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Only it wasn’t just one wall, but all of them.

And it wasn’t just the walls, but the floor. Crate upon crate labeledDUNNITCH POULTRY, stacked in careful piles, blocking half the countertops.

And the substance within each container was ink-colored. It glinted threateningly from every corner.

Idium.

A stack of sealed crates waited by the back door, iron-branded on the exterior.

The door beside it suddenly opened again, and in came Tess. This time she was not laden in dishes, but with a cast-iron pot half her size. She froze at the sight of me.

“Nina,” she said, stunned. Then slower: “What in God’s name are you doin’ down here?”

I tried to school my expression into one of polite surprise. I was still dressed in a nightgown. My feet were bare. I hope I looked as lost as I suddenly felt.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I couldn’t sleep. I hoped I could find some tea? I didn’t want to trouble anyone.” I twisted my hands together in a show of contrition.

She sighed. Slowly, she set the pot on a countertop, then wiped her hands in her apron. “Left the goddamn door unlocked for one minute,” she muttered, turning her eyes to the heavens.

“I apologize,” I said. “I hadn’t realized the kitchen was off-limits.”

“And my dumbstruck son didn’t think to mention it?”

I hesitated. I thought of the times Patrick had steered me away. “Not expressly.”

“Hmm,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Well. No one comes in here but the spare few. I’m sure you’ve figured out why.”

I looked again to all those mismatched bottles and canisters. Awed. A ready-made dispensary. “Is it idium?”

Tess Colson chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be the day? Perhaps then my sons would be satisfied.” She shook her head. “It’s only bluff. The unsullied kind.”

On closer inspection, it seemed she was right. “There’s so much,” I said redundantly.

“The brink needs medicine in droves,” she explained. “We export it to the other towns.”

“In exchange for food?” I deduced.

“Among other things. It’s important you keep this to yourself, Nina. I suppose it’ll be a test, if you like. No one should know where the stores are kept. Such information isn’t safe.”

“No,” came a different voice. I whirled to see Patrick standing in the doorway, his expression drawn and colorless. His shirt was partially unbuttoned, untucked. “It surely ain’t.” He pulled the door closed behind him.

“You should’ve told her not to come in here, son,” Tess reprimanded.

Patrick only looked at her briefly. “Excuse us a moment, Ma.”

Tess gave him a look of warning, muttered under her breath, then left.

Patrick’s eyes flickered back to me, and his were guarded but not angry. “How did you get in?”

“Your mother left the door unlocked,” I answered. I was surprised to find my voice was a whisper. All my bravado had fled. “I was looking for tea.”

He held my stare, and I was careful not to drop mine, though I wanted to.

He put his hands in his pockets, still wearing an indecipherable expression. “You might as well ask me your questions, Nina,” he said. “I can see ’em burning up inside you.”

I let my eyes skate over those shelves. “There’s so much of it.”

“That isn’t a question.”