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The ceiling was bowed in its middle, like it might split at any moment. The four walls were papered in faded cherry blossoms, the only break in the pattern coming from a crack along one wall and the window fitted with a bench. The bed was made of timber, the mattress lumpy, even with its neat coverings. It was a room redrawn from a hundred other rooms I’d occupied before. Sparse. Small. Dark.

But pipes fed through the plaster and hung over a large basin, and there were valves on the sides. A chute wedged beneath the other side of the windowsill, disappearing over the roof tiles. By the bed was a cord that hung from a sconce, and I could not fathom its use.

A large bleached rug covered the floorboards, and a squat wardrobe sat beside the door.

“There are some clothes and linen in there,” Patrick said, watching me closely. “If you need anything else, ask for Mrs. Colson.”

I spun. “Your wife?”But of course he should have a wife. He’s not twelve anymore.

“Mymother,” he corrected. “And the innkeeper.”

The bar maiden with blue eyes flashed through my mind again.Colson & Sons.I exhaled and nodded. “You didn’t strike me as an innkeeper.”

He smiled thinly. It did not reach his eyes. “It will be less complicated if I don’t strike you as anythin’.”

My pulse quickened. It suddenly seemed entirely improper that we should be standing in this room together, door pressed shut at my back.

I shifted uncomfortably. Why did it have to be him?

He looked down at my legs, then back to my eyes. “You’re nervous,” he accused softly.

My face heated. “Shouldn’t I be? I was knocked unconscious and brought here blindfolded.”

He tsked. “Scottie lets his nerves get the better of him sometimes. He’ll be properly scolded, I assure you.”

I chewed over something I wanted to say but wasn’t sure how to. “Those people downstairs. They seem…afraidof you.”

He was slow to answer. “Do they?”

“You threatened to cut that man.” I pressed, my fingers trembling. “And I’m supposed to believe you won’t lay a hand on me?”

He went still then. Pensive. His hands moved to his pockets, and he buried them. I found myself unable to look elsewhere, though every instinct suggested I should.

“It’s not wise to trust anyone at all, Nina Harrow, though it might ease your mind to know that we won’t be seein’ much of each other after tonight. You needn’t be nervous.”

I raised my eyebrows skeptically.

“Earth charmin’,” he said, by way of explanation. “That’s all I need from you. When it’s time, you’ll go to the tunnels and move the earth so that we can get where we need to go undetected. Our diggers will help you where they can. Until then, you won’t be bothered.”

“That’s how you’ve stayed hidden all this time?” I asked. “You move about in tunnels?”

“We’re miners,” he said, and I hated the smirk in his voice. “It ain’t so mysterious.”

“And what of the information you mentioned?” I asked. I wondered what intel I could possibly have that he wanted.

“I’ll have someone collect you when there’s somethin’ we need to know.”

I frowned. “We?”

“Colson and Sons.” False grandeur colored his tone. He gestured to the room around him as though it were a showpiece. “In the meantime, you’ll rest. Sam will wait outside your door, should you need somethin’.”

I glanced back at the door in question. “He’ll wait there all night?”

“He’s paid handsomely to do so.”

“And if I should wish to explore Kenton Hill? I’d like to see the landscape. Perhaps visit Idia’s Canal.” A small eagerness kindled in the pit of my stomach. I thought of the main street of Kenton Hill and its many oddities.

Patrick sighed, pulled a cigarette from the inside of his coat. “You know Idia’s Canal, do you?”