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“Good,” she said. “We’ve got an entire town to protect, to provide for. We do what must be done, however unseemly it is. If we must rid the world of one prissy Artisan to remain hidden, then I myself will pull the trigger.”

I blanched. My chest rose and fell seismically. “I don’t mean any harm to your people,” I said unevenly. “Whatever you do, I’m sure it is only to ensure their safety.”

For the first time since arriving in Kenton Hill, I was peacekeeping. Twisting words to please. Shame clawed at my throat.

Tess Colson only snorted. “Safety?” she echoed. “You think safety is all we want? No,” she said, picking a loose thread from my sleeve. “If that was it, we’d not have started a revolution, now, would we? What we want is a fair fuckin’ chance.”

I did not have the gall to break eye contact.

“Do you really think you can help us with that, Miss Harrow?”

I pressed my lips into a thin line, tried to regulate my breaths.Run, my blood beckoned.Run.“I can carve the tunnels Patrick tells me to,” I managed. “Whether it’s a help to your cause is no concern of mine.”

“Ah, yes,” Tess nodded sagely. “A war-shy neutral.” She said it the way one would describe an infection. “So, your plan is to dig some holes, then catch a fare to far-off lands, eh?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice regaining strength. “Patrick made me a deal, and I accepted.”

“Is that a promise?”

“It is.”

“And are you a woman of your word?”

“In this instance, I’d be shot for breaking it,” I reminded her.

She grinned, surprise momentarily brightening her features. “Just don’t break any hearts along the way, miss. Keep your pretty eyes where they ought to be—on those far-off lands.”

My mouth dried, but I nodded once, ceding to the warning.

The clamor in the pub seemed to have died down. The door pushed open, and Patrick appeared. He eyed the two of us, standing none too far apart, with immediate wariness. “They’re clearing out,” he said to his mother. “They’ve had enough booze for the night.”

Tess nodded. “And Kirkby?” She was still staring at me, inspecting the curls falling free from their pins and the collar that closed at the hollow of my throat. “We pay that dullard enough.”

“Well, Ma, unless you want me to kill him, we’ll be payin’ him some more.”

Tess turned her head to Patrick, skewering him with her expression. Either he had the skin of a marble statue, or he was far more used to her mettle than I. Even without her glare on me, I withered.

“Bribin’ coppers only shuts ’em up for so long,” she snapped. “Your father taught you that.”

“The coppers haven’t worked a day in seven years, Ma,” he said tiredly. “They send their special scribbles to their lords in the city saying all is well in old Kenton, and it lets us live another day. We need them here, alive, and willin’ to turn their heads.”

Tess watched him with reproach. “Put her back behind a lockeddoor, son.” No guesses as to whoshewas. “We’ve had enough trouble for one day.”

She strode past Patrick, through the swinging door without a backward glance.

My jaw unclenched.

“In case it isn’t already clear,” Patrick said, eyes closing. I wondered if he’d fall asleep right there against the wall. “That’s why you should’ve stayed in your room.”

It didn’t seem right to argue while he looked so… tired. I said nothing at all.

“There’re a lot of people in this town who’d like to stick it to me, Nina. If they were clever, they’d useyouto ruin my plans.”

I thought of all the people in the pub tonight, placing their woes at his feet, but then standing with him in the face of police. I wanted to tell Patrick that there were also people who relied on him. Admired him.

“Can’t trust a single one of ’em,” he muttered to himself, then pushed away from the wall. “Off you go,” he said, gesturing to the stairs. “I’ll have someone bring you something to eat.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I can’t eat in the dining room?”