Page 17 of The Study of Fire
“In my opinion, they areallexcellent reasons.” Janco huffed.
“Good to know,” Ari said.
Valek left them to pack and get ready for the mission. When he reached his office, his door was slightly ajar. He had locked it, but hadn’t engaged the other two, more complex locks because he’d known he wouldn’t be gone long. Pulling out his cloud-kissed dagger, he eased the door wider. The lemon scent of cleaning solution hit him before he spotted Brede wiping dust from a pile of books on his conference table. A large rolling cart filled with brooms, feather dusters, and buckets sat nearby.
“How did you get in here?” Valek demanded.
The young man jumped a foot and let out a screech. He pressed the rag to his chest. “Uh…with…a key.”
“Who gave you the key?”
“Uh…Kenda.” He pulled out a leather tie from underneath his shirt. Two keys hung like a pendant. “She said to guard these with my life. I swear they will never leave my person. Uh…except when I need to unlock this door or the one to your apartment.” Brede tucked them back under his shirt.
Valek drew in a deep breath to steady his emotions. He imagined Kenda and the Commander sharing a conspiratorial smirk. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m cleaning. It’s going to take me months to organize this mess.”
“Oh no. You’re not to move a thing. You can dust, sweep, scrub, whatever, but every book, file, and rock is to remain in its place. Understand?”
“But—”
“Understand?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Good. And that cobweb stays.” Valek pointed to the window. Two new silk-wrapped bugs hung in its strands. Mr. Spider had a successful night.
Brede moved closer to inspect the web. “Wow. That’s a huge bat spider. Not to worry, though, his bite isn’t venomous. Well, not to humans.”
Curious. “How do you know?”
“As a member of the housekeeping staff, I’ve encountered all manner of critters that need to be evicted. I’ve found it advantageous to learn which ones are dangerous to us.”
Valek’s agents learned what creatures to avoid when on missions, but he never considered that information would help the housekeepers. “Did someone teach you?”
Brede’s short burst of laughter implied the negative. “I found a couple books in the library. My colleagues thought I was weird.” He shrugged.
Was. Past tense. “And now?”
“They’re more accepting since Saril broke out in a fever last season. The medic couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. But I recognized the tiny discolored welt on the back of her hand as a bite from a pink teacup spider.”
“Impressive.”
Another shrug. “Now I’m the designated critter ejector. Or DCE for short.”
Valek couldn’t resist asking, “Ejector?”
“I’m not gonna kill them.” He sounded horrified at the notion. “They have the right to live. I capture them and rehome them.”
So basically, Brede wouldn’t harm a fly, and he was now working for Valek, who had harmed much more than flies. Lovely. In his imagination, the Commander and Kenda clinked their glasses and lifted them in a salute to Valek.
Suppressing a sigh, Valek decided to trust Kenda in her choice of housekeeper. “All right. You can clean my office in the evenings, and my apartment either in the afternoons or the mornings, but not both. You need time off.”
“I’ll take the mornings off,” he said.
“Then follow me. I need to introduce you to the soldiers that guard the door to the Commander’s and my suites.”
Brede trotted at Valek’s heels.
