Trinket rose early the next morning. She pulled on her dress and boots and hurried out the door, making her way to St. Spittel to search for Gin. All night long, she had been plagued by nightmarish images of the urchin being abducted and tortured by Scales. Every hour she woke up gasping for air, wondering if she should go look for her or wait until dawn. Surely Scales wouldn't make good on his threat so quickly? Wouldn't he save such a move for something more important?

"Madison, have you seen Gin?" Trinket asked as the young urchin ran past her.

He turned and shrugged. "I think she spent the night in one of the alleys by the old brothel."

"Which one is the brothel?"

"Keep going, take a right. It's the big one with the least busted windows."

"Thank you."

She continued down the street, her eyes darting to every alley, hoping she'd see that familiar bowler hat. Had Gin already gone to the market? Or had the Mice come for her in the middle of the night? Was she going to show up at the house in pieces?

Bits and pieces, pieces and bits.

All because of you.

"What're you doing in these parts?"

Coming to an immediate halt, Trinket turned towards the voice and nearly let out a sob when she found Gin standing at the entrance of a nearby alley. The urchin was looking her up and down, one eyebrow cocked, her hands resting on her hips.

"You lost or something?" she asked.

Trinket shook her head, trying to hold back tears of relief. "No, no. I just . . . I thought . . ."

Despite her efforts, her emotions burst loose. Racing over to Gin, she dropped to her knees and pulled the girl into a tight embrace.

"Lord, Trinket, what happened?" Gin asked.

"I was so worried," Trinket said. "I thought something terrible had happened to you, and it would've been all my fault."

"What are you talking about?"

Releasing the urchin, she sat back on her heels and let out a sigh. "I had a run-in with Scales last night."

Gin's eyes widened, and she sat down beside her. "What were you doing out last night? Were you and Booker looking for the vampire?"

"No, it was just me. Booker is in Broadfall right now, and I thought I'd do some investigating on my own."

"Wow, getting bold, aren't you?"

"Scales found me and made some threats. One of which involved you."

The urchin's eyebrows went up. "Me?"

"Yes. He made a comment about getting information out of you since I wouldn't talk. I reacted rather emotionally when he suggested it, and now . . ."

"You're afraid he's going to use me to get to you guys?"

Trinket nodded.

Gin gave a short laugh and rubbed her temple. "Well, I guess I'm flattered he thinks I'm that important."

"You are that important. To both me and Booker."

"Yeah, but important enough that Scales could use me as blackmail or something?"

"Trust me, the threat was very effective. And I can guarantee Booker would be just as frantic if he knew."

A pleased smile tugged at Gin's mouth, but she quickly smothered it as she cleared her throat and gave a casual shrug. "Well, Scales can threaten all he wants, but first he has to get his hands on me."

"This is the Dead Mice we're talking about here."

"Yeah, bunch of lumbering morons who think they're snakes. I'm smarter than the lot of them. Faster, too."

"I think you're underestimating Scales. And what about Viper? He's smart enough to stay out of sight and let everyone else put themselves in danger. With those two in charge, you have more to worry about than you seem to believe."

Rolling her eyes, Gin let out a snort. "Seriously, I've got a good record of survival up to now. I'll be fine."

"Gin, I'm really worried about you. Maybe you should come stay at the house with us."

The girl scowled. "And miss out on prime gossip? I think not."

"But if something happens to you, I'll never—"

Gin held up a hand to silence her. "Trinket, it's not your fault. I've been doing Booker's dirty work for years now. Scales was eventually gonna get tired of me. It's fine. I'll keep on my toes. I'm not going down without a fight. So stop looking at me like you're gonna cry, and tell me what Booker is doing in Broadfall."

Swallowing her objections, Trinket ran a hand through her hair. "He's trying to see if he can find where Benedict acquired the venom this vampire is injecting people with."

"Venom? You mean like poison?"

"Yes. He believes it's from an exotic snake."

"So the vampire isn't just biting people? She's poisoning them, too?"

"Seems to be the case."

"Man, that friend of Booker's is one twisted fella."

Trinket nodded but did not reply. She stared down at the ground, her thoughts still as frantic as they were earlier: Scales' threats, the wild-eyed girl, Booker in Broadfall, deadly snakes, Gin chopped into pieces. They played through her head over and over and over, pulling her into a dizzying carousel of panic and terror.

Dead, dead, dead.

They'll all be dead.

Have to find her,

Before it's too late!

But it's already too late.

It's always too late.

Too late for you . . .

A gentle tug on her sleeve brought her back. She looked up to find Gin standing before her. "Come on, I'll keep you company till Booker gets home," she said.

Smiling softly, Trinket rose to her feet. "You don't need to do that. I'm sure you have important business to attend to."

Gin took hold of her hand and pulled her in the direction of home. "Nothing that can't wait. Let's go, I want some of those crumpets you and Booker love so much."

Grateful that the urchin was indulging her concerns, Trinket followed her.

~

After breakfast, Gin helped Trinket and Daphne with the daily chores, despite Trinket's protestations.

"You're our guest," she said.

"What else am I gonna do?" Gin asked as she picked up a dusting rag and ran it along the stair railing. "Besides, it might be fun to do some honest work for a change."

It felt right to have Gin in the house. As Trinket watched her sweep the floors and help Daphne clean the stove, she wished that the stubborn girl would relent and stay with them. She could say all she wanted about her ability to survive, but Trinket knew that Scales was more than the urchin could handle. He was not one to be messed with; his threats were more like promises.

Promises, promises.

Cross your heart.

And hope you die.

Before someone else does . . .

Having finished the day's work by late afternoon, the three of them sat down to play cards and drink tea in the parlour. About ten minutes in, they were taken by surprise when the front door flew open. Trinket was on her feet before it could close, but by the time she reached the doorway, Booker was already racing down the hallway with a burlap sack in his hand.

"Trinket. Laboratory," he said as he disappeared down the stairs.

Though confused by his sudden entrance, she turned to Gin and Daphne and shrugged. "I guess I'm needed in the laboratory. I'll be back momentarily."

She slipped through the open door, closing it behind her before she hurried down the stairs. The sack rested on the operating table as Booker searched through his collection of jars. She approached the table, curious about what could be inside the sack. It appeared to be empty. Though she dared not touch it, she leaned in a little closer to get a better look.

And it moved.

She drew back. Had it only been her imagination? It was more than possible. But there—it moved again. Whatever was inside was alive, and it was trying to get out.

"Don't touch it!" Booker said, hurrying over with a large glass jar.

"Booker, what did you do?" she asked, her eyes still glued to the moving sack.

"Well, I was able to speak with the man who supplies the Baron with his exotic animals," he said as he carefully picked up the sack. "Turns out he's a collector himself. And with a little monetary persuasion, he was willing to part with one of his specimens."

He dumped the contents of the sack into the jar.

It was a snake.

Gasping, Trinket stumbled back and hit the wall. Booker capped the jar and grabbed a tool to bore holes into the lid. "That's not—"

"A spotted tree hopper," he finished, punching three good-sized holes into the lid and setting the tool aside. He crouched down to meet the snake at eye level. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

It was a rather intriguing animal, covered in bright green scales as well as dark brown spots running down its back. Its black tongue flicked about as it explored the jar. The eyes were very unusual. In all the picture books she had read as a child, snakes were depicted with almost catlike eyes. This snake, though, had pupils that more closely resembled keyholes.

"What were you thinking bringing something so deadly into the house?" she asked, still too nervous to come closer.

"I brought a wolf with metal teeth into the house. I'm actually surprised you didn't expect this from me."

Running a hand down her face, she shook her head. "Why?"

He gave her a confused look. "Why am I surprised?"

"No, why this? Why the need to bring this into the house?" she asked, gesturing at the snake emphatically.

"Oh. I thought that if I had the actual snake in my possession, I might be able to figure out how Benedict managed to get this girl to secrete venom from her teeth."

"Are you going to dissect it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe at some point. For now, I think I'll just observe it."

Still unable to grasp the utter stupidity of bringing a deadly snake into his home, Trinket turned away from the table and headed towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Booker asked.

"To advise Gin and Daphne to seek safety elsewhere."

Only once above ground and away from the snake down below did she feel like she could breathe again. Shaking her head at the unbelievable risk Booker had taken, she headed back to the parlour where Gin and Daphne were still sitting with the cards and tea.

"Booker do something brilliantly stupid?" Gin asked.

Widening her eyes, Trinket sighed. "Doesn't he always?"

Gin grinned and grabbed her hat from the table. "Well, as much fun as it is to yell at him, I think I should get going," she said as she rose to her feet. "Wasted a whole day playing house."

A pit sank in Trinket's stomach. "You're sure you won't stay the night?"

The urchin twisted her mouth into a grimace. "Trinket, I'm fine. Scales was just trying to scare you, which he did. He ain't gonna touch me. You got nothing to worry about."
Trinket followed her to the door. "Well, I'll trust your judgement, then."

Turning back to her, Gin hesitated before wrapping her arms around her waist. Though taken aback at first, Trinket returned the gesture, squeezing her tight. "Thanks for worrying, though," Gin said softly. "It's nice to know someone cares."

"We care about you very much," Trinket said.

Gin pulled away and smiled up at her. "Later, Trinket," she said with a tip of her hat. "And don't be too hard on him, yeah?"

Trinket chuckled. "I'll try my best. Stay safe, Gin."

The urchin scampered off, and Trinket reluctantly closed the door. She returned to the parlour where Daphne was collecting the teacups and saucers. Daphne gave her a smile and then nodded at the laboratory door, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Shaking her head, Trinket mumbled, "You don't even want to know."

Daphne laughed softly and made her way into the kitchen with the dirty dishes.

Now left alone, Trinket had nowhere to go but down. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to encounter the snake once more.

Booker was still crouched down, staring at the tree hopper. Taking slow steps towards the table, she positioned herself safely behind him. She wasn't too sure she wanted to get any closer to something so deadly.

"So what, we're just going to stare at this thing all night?" she asked as she watched the snake climb the sides of the jar, its tongue flicking in and out of its mouth.

"What? You don't find it fascinating?"

"Honestly, I find its potential to make us bleed from every part of our bodies rather terrifying."

Rising to his feet, Booker turned to her and smiled. "Ah, but that's probably what is most fascinating about it." He looked back at the snake. "That something so small and beautiful could be so incredibly dangerous."

An image of the wild-eyed girl flashed through Trinket's mind. "That does so often seem to be the case, doesn't it?" she mumbled.

"Anyhow, I don't intend on spending all night watching it," Booker said, brushing his hands off and fixing his attention back on her. "We have a dinner date, after all."
Her heart skittered. "Oh. You still want to go to dinner?"

He moved towards the stairs. "Of course. I need you to catch me up on all the excitement that went on while I was gone." He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "And I quite missed your company."

Warmth spread through every inch of her body, and she fought back the smile threatening to give away her emotions. "You're sure you wouldn't rather study the snake? I know you're very excited about it."

"Nonsense. If it's between you and a reptile, I'll always pick you. No matter how fascinatingly deadly the reptile may be. Are you coming?"

Still fighting the smile, she nodded and followed him up the stairs.