Within These Wicked Walls(10)

We learned the hymns before then, but never amulet work. Strange that someone who had employed ten others before me didn’t already know that. “It takes a certain amount of patience and maturity to construct amulets, and silver is too expensive to waste on the unsteady hands of children.”

“Silver’s not that expensive,” he said, waving his hand carelessly. “And don’t worry, I have plenty of it here for you, so you can mess up to your heart’s content. As long as the Evil Eye is gone at the end of it, I don’t care how many attempts it takes.”

I wanted to dump my coffee on his expensive rug. “Yes, sir.”

“Magnus.” He paused, shifting to lean his elbow on the arm of the chair, his hand blocking his chin and mouth as he studied me. “I get the feeling you were never hugged as a child.”

I choked on my coffee. Not just because it was an incredibly rude thing to say, but because he was right. Jember had nerve damage that made skin contact painful, so we rarely touched. On top of that, he considered too much affection to be a poor survival habit. So my experience with hugs was limited.

I wiped my mouth on the oversized sweater sleeve. “What does that have to do with cleansing your house?”

“You’re just very formal. Tense.”

“Should I not be formal at an interview?”

He shrugged. “You already have the position. So, tell me: Why did you choose to become a debtera?”

“I don’t think anyone chooses to serve the church. God puts the desire in you.”

“An extremely uninteresting answer, Andromeda.” He raised his cup to his lips. “Try again.”

My muscles flexed slightly as I leveled a firm glare at him. “I’m not here to amuse you. I’m here to cleanse your house of the Evil Eye. Do you want my help or don’t you?”

“I don’t know. What makes you better equipped for it than the ten debtera before you?”

“You selected me by my résumé, or else I wouldn’t be here.”

“Weren’t you listening? I didn’t read your résumé.” He looked around for it briefly, then shrugged. “Esjay tells me it’s very impressive, despite the lack of licensure. But you don’t really expect me to let a stranger stay in my house without knowing a bit about her? Normally the debtera you trained with would offer a character reference, but I take it Jember didn’t supply one while throwing you out.”

I stiffened. There was no way he could’ve known Jember had thrown me out. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re unlicensed, which means he either refused to finish training you or you quit. Why?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Not really.”

I took a breath and wished for the hundredth time that I had the financial freedom to storm out of there. “Let’s just say we didn’t see eye to eye on things.”

“If I was being trained by the best debtera alive, I wouldn’t care if he had different views than me. Come, it had to be something else. Were you just fed up? He’s brutal to deal with, I hear, even if you aren’t his mentee.”

“Depends who you ask.”

“I asked every debtera before you. Are you telling me you’re tougher than all those grown men?”

“Women usually are.”

Magnus laughed. “Finally, some honesty in this house. That’s good, because I need you to be frank with your response to my next question.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Magnus.”

I sighed. “Yes, Magnus.”

“What would you do if I asked you to kill me?”

I felt paralyzed. Breathless. “What?”

He leaned toward me. “Would you do it?”

There was something in his expression that unsettled me. Like anticipation, like … hope. But before I could answer, his light brown eyes lit up. “Ah, your clothes.”

He stood—oh God, there were bells on his ankles, too?—and crossed to the door, where he accepted a stack of folded clothes from the downtrodden woman from before. “Thank you, Saba. Here, Andromeda, go get yourself suited up against the cold, and then I’ll give you a tour of the house.”





CHAPTER 5


When I stepped out into the hall, dressed in wool stockings, a dress more fitted to my waist than I was used to, and a sweater, Magnus was waiting for me. He gazed at the walls as the Manifested hands pressed their doughy prints against the walls and ceiling, like a mob trying to get out.

“Good morning,” he said to the hands, before turning to me. “Ready for a tour?”

I eyed the walls warily. I’d felt those hands last night. Whatever they were doing, it had nothing to do with wishing someone a good morning.

“I’m ready.” I handed his sweater back to him and he put it back on before leading me down the hall.

Random items falling off walls in one room. Strange ripples on the floor, like drops of water, in the next. A room that just seemed unnaturally covered in soot.

Everything appeared to be average Manifestations. But after last night, and knowing ten debtera came before me, I knew better than to think that way.

“You should put these on for this next hallway,” Magnus said, picking up a pair of rubber boots from the corner and handing them to me. Then he grabbed a large black umbrella and opened it.