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A small staircase led out of the darker basement. Here, lights twinkled softly overhead. She heard singers and actors rehearsing in their rooms. The effect was a garbled, fever-dream version of the play they were putting on that night. Her eyes drifted, as always, to the second room in the hallway to her right. The name TESSA BROOD glinted on the wall there in silver letters.
Focus, Nevelyn thought. She’s not your quarry today.
She spotted Edna crossing the massive backstage area, past the mail wall with its slotted cabinets, and she doubled her pace to catch up. The girl paused before the playhouse’s rickety dumbwaiter. There was a table there with two stacks of costumes set out. Nevelyn heard Edna curse under her breath as she began rifling through them.
“Edna. Are you all right?”
The girl’s jaw tightened. She glanced back over one shoulder, eyeing Nevelyn from head to toe. “I’m fine.”
“They were out of line,” Nevelyn said. “I know what it’s like. To not be taken seriously.”
“I don’t doubt that.” Edna gestured to her entirety. “Look at you. You’re a slob. The missing button. That small grease stain along your collar. It’s a wonder they hired you at all.”
Nevelyn was shocked back a step. It was like being plunged into cold water. That tightening in the lungs and chest. Her entire body constricted. Edna’s lip curled up even more at that reaction.
“Look at you. Such a mousy thing. We are not alike. I need no sympathy from a useless creature like you. They only hired you on to see us through the production date. And then they’ll be rid of you, and I’ll be rid of you. So the next time you get it in your head that we are friends, remember that you work beneath me. If I want your thoughts, on any subject, I’ll request them. If I don’t, feel free to keep your mouth shut on matters that have naught to do with you. Understood?”
A decade of survival and scraping forced Nevelyn to nod. In the back of her mind, she knew that Edna held no true power over her. But anytime someone had taken this tone with them, she’d learned subservience. Resistance caused a scene. Raised voices drew unwanted attention. It had always worked out better to simply nod and avoid eye contact. She did that now.
“Gods,” Edna cursed. “You look like you’re going to have a cry. Do it somewhere else.”
Obediently, Nevelyn turned to leave.
“Wait. I didn’t mean you could take a break. I just don’t want to be around to hear your sniveling. The crow’s nest technicians forgot these outfits.” Edna patted one of the stacks of clothing. She carefully lifted the other set of costumes in her arms. “They need to go upstairs for the play tonight. Be sure they get there, and don’t let any of the fabric snag on anything.”
Nevelyn kept her eyes low as Edna marched past, heels clicking along the hardened wood. She looked at the dumbwaiter mechanism. It had been some time since she’d used one, but she’d need to figure out how to work the levers.…
“Oh!” Edna called back over a shoulder. “The dumbwaiter is broken. You’ll have to walk them all up. Thanks for being such a dear about everything.”
Nevelyn thought she heard a fading snicker. Her hand drifted silently to the spot on her collar. She’d seen it that morning. A grease stain from weeks ago. The rest of her clothes were drying, though, and she’d already been running late. Her hand fell back to her side.
She’d hoped to win Edna over. Become fast friends. She’d wanted someone trustworthy inside the playhouse. Now, however, she felt no qualms in executing the other version of her plan. She and her siblings had met hundreds of Ednas in their travels. Base creatures who wielded power in their small kingdoms with unfortunate brutality. Experience had taught her exactly how to handle such people.
Nevelyn reached for the stack of clothes. She could only manage to carry half of them, pressing the bulk against her chest and starting up the winding steps. It would have to be two trips. The crow’s nest was used in a number of the plays and operas. Gods would descend from the heavens on nearly invisible wires. Crooning lovers would sing to each other—one in the tower above and the other in a garden below. She’d never actually walked all the way to the top.
The steps turned in tight circles that had her feeling claustrophobic, not to mention sweating profusely. She passed several platforms, each with windows that could be opened or closed depending on what the current play demanded. The crow’s nest was at the very top of the tower. Nevelyn arrived short of breath. An older man was there, leaning unceremoniously over a set of gears and cranks. He wiped the back of his nose with a sleeve before turning to her.
“Damn. Forgot those, didn’t I?” He thumbed behind him. “Leave them with Garth.”
Nevelyn frowned. “Garth?”
She followed the old man’s gaze to a figure in the most shadowed corner of the room. He was so deeply asleep that she hadn’t realized he was there. Nevelyn thought he looked older than her, though it was hard to tell. She’d never seen someone who looked more like a bear. Broad shoulders, thick limbs, a round stomach. A dark beard only added to the effect. Nevelyn set the clothes down in a pile beside him and turned to leave.
The old man clucked his tongue. “That other stack needs to go down. For mending.”
He was pointing at the clothes beneath the slumbering man.
Nevelyn frowned. “I have to wake him up?”
“With a kiss, if the plays are to be trusted.” The old man offered a wink. “Garth. You sack of shit! Wake up. We’ve company!”
This shout was paired with the old man tossing a literal metal wrench across the room. Nevelyn gasped, but thankfully the metal struck the wall above Garth and rattled harmlessly to the floor. The noise was enough to bring him back to life.
“Did you just throw a wrench at me?” He blinked, smacking his lips slightly, before spying Nevelyn. His entire face transformed. “Sorry. Gods, I thought you were Edna.”
The old man laughed. “Edna would have kicked you in the stones already.”
There was an awkward silence while the bearish Garth lumbered back to his feet. Nevelyn wished she was still holding the stack of clothes, as she had nothing to do with her hands, nothing to hide herself behind. She didn’t know why she felt so exposed before the two of them. It did not help that Garth now towered over her. Nor did it help that she’d been very wrong about her guess. The beard made him seem older than he was. There was a boyishness beneath that made it clear they were the same age. His eyes were deep and dark. His smile stretched as wide as the rest of him, and she’d never felt so comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.
