Of Delicate Pieces Read Online Free PDF

seem to fit with the rest of the Eskers kids.”
    Kaleb snickered. She didn’t understand why.
    “I apologize if I’ve offended you. I’m only trying to help our peers understand the situation. I’m sure you know that people are still wary of your brother’s connection and even his disconnection with the Eskers kids.”
    “I can’t control how people think any more than you can.”
    She felt herself smiling but didn’t respond to Kaleb. Hadn’t they earlier established that she actually had that power? With words.
    “Come on,” urged Kaleb. “We need to get to the Grandiuse.” The four of them turned to leave, but Sigorny raised her pen in the air. “One more thing, if I could. Alex?”
    Chase and Alex regarded one another before Chase pressed his fist to his mouth, stifling his amusement. An inside joke? Peculiar didn’t begin to describe those two.
    “You have a pretty solid relationship with Professor Duvall, right?”
    Alex humphed.
    Oh, don’t pretend you don’t like this, Alex, Sigorny thought. She pestered enough people by now to know when they truly felt bothered by her. Alex Ash didn’t mind it, which Sigorny found interesting considering the hostility of her friends.
    “Has she ever mentioned anything about temperamental ink?”
    “Why would she?”
    “She is Eidolon’s notorious witch. The ink found in the Eskers kids’ notebooks is the product of witchcraft.”
    “I think spirits with knowledge as extensive as Professor Duvall’s prefer to be called the gifted.”
    She smiled. “Thank you. I’ll rephrase. The ink is the product of the gifted, correct?”
    “I don’t know. I’m not one of them.”
    That you know of , Sigorny thought. Sephi sure was .
    Alex crossed her arms. “Spirits wouldn’t be nearly as advanced as we are without the help of the gifted.”
    “That’s debatable. There’s a reason our societies choose to separate. You don’t think Duvall is somehow involved?”
    “Not at all.”
    “And why is that?”
    Alex raised a palm, balancing an invisible tray. “Because if Duvall was going to send secret messages to students, I’m sure she wouldn’t be sending them to Reuben Seyferr or the Bond twins.”
    “True. Duvall makes it no secret that she despises those students which is why I asked. If she were going to put students in an illegal situation, wouldn’t she choose spirits she didn’t favor? The Eskers kids are connected to the hunters who threaten her kind.”
    “I suppose that would make sense,” Alex replied, and this caused Sigorny to look up in surprise. “That is if the students they were attacking didn’t include someone with whom she, as you worded it, has a pretty solid relationship .” She pointed a finger at her own chest.
    Chase chuckled.
    “Hm,” Sigorny murmured. “Thanks. To all of you. I appreciate your time.”
    “Come on, we can’t be late,” Gabe said, ushering his crew away. “Sigorny, you probably don’t want to be late either.”
    Her pride swelled. “Thanks for your concern.”
    She would get to the evening meeting. But not yet. She lowered herself to the ground where they had been standing, and she wrote furiously. The scent of ambition began to ricochet off the nearby trees. She loved it. It smelled a bit like new office furniture.

Chapter Four
     
     
    Books wallpapered the looming tower of the Grandiuse, chattering louder than the children sitting among them. The stories lowered their voices as Alex passed, filling her with that adolescent insecurity that they were talking about her. She watched Skye touch their bindings, tilting her head. It wouldn’t surprise Alex if Skye understood their language.
    Alex once asked the two sisters who guarded the doors why the walls slouched instead of standing upright as if the structure buckled under the weight of the roof. The little girls, Maria and Elizabeth, ignored her like they ignored everyone because they were too busy writing stories about nineteenth century