"No, I paid that off ages ago," Lilah said with a shrug. "No, it's just… I'm not like Mary, honestly. I like my guests. But I don't want to marry, or to be…owned like my mother was. I want my own life. I have that here—with Magdalena, for as long as I want to."
I chewed on my lip, wincing at the bitter taste of the smoke and ash, and glanced at the large green fellow. He seemed impassive, as did the other gentleman, and I wondered about their own girls, their connections with them.
"Will you leave with Neem?" I asked Teresa.
"I…I don't know," Teresa whispered. "I'm not sure I want to stay, but…"
"Neem isn't her favorite," Lilah whispered to me.
Neither of the men in the room seemed to blink, so I assumed neither one had their hat in the ring for either of the girls.
"What about you? You're a new favorite around…" Lilah trailed off, eyes blinking at our surroundings as if she'd almost forgotten that this ruin we stood in had been the 'here' we were speaking of.
"I'm not going anywhere until I know what happened to Auguste and Ezra," I said, stiffening at the reminder. I opened my mouth to mention the plans we'd made as a group before the fire and then shut them again, afraid I might break the fragile possibility of it still happening. "Could I go to see what's happening with the tunnels?"
Booker and Amon had traded places at some point in the night before Amon had been called back to help provide light, and I was feeling antsy being separated from them. Even standing at the mouth of the stairs might be better than nothing.
Our chaperones exchanged a brief look before the horned one shrugged and nodded. "I'll take you."
"Esther," Lilah said, catching my eye and offering a tremulous smile. "I hope they find them."
I stuffed my hands into the pockets of the trousers I was wearing and nodded. I hoped they were safe. I wasn't sure I wanted to find them if they weren't.
"I like your horns," I offered to the man escorting me as we wandered back through the scorched halls, soot under our boots and an ashy haze still floating over our heads. I thought the bright bony horns on his head looked a bit like handles, which brought to mind amusing ideas of how to use them.
He grunted, but he bowed a little to me. He had a bright gold ring hanging from the middle of his nose and a massive square jaw, and when we reached a hole in the floor, he lifted me over it without a word.
"Which of the girls is yours?" I asked.
"Sally," he said, eyeing me out of the corner of his large dark eyes. He reminded me a bit of a bull, and I wondered if it would be rude to ask what kind of monster he was. "I'm not her favorite either," he said, lips quirking. "But she's a good girl."
"Her loss," I said.
He blinked in the dark as we reached the entry and headed for the stone steps down to the underground caverns.
"Don't flirt," he said eventually, before grinning. "You have your hands full."
"That's true," I said, shrugging and smiling as he put out an arm in front of me, moving down the steps himself first, his hand held out to help guide me down.
"Who's your favorite?" he asked.
"They all are," I said immediately.
"Then they are very lucky," he said, voice echoing in the dark pleasantly.
"Don't flirt." He chuckled, and I let out a sigh. He might not have been my gentleman, but he was calming and a comforting distraction from the dark. "What's your name?"
"Asterion."
"Sounds a bit like my name," I said, wrinkling my nose, my toes scuffing over a ragged edge of a stair before steadying again.
"We are both starry ones," he said, which reminded me of Amon's nickname and the way Khepri had said I shone.
"I hope you find a girl who picks you as your favorite," I whispered.
Asterion was quiet until we reached the bottom steps. "Thank you, I hope you find your men."
"Thank—"
"Ess…"
I stiffened in the dark, and Asterion's hand released mine, resting on my shoulder. "Did you hear that?" I gasped.
"I heard a hiss," Asterion answered. "The men are this way, I'll lead you."
I stepped as softly as I could in the heavy borrowed boots, sure I'd heard a whisper of my name, but Asterion led us directly forward, the sound of men's voices and the scrape of rock bouncing distantly toward us.
And then—
"Esther?"
I stilled and Asterion stilled with me.
"I heard that," he said softly.