A Tempest of Tea

Arthie grieves as Spindrift burns, feeling like “all her life she’d spun a slow dance through a burning room, and the inferno had caught up to her at last” (277).

Panicking, Jin overcomes his fear of fire and pushes his way back into the burning building, desperate to save Arthie. He finds her trapped under a bookcase, but before he can reach her, she frees herself, only to collapse in his arms. He drags them both out of Spindrift, imagining Flick guiding him to safety.

Jin wakes up outside Spindrift and realizes that Flick was actually there, guiding him to safety. She helps to carry Arthie into a carriage and gives Jin water. As Flick tenderly cares for him, Jin breaks down crying; she embraces him and cries as well. Jin wipes away her tears with his hand, and she tells him to not overthink matters. They draw closer, almost kissing, until the driver opens the door and tells them that they have reached the Athereum.

Arthie wakes up hungry and angry; she is devastated by Spindrift’s loss. She takes her pistol and tries to prepare herself but drops to her knees on the bedroom floor and begins to cry. She glimpses a strange flower and then a person, and to her confusion, Laith approaches her. She asks if he is here to kill her, and although he wishes he could, he admits to yearning for her too much to do so. He then forgives her, raising Arthie’s suspicions. When he claims that he no longer works for the Horned Guard, Arthie questions why he cannot move on and seek peace. He insists that he cannot live without vengeance, then draws closer, promising her that he wants to help her and knows what she is. As he opens his shirt, Arthie loses control at the scent of his blood.

The narrative flashes back to the past, when Arthie’s mother sought a miracle to save Arthie’s life. The healer gave Arthie his blood, transforming her into a half-vampire. Arthie, dazed and bloodied, ran for a boat on the water to escape the violence of Ettenia’s colonization. She glanced back to see her parents lying in pools of blood, and instead of feeling grief, she was overcome by hunger. The other survivors on the boat restrained her, but during the journey to Ettenia, she eventually ate all of them.

Later, Arthie found her way to Penn, starving and furious. The housekeeper let her stay in exchange for work, but Penn found her and took her in as his daughter because she was a half-vampire like “him.” (The narrative implies that he was the Wolf of White Roaring.) Arthie’s hunger eventually overtook her, compelling her to devour the maid and to hunt others in the household. Without Penn there to shepherd her in that moment—due to his busy life—she fled the house, vowing never to drink blood again. She later found Jin, who unknowingly allowed her to sate her thirst for blood via the use of coconut.

The narrative returns to the present. Arthie tries to tell Laith that she is dangerous, but Laith refuses to listen, even though Arthie knows that she could kill him from hunger. He begs her to destroy him, and she tries to refuse, demanding to know why. He explains that she is his mirror and that they experience the same pain. Arthie finally succumbs and bites him, drinking his blood but taking command of herself in the process. They passionately, sensually grip one another, but because the presence of blood has made Arthie more alert, she notices Laith’s hand wandering toward Calibore. When she realizes that Laith’s lost “artifact” is Calibore itself, she understands that she has always been his true target. She throws Laith against the wall and presses claws to his throat, telling him that she could kill him. He states that they have only ever used each other. She tells him to leave.

Arthie mourns the fact that she has broken her own oath and lost Laith. She leaves the room and runs into Matteo, who immediately realizes that she has fed and asks her why, looking horrified and betrayed for reasons that she doesn’t understand. He points out that he always knew the owner of Spindrift to be a vampire, which she rejects. He then says that Spindrift was her tether to control; when she lost Spindrift, she gave in to her bloodlust. He asserts, “Embracing and giving in are not the same thing” (299) and encourages her to stop punishing herself and to accept what she is. She suddenly realizes that he truly understands her. He touches her cheek, and she leans into the touch, then apologizes to him. He jokes about calling “the presses” for her apology, and his comment makes her realize that the next step to their plan should be to use the press to take down the Ram.

When Arthie rejoins them in Penn’s office, Jin notices that she looks more like herself than she has in months. She hugs him and tells him that Laith is gone; Jin wonders what happened, since Penn had arranged for Laith’s release. Arthie tells Penn that they will arrange for the press and the Ram to “meet” without knowing it, thereby incriminating the Ram and the EJC in the process. They arrange for the Ram to meet them in the Athereum’s meeting hall after the press have arrived. Even if people do not care about vampires, Arthie hopes to incite widespread fury through the revelation that the Ram arranged for the Wolf to rampage in White Roaring. Arthie tells everyone to look their best so they’re respectable for the big event.

Flick arranges for a new gown for herself, and on her way out, she spots Arthie in a shop that sells beautiful saris. Flick goes to her mother’s house again, determined to defend her new family and demand answers from her old one. She reassesses her mother’s behavior, realizing that their apparent closeness had always been a form of control. She gets past the maid, then goes to her mother’s office. Flick tells her wary mother that she originally intended to give her a good story to repair the damage that her own forgeries had done to the family, but now, she notices that her mother’s tension comes from fear, not guilt. Lady Linden, in turn, claims that she was forced into making dealings that she dislikes. She states the distance between them was due to her efforts to repair her company. Believing that she sees penitence on her mother’s face, Flick softens. She gives her mother the invitation for the press, telling her to come to the meeting hall to make things right.

Later, Flick reassures herself that she made the right call as she prepares for the party in the Athereum. Clad in a beautiful sari that makes her look deadly, Arthie helps Flick to lace up her own dress. Arthie then checks that Flick gave her mother the envelope. She reassures her that she made the right choice and urges her to find a sense of self that transcends her mother’s influence.

Arthie contemplates her subtle manipulations of Flick. Soon, Penn approaches her, apologizing for making her join the fight against the EJC. He tells her that Matteo told him about her interaction with Laith, and he reminds her that, as a half-vampire, she operates on different rules but does not have to succumb to her own urges. He tells her that she and Matteo have much in common, and she laughs at this idea. Penn then promises to take her and her crew to his home and make it their home again. As he kisses the top of her head, she allows herself to feel comforted, however briefly.

The others enter the office and are immediately surprised by Arthie’s beauty. Matteo is starstruck into silence. However, instead of telling her that she is physically beautiful, he tells her that she is dazzling because of her brain: a compliment that flatters her and scares her.

Flick and Jin find each other in the Athereum and awkwardly compliment one another on their outfits. Flick briefly contemplates her own grief, then backs Jin into a wall and kisses him. As they kiss each other, Jin finally calls her Flick rather than her full name. The clock strikes nine.

Flick is delighted by the kiss and is thrilled that Jin has finally used her chosen name. She gathers strength from the knowledge that Jin loves her as she is. They gather with the rest of the group, watching the press uneasily gather near them, and Flick finds Laith’s kitten and picks it up. She wonders where Laith might be and questions why he would have returned in the first place. Suddenly, the Ram appears, and Flick glimpses her mother’s bright eyes behind the Ram’s mask.

Hearing Flick’s gasp, Arthie realizes that the Ram is Lady Linden and knows that the group has lost the element of surprise. Penn tries to reassure her, but she points out that the Ram could just have the press murdered. As she tries to sound the alarm, men—not guards, but armed men in black—storm in and begin to massacre the guests. The others jump to defend the crowd. Arthie shoves the ledger into Flick’s hands and orders her to protect it.

As Arthie fights, she hears Laith taunt her from behind, and he grabs Calibore before she can resist. He aims the gun at her but hesitates, and she tackles him, flashing back to their intimate moment. Laith gets the gun again, but before he can shoot, Penn jumps in front of her and shields her.

Jin hears Calibore fire and knows that Arthie lost control of the gun. He runs for Arthie, but before he can reach her, the Ram reaches him, cocks a revolver, and fires.

Arthie grieves as Penn lies dying on her lap. He looks at her with love, promising her he’ll be all right, and tells her, “Family isn’t who we live with but those we would die for” (327). He touches her hair and tells her to stay brave, then expires. Arthie hears Flick scream and stands up.

Shot in the heart, Jin collapses, thinking about how much he loves Arthie and worried that she doesn’t know. Matteo appears and offers to save Jin’s life. Jin groggily agrees as Flick appears, sobbing. When Arthie arrives, Jin knows that he can die peacefully, but Arthie tells him to “look sharp.” As Jin dies, he tastes blood, and he opens his eyes to see Arthie with fangs in her mouth. He realizes that she has been a vampire all along. He puts together his memories of her drinking coconut water and knows that his father had been right—vampires can subsist on coconut. Jin fully awakens, starving for blood, and makes eye contact with Arthie, who looks utterly broken.

Heartbroken, Arthie leaves Penn’s body and Jin behind and runs to Laith’s apartment. Inside, she finds him in his armchair, holding Calibore with a look of shock on his face. She tells him that he is the reason his sister died, not the king. As she relives all the ways that he has protected and controlled her, she draws Penn’s gun. She and Laith simultaneously fire their guns at one another and collapse, both fatally wounded.

The Wolf of White Roaring finds Arthie bleeding in Laith’s apartment. He cryptically promises her that they will burn “her”—someone other than Arthie—to the ground, then carries Arthie away.