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“Then where?” Polly replied. There was a desperate quality to her voice, though her expression was trained. “You need to ask him outright, Nina.”

I closed my eyes briefly. “I’m trying.” But it seemed any angle I tried, I failed, and my panic renewed.

Polly sighed. “Otto and Scottie brought crates in this morning from Dunnitch. Usually, the shipments are brought straight here to the market and some are left in the tunnels for safe keeping, but not these. These went right to the back of Colson’s.”

I frowned at her. “You think it’s idium?”

“I don’t know, but Dunnitch has the closest terranium mines. It would make sense to have the Alchemist there.”

“And you’re sure they brought them crated to Colson’s?”

“I watched it from my window,” she said, a hint of shame wheedling through. “Otto came to my room straight after. He told me where he’d traveled from.”

I exhaled deeply. “I’ll check the kitchens when it’s safe.”

Polly’s hand gripped the underside of my arm then, squeezing it urgently. “Please, Nina. Don’t wait. Every day makes the risk greater.”

I shriveled. “I’m trying, Polly.”

“That’s not enough. There’s too much at stake.” Her eyes flickered back the way they’d come, to where I was sure Otto sat, waiting for her. “Please, try harder.”

Polly returned to the card table without me, weaving through the crowd, leaving me to trail behind. By the time she reached Otto, she was smiling brightly again.

I tried to do the same.

Patrick was talking quietly with his mother as I returned. He kissed her on the cheek and she left, smiling tiredly at me before doing so.

“Is your mother all right?” I asked him, arriving at his side.

He put his drink on the table and nodded. “Just tired,” he said. “Sit with me.”

I went to draw out a seat at his side, but his hand closed around my wrist, and he pulled me gently into his lap, enveloped me. “That’s not what I meant,” he said into my ear.

I felt heat climbing my neck. “I’m a mess,” I reminded him. “And I must smell awful.”

“Like I give a shit,” he murmured, one hand subtly caressing the curve of my arse, and I felt desire flare inside me.

“Teddy!” Gunner called suddenly, and I startled at the sight of Theo standing at the end of the table. He was newly dressed, his hair, indeed, neatly combed. He wore the expression of a man chewing on something sour.

His eyes swept over me in Patrick’s lap, then Polly, who was sheltered under Otto’s arm. He nodded, as though to himself, and rolled his jaw.

“You look sharp, Teddy boy!” Gunner drawled, hitting him heartily on the back. “Have a drink.”

But it appeared Theo had already done so. He held up a glass with only dregs at its bottom. “I took the liberty,” he explained, and downed the final swill.

Gunner eyed the cords in Theodore’s neck in a hungry way. “You know what you need, Teddy? A woman. Or a man, if you’re so inclined. Work out some o’ that hum in your drum.”

“Gunner,” I reproached, tensing.

But Patrick squeezed my leg. “Let it be,” he said very softly.

And was it my imagination, or did Patrick nod ever-so-slightly in Gunner’s direction?

“What say you, Teddy? We can rent you a warm body for the night. My treat.”

The other men laughed. Polly went rigid. Surreptitiously, Patrick maneuvered me onto the chair by his side.

“Whores and bluff,” Theo nodded, staring into the depths of his glass. “Your favorite remedies, Gunner, are they not?”