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I shrugged. “Can’t stand the smell.”

“Have mercy,” he muttered, throwing the cigarette into the grass and stamping it out with his foot. He stood then, Isaiah following suit. The dog lapped at his fingers, expecting adventure. “Come on, Scurry girl,” Patrick said, offering his hand. Confidently. Expectantly.

We were twelve in a courtyard again, only this time, the name was a caress, the rumble of his voice cradling the words.

“Is this the part where you drag me back?”

For a moment, he seemed to consider it. “Temptin’, but I get the impression you’d only pick the locks. You said you wanted to see Kenton Hill, didn’t you?”

I stared at his hand like it bore teeth. “And you’re planning on escorting me?”

It seemed he’d grown bored of my hesitancy, because he bent to take my hand from my lap and pulled me upright.

His hand remained around mine for longer than necessary, thumb pressed to knuckles, fingers curling over mine.

Every inch of his skin burned hot.

“If you plan to skulk about town, I’d better come with you.”

“And what if someone recognizes the infamous earth Charmer?”

“Who, Nina Clarke?” he said, finally dropping my hand. “Never met her.”

CHAPTER 22NINA

We walked slowly back alongside the canal, keeping a careful distance between us. The men fishing at its edge barely paid us any mind as we passed them.

“Is there no river for them to fish in?” I asked Patrick. Ahead, the tall brick walls came closer, riddled in lichen and soot, slowly blacking out the sky.

Patrick shook his head. “No water outside the canals,” he said. “We’re too far from the mountains, and too high. If I was a godly man, I’d say Idia chose this place to build her canals because we needed them most.”

I peered at him. “You don’t believe there’s a God?”

Patrick chuckled, low and bitter. “Oh, I believe there’s a God,” he said. “But I’d spit in his hand before I shook it.”

I got the sense that I should ask no more questions about that, though I desperately wanted to. I thought of what I’d seen in all those towns and wanted to tell him that I felt the same.

“I’ve never seen a canal so clean,” I said instead. “How did you manage it?”

“We have experts.”

“Experts in drawing pollution from the water?”

“Something like that.”

“And if there’s no other water, then why choke it off?” I wondered. “Your farms must be suffering.”

“We don’t have farms, Nina. The land here’s no good for farming. No good for much but coal.”

I looked at him incredulously. “But how are you feeding all these people, if you’ve blocked all method of import?”

“Now, I never said there were no imports, did I?”

Oh, of course, I thought.The tunnels.

He grinned. “Always hungerin’ for all the things you don’t know.” He shook his head. “Have you forgotten all those union members outside this town? We ain’t the only ones fighting the fight. There are plenty who are willing to trade.”

We reached a skinny path between the canal and the brick facade, and he gestured for me to go ahead of him. His breath whispered against my neck from behind, and I shivered. “So you make your deals with them, and they pass along their goods?”