Spellbreaker

“I’d rather not interrupt Mr. Ogden’s business.” He offered her a nod, the hair gathered at the nape of his neck bouncing slightly, and departed. Just like that. Elsie forced herself not to watch him go. She needn’t stand in the doorway like some lovesick pup.

I’m not lovesick, she snapped at herself, closing the door a little too hard. Bacchus was merely an adventure. A fancy. Proof that she read too much fiction.

Perhaps she should switch to scientific journals for a while. She couldn’t think of a better medicine for her twisted insides at the moment besides warm milk.

The studio door opened and closed. Best she help the next customer.

But when Elsie stepped into the studio, it was empty, save for Ogden hacking at a lump of clay in the corner.

“Did Emmeline leave?” she asked.

“I believe she’s in the dining room.” Ogden’s focus stayed on the clay.

Elsie glanced to the door. “Didn’t someone just come in?”

Looking up, he shrugged. “I didn’t hear anything.”

Odd. Perhaps her mind had merely sought out an excuse to change the pattern of her thoughts.

“Elsie”—Ogden turned his stylus in his hand—“is that man courting you?”

Her cheeks burned. “Goodness, no. I barely know him.”

He nodded halfheartedly. “It would be good for you, after . . .” He didn’t dare say Alfred, not when that wound was so newly opened. “Though I’d hate to see you heartbroken again, my dear. And heartbreak is inevitable across the class divide.”

He might as well have taken that carving tool and stabbed it through her breast.

“I’m well aware.” She forced the words to be light. “But like I said, I barely know him. And he’s off to Barbados soon, besides.”

“Is that where he’s from? I didn’t know if it was rude to ask.”

Elsie rolled her eyes.

Ogden paused. “Hand me that order, would you?” He gestured weakly toward the counter. Fortunately, Elsie knew what he meant. She strode over to retrieve the latest work order—

A gray envelope poked out from beneath it.

Her breath caught. How?

Perhaps she hadn’t imagined the opening and closing of the door, after all. Had they just delivered this? But how could it have escaped Ogden’s attention?

Grabbing the envelope, Elsie bolted around the counter and out the front door, ignoring Ogden’s alarmed cry that followed her. She ran out onto the street, turning, looking everywhere there was to look.

She’d been too slow. No strangers lingered around the house, no one in hiding. Not that she could see.

Pinching her lips together, she stole away to the shade at the back of the house and brought the crescent-moon-and-bird-foot seal to her face. Broke it. Read the name of her next target.

The London Physical Atheneum.

CHAPTER 19

Elsie did not like doing her job at night. It made her feel like a criminal. Which she wasn’t. At least, not at the heart of the matter. What God-fearing person, for example, would call Robin Hood a criminal?

It really was a matter of perspective.

She shivered, though it wasn’t terribly cold in London. Wasn’t even raining. With excuses of being lost and feverish, or perhaps looking for her cat, in her back pocket, Elsie approached the massive Physical Atheneum.

It had guards, yes, but not many of them walked the grounds. Like many wealthy places, the atheneum relied on magic to guard its doors. Magic did not require an hourly wage, nor did it fall asleep on the job. That, and the atheneum was never empty. There was always someone out and about, studying or prepping or snoozing at his desk. Still, the Cowls had given her instructions for how to proceed, and she followed them with exactness. She would very much not like a repeat of the doorknob incident in Kent. If she was caught here, she doubted her captor would be as lenient as Master Bacchus Kelsey.

She needed to be swift, regardless, for she did not want to risk connecting him to this in any way, even if it was for the good of the people. The atheneum certainly wouldn’t see it that way. In truth, Bacchus might not, either.

Tonight’s task involved a great deal of walking, but Elsie came at the atheneum from behind—the northwest side. She found the lounging garden mentioned in her letter, a long path covered in pale stone, studded with benches and potted bushes trimmed to look like spheres. She approached carefully, favoring the long shadows cast by the half moon, searching for the first spell.

She spotted it right before she stepped in it—a night-activated spell that caused the ground to surge up around anything that put pressure on it. She undid it easily, having unraveled the very same enchantment at the duke’s estate. She found the next one less than two feet away. Crouching, her skirt bunched between her knees, Elsie crept along that way, ignoring how the runes made her itch.