Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Author:Sarah Rees Brennan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group


Over dinner, we all discussed Jarvis’s promotion. I made the food carefully, made even the bread rolls from scratch, as if putting extra effort into a meal would make up for what I had done.

Penelope and Jarvis were both smiling and talking brightly. It was Marie whose small face showed distress. She kept looking warily back and forth from her father’s face to her mother’s, as if they were trying to trick her by smiling when their whole bodies were tense.

“Good bit more money in it. He’ll be able to keep me in the style to which I wish to quickly become accustomed,” Penelope said, and tapped her glass against Jarvis’s.

“Guess I’m doing a good job. Or somebody put in a good word for me.”

Jarvis twinkled at me, and I wanted to shout and disclaim responsibility, but I was responsible. If it wasn’t for me, Jarvis would never have met Ethan; Jarvis would not be involved with the Strykers at all.

“Didn’t need to. Anyone can tell good work when they see it,” I said.

We were all pretending, but there was a value to pretending. When you pretend hard enough, for long enough, you can convince yourself. It was not likely Jarvis could be anyone’s target—he was not even a Light magician. He would be trying to establish order, and doing it kindly. This job brought in a lot more money, and it was not so dangerous. Maybe it was not dangerous at all. Maybe Jarvis would be safe and Aunt Leila would be safe and Uncle Douglas would be safe. Maybe Ethan was right to hope and I was wrong to doubt and everything would be well.

We ate the dinner I’d made, and from picking at the salads we progressed to fighting over the last brownie. By the time dinner was over, Marie was laughing on the sofa while I made coffee and Jarvis tickled her and explained that he would not be gone for long at all.

“There’s a nice house in the Dark city for important officials such as myself, and I have a card which ensures that if there is any need, I have priority transport out. Do you know what priority is, Marie belle?”

“My name’s not Maribel,” said Marie, raising her eyebrows, and Jarvis laughed. The extra money would go to Marie’s future, I told myself—she was so smart. This could be good.

“Mr. Stryker said that I would never be gone longer than two weeks at a time, and that usually it would only be a week. I will see you every weekend, and now that your father is rich we can go to a Broadway show every Saturday night if you want.”

I was bent over the sideboard, pouring Penelope’s coffee. The sound of a gasp and glass breaking made me spin around and spill the coffee over myself and the floor in a dark scorching trail. I barely noticed I had been burned. All I could think was that it was the window breaking, that Carwyn had come back.



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