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The door opened before they could respond, creaking desperately on its hinges.

Scottie stood on the other side in the same miner’s clothing he only ever seemed to wear.

“Mornin’, Sam, Polly,” Scottie greeted, moving his tremendous body aside. “Teddy.”

Theo rolled his eyes. I noticed that his demeanor had turned sullen. He kept close to me as we stepped inside.

But Polly smiled easily as she crossed the threshold. “I believe you owe me a debt, Mr. Brooks,” she said, patting Scottie on the shoulder as she entered.

“Aye,” Scottie grunted. “Though a merciful woman would let a man win his money back?”

“I’ve won five out of five games, Scottie.”

“The cards are on my side today, Pol. I can feel it.”

She shook her head, apparently comfortable in his presence.

“Miss Nina,” Scottie said, nodding to me. Then he shut the door behind us all, locking three separate bolts.

The air in the shop was thick. It moved, stuck to us. Sunlight fought valiantly through the dust. It smelled of damp plaster.

Those strange mannequins were arranged all over the shop floor, headless and stripped of any fabric, their limbs bent grotesquely. A wall lined with shelves and ladders stood bare save rusty shears, the odd needle. An old sewing machine and crank collected cobwebs on its bowed desk, and I pictured ghosts threading cotton through the wheels.

Leaning against that desk, Otto and Briggs passed a cigarette back and forth. The oldest and youngest Colson brothers had convened by a basket of yellowing fabric, both alike and drastically unalike. Gunner was already swigging from a flask drawn from his coat. In Donny’s hand was a wrought-iron cage encasing, strangely, a singular canary.

Tess Colson leaned her back against the empty shelving and did not spare Theo, Polly, or me a glance.

And then there was Patrick, Isaiah at his feet. He looked, once again, as though he had not slept. My eyes stuck to the circles beneath his.

“Thanks, Sam,” Gunner said abruptly. His loud voice seemed offensive in such a small space. “Now, fuck off.”

Unperturbed, Sam whistled as he left, kicking a thimble gaily, and no one spoke in the interim.

But there were looks exchanged. Tess stared at Gunner until he put his flask away. Polly and Otto exchanged nervous glances, the latter clearinghis throat awkwardly. Patrick pinned his eyes on Theo’s hand, which had briefly touched the middle of my back as I’d stepped into this strange circle of associates.

It was exceedingly uncomfortable. Quiet. Close.

“Right,” said Donny after a while, blessedly breaking the tension. “Is the kid gone?”

“Get it over with, son,” Tess said to Patrick. “I’ve got a hotel to manage.”

Patrick lifted his chin. I could practically feel the exhaustion wafting off him. “First, some formal introductions—”

“Idia, save us,” Gunner moaned. “Weknowwho’s who, Pat.”

Patrick continued, closing his eyes briefly at the interruption but otherwise pretending Gunner hadn’t spoken. “You’ve all been brought into the circle because you’re valuable—a necessary function in the Miners Union. You’re also here because, for whatever reason, we’ve deemed you trustworthy.” Here, Patrick’s eyes touched on Polly, Theo, and finally me. “Whether by nature or because a deal was struck.”

I wondered what deal he’d struck with my two former classmates, for surely he wouldn’t trust an Artisan by nature.

“Some of us have known each other all our lives. We’ve bled together enough that trust comes easy. Others have joined our party… more recently. For them, trust is conditional.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means we’ll put you on that ship inpartsif you double-cross us,” Tess said. The look in her eye left little doubt that she would do the cutting herself.

I looked quickly away and closed my mouth.

“There’s a plan coming together, with far more complexities than any other we’ve endeavored, and every one of us will need to offer their expertise. For most of us, that means the usual mining. Scottie and Otto know the tunnel pathways better than anyone. They’re the navigators.”