Chapter 19
Over prawn and chilli pasta later that week, the conversation turned to Esme’s injured leg. Esme and Lillian, unwilling to volunteer the whole truth, managed to convince Miranda that Esme had merely brushed against some unusually sharp coral.
‘Still, I wish you’d be more careful, Esme. What you’re going through … it can’t be easy on your own.’
‘She’s got me,’ Lillian pointed out. ‘And Daniel.’
‘Yes, but—isn’t there anything I can do to help?’
Esme swallowed. ‘Actually …’
She’d spent a whole week researching the remaining ingredients, scouring the Pierpont Library, the Temple Library, and the keepers’ archives, to no avail. She’d even used her Gift, several times, to try to learn where Thomas Agapios had sourced them. All she’d come back with was a headache, worse than ever
