colorless. Ren was surprised to see the instrument was still sitting there, a nearly unrecognizable mass of twisted wood and snapped strings. It had landed a few tables down from where she and Pree had sat on their date. Ren stared at that exposed section of the shop before turning to Theo.
“Stay here,” she whispered. “Vega, with me.”
He gave a silent nod as the bird fluttered to her shoulder. Heads turned as Ren made her way across the street. She was dressed this morning as befitted a future member of House Brood. It always helped to look the part. She wore a tailored plaid jacket that cost more than the rest of her wardrobe put together. Ren had chosen matching leather gloves and boots, both the same stormy gray color. Vega completed the look, talons clutched silently to Ren’s padded shoulder. All were compliments of Theo’s vast bank accounts.
She hated how quickly the folks in line shuffled to make way for her. Ren very deliberately took her place at the back of the line and waited for them to understand she had no intention of passing over anyone. There were some unsettled glances, but tea was being ordered, and the only sin at a teahouse was to dally before you had a drink in your hand. Slowly the line moved. Orders were taken until Ren reached the front. She saw customers at a serving table nearby, stirring honey too slowly into their tea, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation. Ren smiled at a boy her age.
“I need to speak to the owner.”
His throat bobbed. “Right. Of course. Um. Can you…”
“I can wait.”
He ducked back inside. Several of the servers eyed her through a window. The boy returned a few moments later, escorting a woman Ren knew she’d seen before. She was tall and aproned. Her hair was in a tight braid, shot through with silver. She looked as if she’d lived a year or two in the last couple of days. Seeing someone like Ren was no comfort to her, but still she gestured warmly.
“Right this way.”
Ren was led through the front entrance. The servers were busy inside, but she still caught glances from each of them as she passed. There was a sense of foreboding in the looks they exchanged. People dressed like she was dressed did not come to places like this with any sort of good news. Salt in the wound, no doubt. More empty promises, perhaps. Ren didn’t speak until they reached a back office area. It was little more than an organized closet with a makeshift desk. She was offered a hard-backed chair. The woman’s eyes flicked briefly to Vega before settling on Ren.
“My name is Marlow. My husband and I own the teahouse. We’ve already reported what happened to the constables. How can I help you?”
“That is the question I was going to ask you. My name is Ren Monroe. I’m here on behalf of the Brood family.”
She watched for some sign of recognition. A curling lip or a tight fist. Anything at all. But after a moment Marlow shook her head. “The Broods who built the canal?”
It confirmed Ren’s suspicion. No one had ever told Marlow any of what had actually happened. Likely the investigation was “ongoing.” The city’s warden and his loyal constables would chase down leads, interview witnesses, and report back some nebulous outcome. There was no telling who the guilty party was, they would say, even though hundreds of witnesses had been on hand that night.
There would be no official link to House Brood. Unless Ren delivered one.
“I know who was responsible for what happened to your teahouse,” she said. “There was a party in the Brood family’s villa in the Heights that night. It’s located almost directly above where we are standing now. Theo Brood attempted a magic that failed. In doing so, he dropped that seventeen-string on your tea shop.”
She saw a dark storm churning beneath Marlow’s tidy expression. She had claimed to be here on behalf of the Broods. The easiest step in her mind would be to mark Ren as an enemy.
“Why are you here? Did you come to gloat about how you’d get away with it?”
“For atonement,” Ren answered.
“Ah. I was wondering where this was going. Blood money.”
Ren nodded at that. “Far better than no money at all. That’s what will happen, by the way. The investigation will turn up no suspects. It will be framed as a mystery. One that you cannot investigate because you have no access to the Heights. No contacts that could inform you otherwise. You’ll be left to pick up the remnants of this store on your own. Justice is not waiting around the corner. It’s already been decided. You will lose.”
“So, what, you think you can just buy your way out of this?”
Ren couldn’t help admiring Marlow’s resolve. It was a proper woman, raised in the Lower Quarter, who would spit at such an offer. She tried a different approach.
“Do you know the name Roland Monroe?”
Marlow’s eyes narrowed. “He was one of the men who organized the Canal Riots.”
Ren nodded. “I am his daughter. House Brood was responsible for his death. I’ve spent most of my life trying to access the power that killed him. I am not truly a Brood. There’s no gold running through these veins. Only the same iron that’s in yours. I have, however, been afforded a rare opportunity. I am inside their pretty little house now. I have every intention of burning it to the ground, but before I do that, I would use the resources at my disposal to do some good.”
She reached into her jacket pocket and held up a fresh money slip from the bank.
“Name your price.”
Marlow looked like she still wasn’t sure whether or not to believe any of this. When Ren maintained her serious expression, she snorted. “Sure. Twenty thousand mids should do the trick.”
“That’s just for repairs?”
Marlow nodded. “Yes.”
“You mistake me. This is not an invitation to make ends meet. Dream bigger. I don’t want the number that will restore the teahouse to what it was. I want the number that would help you make it what you’ve always thought it might be. Once you have that number, write it down.”
Ren slid the blank money slip across the table. Marlow chewed on her lip for a moment. She reached out, picked up a writing utensil, and scribbled a figure. Ren didn’t even look at the number. She turned the slip around and nodded once.
“I’ll make sure this money arrives in your account. Before I go, I have one more question for you. If you wouldn’t mind…”
Ren found Theo waiting in the alleyway. Marlow had written a list for Ren. She slid that piece of paper into his waiting palm. “Names and addresses,” she said. “Those are the victims. Everyone who got hurt that night. Marlow marked the ones who would appreciate a visit. She also marked the ones who would prefer a faceless deposit in their account.” Ren drew a little closer to him. “I know some of those names, Theo. Aunts who played cards with my mother. Friends I went to school with. If you want to be a different kind of Brood, it starts right now. It starts with them.”
Resolve flowed across their bond. She didn’t need to look him in the eye to know that he fully intended to make all of this right, or at least as right as it could be made with deep pockets and a few apologies. She knew it was better than what any other Brood would have done.
“I have an appointment at Balmerick,” Ren said. “Agora’s waiting for me.”
He nodded. “Take Vega with you.”
The stone bird fluttered slightly before settling once more on Ren’s shoulder. She tapped one of the stone talons before nodding in return. “You’re doing the right thing, Theo.”
“Because of you.”
A final look, and then they both headed their separate ways.