Meghan’s face twisted with delight and puzzlement at the man before her. But she quickly remembered what he had done to Ms. Morning, and her expression soured. “I’ll see if Ms. Morning wants to see you.” She turned to the girrinos. “Don’t let him move a single step.”

“Oh, we won’t,” sang the three ladies. They lumbered over and made a triangular cage around him with their bodies.

Meghan darted through the crowd and disappeared.

A moment later Simber appeared from the mansion and walked regally toward Liam. The governor hadn’t expected to find the creature here today. Eva had told him the cheetah had accompanied Alex on his journey, but perhaps she’d been mistaken. Or perhaps they’d returned home. He began to perspire even more heavily now, but the enormous creature sat down a good bit away. Liam wiped his brow and hoped he didn’t faint here in his girrino prison. That would look very bad. The Quillitary would no doubt report that to Aaron.

More rubble.

Soon Meghan returned, and the girrinos moved away to offer them privacy to speak. Liam lifted his chin and searched the young woman’s face.

“Will she see me?” he asked, his head swimming.

Meghan looked at him. He was pitiful, really. The back of him was covered from head to toe in gray dust and pebbles, and his shirt was soaked through with sweat. “Sorry,” she said, and as she said it, she actually did feel a little bit sorry for the man. “She told me to tell you to go away and never come back.”

Liam’s face fell, and his heart sank. He closed his eyes, letting the sweat drip in and sting them, and he wavered a moment on his feet. He should have expected this, he knew.

“Oh,” he said. He opened his eyes and found the girl looking curiously at him. “Did she . . . did she say anything else?”

“Actually, yes, but I chose to edit out some of the unsavory words.” Meghan offered a cool smile.

“I see.” Liam stood there another minute, lost in his thoughts, and then he turned to go. “All right,” he said, pausing and looking back at Meghan. “I do understand. Thank you, and I’m sorry for the intrusion.”

A spray of rubble peppered his front side and he put his arm up to shield his face. He took a step toward Quill.

“She also said she knows you were friends with Eva,” Meghan called after him. “But you should still go away. So if that’s what you came for, she already knows.”

Liam stopped in his tracks. He turned slowly, oblivious to the pelting rocks now. He returned to Meghan, slipping a little over the gravel, and whispered harshly under the pounding noise, “Please don’t shout that information, miss, I beg you. But tell me, how in Quill could she possibly know that?”

Meghan shrugged and lowered her voice. “Sean told us.”

“Sean—Sean’s . . . here? Has the ship returned?”

“No, just him and Carina. He broke his leg, so Simber brought him back.”

Liam glanced at the cheetah, who was coming closer now. He turned back to Meghan. “Sean’s here,” he said, thinking very hard. “Sean’s here.”

“I think the rocks may be affecting you.”

Liam didn’t hear her. “That’s it,” he said under his breath. “Sean’s here.”

“Yes,” Meghan said, rolling her eyes. “I know.”

“May I . . . may I speak to him, perhaps?”

Meghan frowned. She looked at Simber, who shrugged. It was her call.

She sighed loudly. “I’ll go ask.” She ran back to the mansion, leaving Liam once more to think through his assignment. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to do this. And if he succeeded, and saved Artimé . . . perhaps Claire would speak to him again.

A few minutes later Meghan returned, slightly out of breath.

“He says sure, come on in.”

Liam blinked.

Meghan turned to lead the way. Liam stared for a moment, then he shook the rubble out of his shoes and followed.

Liam Finally Finds a Friend

Sean was alone in the hospital ward when Meghan led Liam into the mansion, trailing pebbles behind him as he walked. A young Unwanted descending the stairs frowned at the mess, pulled a tiny broom component from her vest, threw it, and muttered, “Sweep.” Immediately the pebbles bounded to one spot on the floor. The component grew to a dustpan, scooped the pebbles up, and closed inward upon itself several times until it disappeared.

Liam watched over his shoulder, eyes wide. Everything he saw here was so incredible and foreign, and so colorful. He didn’t know how to handle it. But he knew he had to stay focused.

Meghan pulled two chairs to Sean’s bedside.

Sean, who was propped up on his pillows, reached out a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Liam,” he said, but his voice held a hint of reserve. He only had Eva’s word on Liam’s character, and the man very likely could have been conning the old woman—though he didn’t think so. Eva was one of the smartest people he’d ever known, and he was still in shock over the news of her tragic death.

Liam quickly wiped his grimy hands on his pants, sending a fresh shower of pebbles to the floor, and reached out to shake Sean’s hand. “I’m pleased as well,” he said, though the phrase was foreign to him—people didn’t talk like that in Quill. “And, ah, I’m glad you were willing to see me. Eva spoke so highly of you.”

Sean gave a grim smile. “That’s actually nice to hear after the day I’ve had.”