Page 12 of Unraveled (Crewel World 3)

Grady’s hands grip the arms of his chair and I wonder if he’s trying to hold back from punching Cormac.

“I think that sounds like progress,” I say.

“You would.” Cormac dismisses my input. “How did it leak into the Coventry?”

Cormac can be dense sometimes. I think of my own mother, complaining about her boss and her poor wages.

“It became the vogue. It was impossible to determine if Eligibles had been contaminated.”

Contaminated? Is he serious?

“And now we have a full-blown strike on our hands, Grady. If you had listened to me when I suggested—”

“Altering the entire population of the Eastern Coventry was not an option,” Grady interrupts him. “This is a case of a few bad apples spoiling the bunch.”

“A few?” Cormac roars. “Your looms are dark! Where are your good apples?”

“They can be reasoned with,” Grady says. “We have some of the Spinsters responsible for initiating the blackout on the premises waiting for further questioning.”

“I want to see them. What have they admitted to?” Cormac asks. He stands and heads for the door in quick, purposeful strides.

“Admitted? Nothing. They want to negotiate.”

“Negotiate.” Amusement mixes with arrogance as Cormac repeats the term.

“They’re willing to go back to the looms, Minister,” Grady says. “They simply want to discuss some possible changes within the structure of the Coventry.”

“Do they?” Cormac asks. “Unlike you, I’m not in the business of listening to the complaints of a group of women.”

“Really?” I say beside him.

“Do you have something to add?” Cormac asks me.

“Yeah, I do,” I say. “What happened to working together and finding a solution?”

Cormac pushes me against the wall and lowers his mouth to my ear. “Do not question me in front of my men. You do not understand the gravity of this situation.”

“Because you won’t tell me about it.”

“Because you can’t fix it,” he seethes. “Now shut up and follow me, or I’ll send you back to the transport with Hannox and believe me, you do not want that.”

“Yes, sir.” I emphasize the title. So much for working together.

“I want to see these women.” Cormac releases me and tugs at the hem of his jacket.

“Minister, I think you’ll find that they aren’t asking for much—”

“I’m not interested in what they’re asking for,” Cormac stops him.

“But—”

“Nor am I interested in what you think, Grady. You’ve let this situation get out of control. I came to fix it.”

I can’t keep the question to myself. “Then why do you want to talk to them? If you aren’t interested in listening to them?”

He stops and stares me down, his eyes as dark as the room surrounding us.

“To tell them what I’m going to do to them.”

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