A Tempest of Tea

Matteo completes the map of the Athereum, and Jin sadly wonders whether there is any way to save his world other than confronting powerful, wealthy vampires. He also wonders how long the Athereum will be able to resist the Ram’s anti-vampire policies without resorting to violence themselves.

Matteo explains that they will need to get into the building through the single entry point, which requires being approved by two sisters, Elise and Eleanor. These two check the people at the gate and the markers down below, respectively, using a chute system. Arthie explains that Flick will forge new markers and add entries to their logs, given a distraction. Matteo explains that he can provide the sisters’ address so that the group can study their handwriting. They decide to cut open the chutes that send up the disapproved markers, then paint the markers green so that they look like they have been approved; this ruse will allow them to sneak in.

As outlined, the plan calls for Jin to enter as a “blood companion.” Flick will then follow with a disapproved marker that gets rejected, but Jin will approve it by hand, then cause a distraction. At this point, Flick will enter the archive room and make their forged markers real, and they will all enter safely. Matteo points out that they will need to obtain an expired marker—not his, which is far worse—and Arthie decides to figure out which Athereum member to blackmail. This idea earns Matteo’s approval.

Matteo points out that Arthie cannot enter the Athereum with Calibore, stating that her dyed purple hair will be recognized immediately. She explains to a questioning Flick that she dyes her hair purple to get people to notice it before they see her dark skin. Laith agrees that they need to go in unarmed. They figure out that they can enter through the front gate, and Laith, a trained assassin, agrees to take out the only guard that would see Flick enter the archives. They leave to survey the Athereum, stopping at a coffeehouse on the way back.

As the group banters at the coffeehouse, Arthie notices that Jin still carries the burned handkerchief from his parents, clinging to the hope that they might still be alive. Laith and Arthie flirt somewhat antagonistically, which draws Jin’s attention, but she reminds him to focus and not get distracted by Flick.

Jin adapts to a new routine as Arthie delegates tasks to the workers of Spindrift in preparation for the heist. Jin has been sent to get handwriting samples with Flick so that she can forge what she needs; he admires her as he approaches the neighborhood, noticing that she is wearing pants instead of a dress. He contemplates how much of his past self he sees in her and realizes that he wants her to stay the way she is. Flick questions whether her mother has checked on her, and Jin refuses to admit that that Lady Linden has shown no interest in her daughter’s current state. Flick pushes for the truth, and he snaps that she shouldn’t get distracted, then pulls them into an intimate moment during which they nearly kiss.

Jin goes to climb up the side of the Thorne house, but Flick notices that the door is unlocked, so they enter directly through the front door instead. Though Matteo had told them that no one would be home (given that the sisters work at a bank), Jin and Flick quickly realize that he was wrong; at least one sister is home. They hide in an upstairs room and realize that one of the sisters is having noisy sex in her bedroom. They pick a lock and enter an office, but as Flick begins to take her forgery, Jin hears footsteps. He tells Flick to gather her samples and jump from the balcony, then walks confidently into the hallway.

Arthie, meanwhile, goes to extort Official Lambard, a public works official whom she hadn’t known was a vampire until Matteo revealed this fact. As she travels to the official’s home, she realizes that Laith is following her and confronts him on the roofs. He asks if she doesn’t trust him, and she points out that he wasn’t following their plan, either. After some verbal sparring, his hand drifts to Calibore, and she pushes him away in fury. She moves to shoot him but relents at the last minute and tells him to walk with her.

They eventually arrive at Public Works in tense silence. Arthie forces Laith to wait while she approaches the official alone, and this infuriates him. Arthie intimidates her way past the secretary and the guards and gains access to Official Lambard’s office. She asks directly for his Athereum marker, and to her amusement and his embarrassment, he denies it to her before he even denies being a vampire. She states that she knows he is a vampire and has been stealing Public Works money. He sobs with frustration but quietly points out that her luck will run out eventually. Lambard gives her the marker, but before she can react, a giant man in black enters and grabs her, which allows Lambard to steal the marker back. Laith enters seconds later and attacks the man in black, freeing Arthie. She demands the marker back, but the assailant overpowers Laith. Arthie reaches for her gun but realizes that she needs a club instead. She takes the gun out of her pocket, ignoring everything else, and the gun accommodatingly shapeshifts into the exact weapon she wants.

Flick hides in the office while Jin tries to charm Eleanor Thorne into believing that he is meant to be there. Flick steals several samples of the women’s handwriting. As Eleanor approaches and lazily threats to bite Jin, he gives Flick the signal and takes off running. Flick jumps off the balcony, twisting her leg in the process, and they both jump over the brick wall in the garden and keep running, dodging gunshots from the sisters. Despite their head start, the vampires catch up; Jin jumps in front of Flick and takes a bullet to the side.

Calibore transforms into a knife, a sword, and then a club in Arthie’s hands, and she slams the man in the head, knocking him unconscious for a minute. She and Laith realize that they have been locked inside the office, and Laith jumps out the window to open the warehouse window across the street, somehow defying gravity to reach it. Arthie grabs the marker again and jumps, barely avoiding the unnamed assailant’s grasp. Laith grabs her and pulls her into the warehouse. They run through the warehouse, which is abandoned but full of gunpowder, but their assailant soon catches them and demands the marker. Arthie tries to stab him with a knife version of Calibore but gets a better idea. She grabs the chains from the ceiling and tries to swing, but the man catches her. She yells at Laith to run and ignites the gunpowder, jumping out a window to save herself.

Flick drags a bleeding Jin to Matteo’s house and lays him on the grass; he tells her to use his shirt to staunch the bleeding. She uses her teeth to rip the shirt, struggling with their close proximity to one another, and finally asks why he took the bullet for her. He doesn’t answer, but his eyes fall to her lips, giving her all the answer she needs. She is touched that someone would want to die for her. Matteo appears, and Jin jumps up to threaten him for lying about the Thornes. Instead of responding, Matteo suddenly looks animalistic and aggressive. Suddenly, Matteo relaxes, then pushes Jin onto the floor and runs a claw along his cheek, speaking in an alluring voice. Before Flick can act, Arthie arrives and threatens Matteo, who eventually relents and slowly calms himself. Matteo slinks away to find someone else to hunt, and Laith and Arthie explain to Flick and Jin that the bank was closed because it is a holiday; Matteo did not lie or deceive them at all.

Arthie sits in her office with Jin while he stitches himself up. She confronts him about getting caught—something that he doesn’t normally do—and chastises him for nearly letting himself die at Matteo’s hands. Before Arthie can say anything else, Jin insists that he is not preoccupied with Flick. He insults her half-heartedly, but Arthie quietly tells him to not go with her to the foundry. Matteo enters, heralded by their young worker, Chester, who insists that he tried to keep Matteo out. Flick and Laith soon arrive as well.

Matteo immediately notices that Arthie’s jacket is ripped and questions whether she is all right, touching her. Laith gets defensive, and Jin tries to calm them down. Matteo and Jin apologize to each other. Matteo notes that yet another vampire has disappeared, and the team retreats into Arthie’s bedroom to plan further over tea and pastries.

Late that night, Arthie settles into an armchair in Laith’s apartment, unsure of her reasons for sneaking in. She listens to Laith take a shower and tries not to imagine him naked. He emerges, half-dressed, and questions her presence. She insists that they need to talk, then demands that he tell her the truth. Laith makes coffee and asks for an explanation of Calibore. Arthie thinks about the first time it shapeshifted and reflects that its singular bullet—which always reappears—can kill even vampires. However, she refuses to explain the weapon to Laith and is surprised when he thanks her for saving him.

He asks if she has any family, and she tells him that although she watched her mother and father die, she has a new family now. However, this is a lie; there is one other person who cared for her, even though she ran away from him. Laith, in turn, shares that he watched his sister die and now has no one left. His king had sent assassins to far-off lands to retrieve certain artifacts in order to prevent them from being colonized, but his sister had died on the journey to Ettenia, leaving Laith in the unfamiliar country alone. He now wants Calibore—the artifact in question—so that he can kill his own king with it. Arthie realizes once more that she cannot trust him, and she is certain that he will take the fall for their plot at the end of the line.

Arthie returns to Spindrift and nearly goes to tell Jin about her secret life before they first met, but she balks at the last minute and returns to her office instead. She finds Chester and tells him to secretly befriend a boy at an unrevealed address in order to get information on the activities of the house’s owner.

Flick tries to keep herself steady by reminding herself that despite the group’s successes, she will betray them in order to regain her mother’s regard. She heads to the foundry to forge the fake markers, but when she finds the foreman, Raze, he treats her with disgust. As he and others threaten her, Jin appears and defends her. Raze backs down but shows them both his missing pinky finger—which was taken in punishment for letting Flick use his forge in the past. One of his men tries to attack Flick again, but Jin breaks the man’s knees with his umbrella and announces that anyone who touches Flick will die. Flick resists the urge to apologize to the men, knowing that this gesture would mean nothing, and she quietly goes to work, calming Jin down as she does.

Flick dreams of her mother forgiving her. The next morning, she shows the group her forgeries. They are all impressed by the quality of her work, and Jin’s admiration makes Flick feel warm. Flick notices Matteo watching Arthie and Laith and tries to reassure him that the two hate each other, but Matteo quietly notes that “[n]either knows it yet” (188). The tension and teasing in the group rise as Jin tries to fashion a pair of spectacles that will be sharp enough to let him cut through the tube for the markers. Arthie eventually dismisses everyone so that Jin can focus. Jealous of their bond, Flick asks herself what she hopes to gain from her mother.

Arthie stands on top of Old Roaring Tower, overlooking the Athereum. She hears someone behind her and shoves the person into the wall with her pistol, but when she sees that it is Laith, she calms down. She contemplates her plan to betray him, which contrasts with her feelings for him. When asked, he explains that like her, he just wanted to observe the Athereum from above. They notice the guard, whom they will need to take out with his own weapon—a gun that fires bullets with toxins that knock vampires out and kill humans. If they tie the guard up with barbed wire, he will be unable to move; if he does, he will risk bleeding out without any ability to reproduce blood. Laith and Arthie avoid the guards by hiding alongside the wall of the tower, a trust exercise for them both. They draw closer to each other, nearly kissing, but Arthie pulls back, torn between her desire to push him away and pull him closer.