Chapter 6 #2
Greer snorted with laughter. “Thank you, Valentine,” he said, nodding to the amused young man. “Penny is my guest, not my boy.”
“Your boy?” Penny whipped to stare incredulously at Greer. “I am most definitely not your boy.”
“I beg your pardon,” Valentine said, backing away and bowing to Penny. “I meant no offence.”
“Offending Valentine is not a good way to begin your examination,” Titus told Penny, though he seemed to find the whole thing amusing, too.
“Examination?” Penny demanded, eyes going wide. “Oh, no. No one is examining me.”
He took a step back, seemingly frantic, and for a moment, Greer thought he might run.
“Please forgive us,” Brutus said, stepping forward with genuine concern. “We have all started on the wrong foot here. Allow us to explain more about our purpose here at the Den. I can assure you that nothing that has been said or done tonight was meant to ignite any unpleasant memories.”
Penny tensed even more, a hollow look of fear coming to his eyes. Greer frowned, curious about what Brutus knew that he did not.
Instead of taking a seat on the cushion Valentine quickly added next to the one intended for Greer, Penny balled his hands into fists and said, “Greer tells me you’ve singled me out for a housebreaking job in Cornwall. Why me?”
Greer sighed and walked around Penny so he could sit.
He was beginning to think he should have made more of a point of asking that question, too, and he was eager to learn the answer.
Listening to Brutus explain would be as entertaining as watching the dancers, who had fallen in a heap of pillows in the center of the room and were now engaged in sucking each other off.
“Please, sit,” Brutus offered. “Have food and drink.”
Penny wavered on his spot for a moment before moving to sit.
“You have a boy we all thought was dead dressed in silks and having his guts rearranged by a man who looks like he has a title, you know something of my past, and you want to send me to Cornwall to rescue, or perhaps kidnap, someone from a castle,” he said. “Your explanations had better be good.”
Titus frowned at Greer, as if he’d spilled information he shouldn’t have.
Brutus, as usual, took the whole thing in stride.
“This is The Zagreus Den,” he explained. “We are a gang like any of the sort you are used to in Whitechapel. We have a network of activity that stretches across London and the rest of England. We lie, we cheat, and we steal. Our central club, as you can see, is a den of pleasure and iniquity.”
“And this is supposed to sway me to your side?” Penny asked incredulously.
Greer had to cover the lower half of his face with one hand to stop himself from laughing.
“We also rescue young men from certain death on the streets,” Brutus explained. “We expand their natural inclinations, and if they choose, we provide them with an owner who will take care of them for life.”
Penny snorted and shook his head.
“We also educate them, sometimes in trade, so that they can create new and safer lives for themselves, should they not wish to continue on as a slave,” Titus said, clearly still uncertain about Penny. “We help them find placement back in the world, if that is what they wish.”
“How philanthropic,” Penny said, still unconvinced.
“The Zagreus Den operates throughout London,” Brutus picked up the explanation.
“We run a highly profitable operation, but those profits go back to those who need it rather than into our own pockets. We have paid for buildings to be restored so that families can live in them, for doctors to treat the sick that London’s hospitals will not touch.
We have provided food, fuel, and clothing to hundreds in East London in the dead of winter. ”
Penny’s mouth twitched, and Greer thought he saw some of the tension slip away from his shoulders. “Name one thing you’ve done that I would know about,” Penny challenged him.
Brutus smiled. “We burned down The Eagle and Dove,” he said.
Greer blinked, no idea what that meant.
Penny, on the other hand, sucked in a deep breath, his eyes going wide. “That was you?” he asked in a suddenly small, tremulous voice.
“It was,” Brutus said with a simple nod.
For several seconds after that, Penny and Brutus stared at each other. Greer fought off an inconvenient stab of jealousy. He didn’t have any claim over Penny, but he didn’t like that Brutus obviously knew something about his ginger friend that he did not.
“Is this mission you wish me to accomplish with Greer payment for that?” Penny asked tentatively.
“Not at all,” Brutus said with a smile, taking the glass of wine Valentine knelt beside the table to offer him. “But I would think that you, of all people, would understand the necessity of rescuing a young man held captive from his fate.”
Penny paled. When Valentine offered him a cup, he shook his head and waved it away. “I cannot leave London,” he said the same thing he’d told Greer half a dozen times already, but with a new note of grief in his voice.
Brutus wasn’t expecting the refusal any more than Greer had. “Is there a reason why?” he asked.
“I have a sister,” Penny said at once. “She’s…delicate. I cannot abandon her at the boarding house where we currently live. Mrs. Hunt hates her and has threatened to turn her out if I ever disappear on her.”
Brutus frowned in concern. “Surely, for the right sum, Mrs. Hunt might be convinced to allow your absence.”
Penny shook his head. “She won’t. Helen is…she’s…she’s like a child, though she’s well into her twenties.”
“She’s mad?” Titus asked.
“Don’t say that!” Penny shouted with surprising feeling. “Don’t you ever call her that. Helen isn’t mad. She’s not damaged. She’s an angel.”
“I am sorry,” Titus said, holding up a hand to make peace.
“I’ve met her,” Greer stepped in, wondering whether it was the right thing to do. “She’s a sweet and innocent soul, but utterly incapable of caring for herself in any way. She would be taken to an asylum if Mrs. Hunt turns her out.”
“I see,” Brutus said with a frown.
The conversation ground to a stop. It was plain to Greer that Brutus did not know what to do about the unexpected turn of events.
Penny looked uncertain as well. He finally took up the cup Valentine had cleverly left in front of him.
When he took a sip, his brow flew up in surprise, likely at the quality of the wine.
An idea flew into Greer’s head out of nowhere.
Perhaps it was the way Valentine had anticipated all of their needs or the general air of contentment from the young men who had once nearly died on the street.
Whatever it was, it caused him to blurt out, “What if the Den sheltered Helen while Penny and I went to Cornwall?”
Brutus, Titus, and Penny all looked shocked at the idea.
“This is not the sort of place I want my sister to reside,” Penny said with a brittle laugh.
“This is only one part of the Den,” Brutus said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “There are rooms within the compound that never see this sort of decadence.”
“We cannot become responsible for a woman whose requirements might be more than we are capable of fulfilling,” Titus argued.
“If you did take my sister in, would you feed her and make sure she was washed, clothed, and comfortable?” Penny asked carefully. Greer could practically see his mind racing to determine the balance between risk and reward.
“No one at The Zagreus Den ever goes hungry,” Brutus said. It wasn’t a promise, but Greer could see he, too, was weighing the idea of giving Helen shelter.
“We cannot commit to something that could prove disruptive for all without knowing whether the investment would be worthy,” Titus said, once again being the stubborn one. Or perhaps the voice of reason.
“Are you saying I couldn’t accomplish this Cornwall castle-break?” Penny asked, his cockiness shining through his concern.
Greer liked it. More than liked it. He found himself wanting to charge castle walls and swim infested moats with Penny at his side, if only for fun.
“I am saying that you’re a pickpocket,” Titus said. “You’re not even a housebreaker’s apprentice.”
“I could do it,” Penny argued. “You’re the ones who believe I can do it. You told Greer to seek me out and ask me to help him.”
Greer’s smile dropped. “I do not need help.”
Penny twisted to stare at him. “Then what is all this for?”
Greer didn’t have an answer. He didn’t need help breaking into any house in England. He did like the idea of slipping into Penny’s trousers, though.
“I propose a test,” Brutus said after a few moments of puzzled silence.
“A test?” Penny asked suspiciously.
Brutus glanced to his brother, then smiled and said, “Prove that you can housebreak as well as pick pockets. Prove that it would be worth the potential complications of The Zagreus Den assuming temporary responsibility for your sister.”
Greer wasn’t sure he liked where Brutus was going with his test, but he noted the change in Penny’s expression when Helen was mentioned.
“How?” Penny asked. “How do you want me to prove myself?”
Brutus looked at his brother again, then said, “We are in need of a certain set of documents currently in the possession of Lord Pennington of Berkeley Square.”
Greer drew in a breath, knowing what the test would be.
“And?” Penny prompted Brutus.
“And if you and Greer are able to obtain them for us, then we will feel confident that we can entrust you with this mission,” Brutus continued. “If we’re confident in your abilities, we will feel secure caring for your sister while you and Greer are in Cornwall.”
Greer shook his head. “I’m not sure—”
“I’ll do it,” Penny said. “I’ll break into Lord Whoever’s house in Mayfair and steal some papers. As long as you swear to me that you will keep Helen safe here while I’m gone.”
“That is the bargain I am willing to make,” Brutus said with a smile. He extended his hand to Penny.
“It’s the bargain I agree to,” Penny said, matching his smile.
“Wait one moment,” Greer said, wanting to get his opinion in.
But it was too late. Penny and Brutus had already agreed to the plan, and Greer couldn’t do anything but go along with it.