Chapter 56
I lounge for a good ten minutes in perfect comfort, letting my mind turn where it will, brushing my fingers through my hair and wishing for a proper brush instead of the scanty little combs that the Academy provides to its boys, who apparently have no real need for hair care.

I’m passively wondering if there’s some way to requisition’a proper brush when suddenly the little bell on the dumbwaiter rings. Eager, a little excited, I jump up and scurry over to it, delighted when I open the door to find a little plated lunch waiting for me – just a sandwich and a glass of apple juice, but still.

I mean, it’s not a power bar, right?

I whisper my thank–you to the dumbwaiter, which I realize is stupid even as I do it, pressing the door shut with my shoulder as I carry my food over to my nook. There, I climb into bed with it, digging into my sandwich as I simultaneously open my Chemistry book, getting started where I left off this morning.

The material is fascinating to me, thank goodness. I mean, I’ve studied chemistry before, but as I work my way through our assigned chapters I realize that this text has been specifically designed for precisely the kind of chemical study that an assassin might need. I frown for a moment but am ultimately unsurprised when I flip to the front of the book, looking for the author’s name.

I find it, immediately under the title. Dr. Francis Neumann. I laugh, shaking my head – of course he wrote it, just for us.

The next few hours pass easily as I sink into the text, eagerly consuming the information and taking notes that I hope will be useful for review tomorrow morning. As I read I rebraid my hair on my head, gathering my discarded clothes and putting them back on after a trip to the bathroom to take a hasty shower and get cleaned up. Because as much as I’m enjoying my alone time, I am aware that my brother and my cousin are going to come back eventually, probably with Ben and Luca in tow.