Tainted: Book Three - Enslaved

40. Albert Grenville Chesterton

Mira

Lilas came out of her bedroom and made a beeline to where Kerry sat drawing at the kitchen table.

"May I have thome milk or water?" She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles.

"Sure." He pushed his chair back, but I intervened.

"You keep working. I can get it for her. Come on, ladybug."

Lilas smiled and followed me. I'd just reached for a cup when Rome came in through the living room doorway, and Hinge tagged along behind him.

"Got any ideas for dinner?" Rome opened up the fridge door. "Since it's my turn to cook, I'm open to suggestions."

"Hand me the milk, please," I asked him as I got a glass from the cupboard. "And I'll help you. Just a minute."

"Here you go—" He turned and almost knocked over Hinge, who had become a statue behind him. "Hey, Hinge, can you move?"

As the glowing dots in his eye sockets flared like violet LEDs, Hinge reached up and tugged on Rome's sleeve.

"Her name," he hissed. "Tell me her name!"

"Who?"

"What do you mean, who, idiot?" Who knew a skull could scowl so fiercely? "That darling little doll with Mira."

"Lilas? Well, she's—"

But Hinge was in motion, apparently too impatient to wait any longer. He hurried over to Lilas and halted a foot in front of her. His posture rigid, he folded one arm over his ribs and the other across his back.

"Introduce us, please," he ordered me.

I locked bemused eyes with Rome for a second, then said, "This is Lilas Tyne. Lilas, this is Hin—"

"Albert Grenville Chesterton." He inclined his head sharply. "At your service."

I bit back a smile.

As formal as if he were meeting the queen.

"Albert?" Lilas' fog-gray eyes were stunned.

"You can call me Bertie."

"You never told me your name was Bertie," Kerry said.

Whirling around, Hinge snarled, "Shut it, Harker!" Then he turned back to Lilas and resumed his courteous manner. "I apologize for my friend and hope you will forget him."

"Don't you mean, forgive him?" Lilas faltered.

"No. Definitely not. Forget him. Come to the living room with me. Let's get to know each other."

When he held out his hand, Lilas' eyes darted from my face to Rome's before she placed her fingers in Hinge's palm. Very gently, he folded his finger bones over her hand and led her away.

"And that's the same little whiny SOB who was fawning over gremlin teeth at the Diabolical Market?" Rome shook his head.

"I don't get it, either," Kerry said.

"He wanted to make a good impression on Lilas." I grinned. "I think it's love at first sight."

"Great day! Don't even say that! We have enough on our hands as it is." Rome threw a dark look at me. "Does he work at the market?"

"He lives there," Kerry said. "He thinks, and he's probably right, that the Diabolical side of the house will find an answer to his problem before the Divine side will. Necromancers are always messing around on the borders of life and death, right?"

"Do you think he knows our necromancer?" I tilted my head and turned ideas over in my mind. "Khaydari?"

"I don't know." Kerry shrugged. "I can ask him."

"Why do you call him Hinge?"

"Everyone calls him Hinge." The good side of his mouth curled up a bit. "Guess I thought that was his name."

"Should we call him Bertie, then?" Rome asked.

"No. I don't think he meant that invite for us," Kerry said, "and he can be vicious if he feels you're teasing him."

"How did you say he found you?" Rome looked disgruntled. "That bothers me."

"He tracked the knife I took from him when he tried to stab me at the market."

"You two have a strange relationship." I shook my head. "But, if he could track something he made, could you track something you made?"

"I dunno."

"Ask him how he did it. See if it's possible, at least."

He looked at Rome, who said, "I guess it couldn't hurt to ask, although you might not like the answer."

"All right. I will after dinner. I want to finish this sketch first."

"While you're taking a break, can you give Lilas her milk?" I held out the cup.

He took it and left.

Looking at Rome, I said, "Let's do breakfast for dinner. It's quick and we can make a buffet so there's something for everyone. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, pancake mix, hash browns, and whatever this fruit is that Jax bought. It smells kinda peachy."

"Sounds good to me, and it's a mango."

"Really? I've never seen one still in its skin before."

The front door opened, then Gina called, "I'm back!"

"In the kitchen!" I raised my voice.

A few seconds later, she walked in with a large shopping bag and a larger smile.

"Is Lilas awake yet? I found the cutest unicorn stuffed animal."

"Yes, she is," I smiled. "I was surprised to see her up and about so soon."

"Kids bounce back fast from power drains," Rome told me, then spent the next few minutes catching Gina up on Hinge and Kerry's plan to draw the shadow.

"It's a good idea." She nodded. "It'd also be a good idea to find out Bit's real name. I'll bet Hank or I know him, or least knows of him, whoever he is."

She handed Rome the shopping bag.

"Speaking of Hank, I'd like to go back to the Box and see how his interrogation is going. Would you mind watching over Lilas until we get back? Then we'll return her to her mom at the Sanctuary."

"Sure," I said. "Make sure Hank finds out how Grisa knew that Kerry even called Amanda for help."

That had been bothering me. How could she possibly have intercepted his phone call? Or maybe Clem or Amanda talked with someone after the call and tipped off our traitor?

"Of course. It could take awhile, though. We might not be back until tomorrow," she warned us.

"She'll be fine." Rome rumbled. "And it'll give Hinge someone to pester besides Kerry."

"Someone to monopolize, you mean." I grinned.