“Remind me to ask Miss Bilphena to tell you about them another time,” Aloe said. “You’ll love the story.” He took her to the tangerine room, which was covered in citrusy wallpaper, rich painted fruit heaping from green stems.
“Oh, it’s literally the tangerine room.” Bitter laughed. It was small but cozy, with a large bed taking up most of the floor space. Aloe lay on top of the covers and reached his arms out to her.
“Come and rest for a bit,” he said.
Bitter was only too happy to climb up and snuggle against his chest. His fingers stroked along her spine in gentle lines, and she could feel his ribs expanding and contracting under her cheek. She’d thought it would be impossible to sleep, but in his arms and within the walls of Assata, Bitter was surprised to find exhaustion catching up with her, severing her from the awake world. She didn’t know if she believed in the spirit stuff Miss Bilphena had been talking about, but clearly everyone else did, so just in case it was real, Bitter said a quick prayer that she would wake up to a world different from the one she was drifting out of.
The next morning, Lucille was on fire.
Bitter woke up to the acrid smell of smoke seeping through the window. Aloe was already sitting up in bed, sleepy and alarmed. “What’s going on?” he asked. “What’s burning?”
Muffled shouts came from down the hallway, along with quick footsteps as someone ran past, banging on the doors. Their door was flung open, and Alex looked in. “Oh, good,” she said, breathless. “You’re already awake.”
“W’happening?” Bitter asked, sitting up. Her head felt foggy.
“There’s been a breach of the safe house,” Alex replied.
“What?” Aloe’s voice pitched high as he jumped out of bed. “But that’s impossible.”
“I know.” It was difficult to read Alex’s expression. “We got an outsider, and Miss Bilphena wants y’all down in the kitchen.”
Bitter felt a flutter of panic start in her. One night outside Eucalyptus and this happened. She should have never listened to Miss Bilphena’s promises about the Assata house being impossible to break into. Still, it was strange—Alex didn’t look as alarmed as Bitter felt. That didn’t match up if someone had really broken into what was supposed to be an impenetrable safe house. Bitter frowned. “You sure is us she want? Shouldn’t we stay in here until allyuh … contain the threat, or whatever?”
Alex made a face. “Yeah, so we’re not entirely sure that the breach is a threat.”
“That doh make no sense, Alex.”
“Ugh.” Alex sighed. “It’s Miss Virtue, okay? The breach is Miss Virtue.”
Bitter swung her legs off the bed, shocked. “Miss Virtue? Our Miss Virtue?”
“Yup. She just … walked right into the house and made herself a cup of tea. Was waiting in the kitchen for half an hour before one of the lookouts noticed her.”
“Like I said,” Aloe reemphasized, “that’s impossible. You know that, Alex.”
“I mean, yeah, I know, but clearly someone didn’t loop Miss Virtue in! She saying she’s here for the Eucalyptus kids.”
Bitter pulled on her shoes. “To take us back? It not against the rules to have sleepovers, or is it because we’re with Assata specifically?”
“Some sleepover this is,” Aloe muttered, and Bitter shot him a glare.
“Look, I don’t know shit about what’s going on,” Alex replied. “All I know is that everyone’s freaking out because this has literally never happened—they’re sending someone up to the roof to get Sunflower, and Miss Bilphena wants us in the kitchen. Dassit. Can we go now?”
It didn’t make any sense, no matter how hard Bitter tried to think about it as she and Aloe followed Alex downstairs. How could Miss Virtue have snuck in? Why would Miss Virtue have snuck in? An unpleasant dread rolled around Bitter’s stomach, and she prayed desperately that this didn’t have anything to do with Vengeance. It was impossible. What would Miss Virtue know about angels or the things that had burst out of her students’ work in the indigo thick of the past night? Then again, it had always seemed like Miss Virtue knew everything about Eucalyptus and everyone who lived there, everyone she protected.
When they got to the kitchen, Miss Virtue was indeed sitting at the table in a white snakeskin suit with matching boots. Her face was calm and almost pleasant, but her gray eyes looked slightly feral. She was sipping tea from a delicate china cup, and Miss Bilphena was sitting across from her, wrapped in a silk robe with her hair cascading around her shoulders. They made a gorgeous if unlikely picture together. They were also surrounded by a squad of Assata kids who were armed with machetes and seemed determined to not let Miss Virtue step a hair out of place.
Miss Virtue smiled when she saw her Eucalyptus kids walk in. “Good morning, darlings,” she said. “The city is burning—have you noticed?”
Bitter blinked, unsure of what to say. Blessing was sitting on one of the counters, her legs swinging and her face studiously blank. Ube was making some toast as if anything about that morning was normal.
“What are you doing here?” Aloe blurted out, and Miss Bilphena raised an eyebrow as she drank some of her tea.
“An excellent question,” she agreed. “I’ve been waiting for Virtue to give us some clarity about this … unexpected situation.”
Bitter folded her arms and glared at Miss Bilphena. “Yeah, I thought allyuh said this house was safe, that no one could break in. Or was that just a lie?”
About half of the machetes swung in her direction as the Assata kids shifted their unfriendly stares to her.
“Did you just call Miss Bilphena a liar?” Ube asked, spreading blueberry jam on his toast, not even looking at them. “I’d take that back if I was you. Especially in this house.”
Bitter raised her hands. “I was just asking! Alex said there’s a breach, and you said a breach was impossible, so what the hell?”
Miss Bilphena gestured at the machetes, and they swung back to Miss Virtue, who sighed and placed her cup on its porcelain saucer with a small clink.
“Bilphena, is this really necessary? Your children are a little”—she waved her hand vaguely around—“knife-happy, don’t you think?”
“They’re understandably distressed, Virtue. You have no business being here.”
“I beg to disagree. My students are nothing if not my business.”
Ube bit into his toast with a loud crunch. “They’re not allowed to visit Assata?”
Miss Virtue scalded them all with one dragging look. “No, what I tend to frown upon is when they call angels through into Lucille en masse.” Her voice was a razor blade made of ice, and it froze the air in the kitchen immediately.
Bitter’s stomach dropped. “How do you know about that?”
“Darling.” Miss Virtue crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. “I think we’ve got bigger problems than that, don’t you?”
Ube had stopped midchew, slowly processing her words. “Did she just say angels?”
“Yes,” Miss Bilphena bit out. “And again, what I would like is some clarity, Virtue.”