“Are you, then? For lying to me, or the criminal enterprise?” I couldn’t help the chill in my tone.
“Both,” she said. I’d never seen her so serious. “It’s . . . complicated. And it got a bit too big for me, all the lies, and layers to it.”
“Was I always just a mark to you? Elliot said your specialty is ingratiating yourself with high-class ladies.”
“Indeed, that is what I’m good at.” Evgenia laughed darkly, half to herself. Then she deposited a bag of sugar into the basket. “But, no, I didn’t consider you a mark,” she continued with a sigh. “You became a friend, truly. And you have to believe me, I tried to put a stop to it all, almost as soon as we arrived and I got to know you. I told Elliot to quit his stupid jealous revenge mission, begged him to tell you everything. He said he tried?”
“Don’t make excuses for him. He knew what he was doing.”
She looked at me sadly but didn’t contradict me. “You have every right to be mad. And I’ll leave Elliot to clean up his own mess. But I hope you and I can try to mend our friendship? You’re one of my only girlfriends. I’m surrounded by impulsive, impetuous men. I really like you, Leo. Genuinely. Nutmeg.”
“What?”
She pointed behind my head. “The nutmeg is behind you. Last thing we need. Oh, and an egg.” We each grabbed our respective final ingredients.
“I . . .” I trailed off, unsure of how to respond. It seemed too easy to just say it was all water under the bridge and move on. But she didn’t seem to be lying to me now. Maybe I owed it to myself to try to parse out how much of my friend Evgenia had been real. Good friends, especially girlfriends, were a rare and valuable find. “We can try to be friends again.”
Evgenia lit up, her features returning to their natural state. Then, at the door to the pantry, she hesitated, and dropped her voice low.
“Are you going to report us? I’d understand if you did, but of course I’m hoping you won’t.”
I barked a bitter laugh. “I have no choice. You’re using my ship. Elliot set it up perfectly so that our destruction would be mutually assured. I’ll keep your secret. It’s mine now too.”
Evgenia frowned. “This is all a fine mess.”
“And we haven’t even started cooking.” I attempted levity. We headed back to our station, where Daniel and Asta awaited us. We launched into our main dish, exchanging polite small talk as we worked. I counted down the minutes until the break into the dessert, waiting for the next chance to talk with Evgenia more. My mind was only half on the cooking. I kept coming up with more questions for her. To keep them from popping out of my mouth, I stuffed it with the gravy and meatballs we’d made. We were permitted to eat our entrées, I was delighted to learn. Dessert was to be saved for a special event, the instructor, Bjorn, told us. He came around when we were done and tasted our dishes, betraying nothing as he chewed. After Bjorn had made his way around the room, he returned to the front.
“Now for the dessert course! This one will be strictly timed, to make it a bit more challenging. May the best cake win!”
My eyes went wide as I scanned the ingredient list. This cake would require half the pantry. I saw my chance to get a long stretch of alone time with Evgenia without arousing suspicion.
“Daniel and Asta, why don’t you go to the pantry this time?” As soon as they left, I pounced. I leaned in close to Evgenia so no one else would hear. “How did you guys pass your background checks? It’s been bothering me.”
Evgenia’s mouth formed an O of surprise, but quickly she composed herself. “Well, Elliot and I did. The business doesn’t work unless he and I come out clean, since we hobnob with the well-to-do.” Her eyes darted left and right, and she lowered her voice. “Max and Ewan didn’t. We knew they wouldn’t. They’ve been in trouble a few times for being caught with contraband. But usually it’s not a big deal, because they play all sides. The Olympus dings their record, but they make up for it by running a few missions for them free of charge. No one in transport is clean.”
It meant my aunt had lied to me, and shortly thereafter Max and Ewan had gone missing. Only I was half certain they’d never gone anywhere at all. They played all sides, Evgenia said—were they playing some side with my aunt now?
“There’s one more thing I have to tell you. It’s been eating me alive with guilt.”
I snapped back to attention. “What?”
“The night of the space walk, I wasn’t really sick. I was faking it to get into the med bay.” Her cheeks burned red with shame. “I hated doing it, fooling you like that—making you take care of me! But it was one of the tasks Elliot had assigned me, and I saw my window. I feel horrible about it.”
“What did you steal?” I fought to keep the hard edge out of my voice. At least she was coming clean.
“Some vaccines,” she replied. “They’re becoming scarce throughout the fleet, and Elliot wants to shore up our own supplies, in case there’s an outbreak on one of the poorer ships.”
“What, so he can charge them an arm and a leg for protection?” I hissed.
“No, no—he’d give it to them for free,” she insisted. “Elliot’s not what you think he is. Not as bad, I mean. You have every right to be mad, though.”
I took a moment to cool down, turning over this new information. Was Elliot really some Robin Hood figure? Or was he lying to Evgenia, too?
“And where is Elliot?” I tried to sound casual, but we both knew I failed. Evgenia was kind enough to pretend.
“He said he’s done with Valg events,” she said. “Doesn’t see the point anymore.” She grimaced. “So, um, you don’t have to worry about running into him.”
“Running into who?” Daniel asked, he and Asta returning with a basket full to the brim.
“Lukas,” Evgenia chirped. “One of Leo’s early suitors.”
“Ugh, that twerp,” Asta groaned. “Very handsy. Good on you, Leo, for ditching him. Daniel here is a gentleman.”
I noticed he was carrying the sagging basket. Promptly I relieved him of it and started sorting the ingredients by the order in which we’d need to use them. The dessert task was an elaborate Swedish princess cake composed of many layers of sponge, jam, and pastry cream. More than half the class appeared stunned at the enormity of the task before us, but Asta appeared nonplussed.
“My mother made sure I knew how to make an immaculate princess cake,” she said. Each of her knuckles gave a satisfying crack as she worked over them. Then she rolled her shoulders, like a boxer in the ring. “We’ve got this in the bag. Evy, when we win, I want to go skiing.”
We set to work under Asta’s tutelage, the small talk a little less small this round. It was almost like old times with Evgenia, who brought her trademark wit and charm to the party. Daniel seemed to love her. More than once he nudged me in the ribs and told me the very same. A few times, I caught Evy observing us astutely. Her expression never gave away more than pointed interest, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was cataloging every moment to report back to Elliot. Would he be jealous? No, that thinking was dangerous. Elliot was dangerous, I reminded myself.