Free The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

experiment on something as dangerous and unpredictable as the Waste? It swallows everything in its path. The Wall around New London was built by Refiners and Pedants working together to keep our city safe. Why bring such danger right into the heart of New London after all the attempts to keep it out?
    “Neither of those things are the problem,” he says, after a long, thoughtful pause. “It’s just . . . you must start thinking about your future.”
    “I know what I want my future to be. I want to stay and work at the Museum with you.”
    “I know,” he says softly. “But that is not the way of the world.” His eyes flick to the painting.
    I tighten my grip on his sleeve. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I’ll end up like her.” I jerk my head toward Athena.
    He opens his mouth to refute me, but I say in a rush, “I won’t. I swear I won’t. Please don’t make me leave the Museum just yet. Please.” I’m embarrassed by the tears that clench my throat and burn my eyes. It isn’t very logical to get worked up like this; it probably only proves his point.
    But Father has no son, no one to follow in his profession. I am the only person in the household he can talk to about science and unnatural affairs. Neither of us want to lose that, and yet he’s saying that we must.
    Aunt Minta lingers at the dining room door.
    “All right,” he relents with a sad smile.
    I start to speak my gratitude, but he stops me.
    “But only for a little while. Your aunt is right. You are a young lady and your thoughts must turn eventually to making a good match. Today I think you should stay here and consider that.”
    Now I open my mouth to protest, but he stops me again.
    “Listen, Vee. We’re not too badly off, but we’re certainly not wealthy and I’m quite old. It may be difficult for me to support our family in the coming years, my dear. Your duty is to see that we’re all cared for and I know you can. When the New Year comes, you must put these childish dreams aside, and work with your aunt on finding the perfect match. You’re a good girl, and I know you’ll do what is right for your family.”
    He sighs. I know he hates making these pronouncements and he seldom sticks to them. But I have a feeling that he’ll stick to this one like no other. I am saddened into complete silence.
    I nod.
    I glance at Aunt Minta. She’s smiling. It’s not an unkind smile, but she’s never understood my obsession with unnatural things. A little part of me knows deep down that she and Father are right. I hate that most of all.
    I follow Father to the foyer where our maid Lorna stands ready with his coat and hat. We are too poor to afford a wardrobe wight. Father puts on the Sheep of Learning, his robes, and beret. Aunt Minta still hasn’t said a word. I guess she knows she’s won, and now she can gloat over it all day in the parlor as I prick my fingers doing embroidery or some equally dull task. Except that Aunt Minta really is too kind a soul to gloat.
    We say our good-byes. I step out on the porch to watch Father go and I nearly trip over the deliveryman who stacks bricks ofbound myth for our furnace. The City Refinery in Lowtown processes raw myth from the myth mines in the north and then distributes each family’s allotment. I’ve heard some families in Lowtown receive nothing because they can’t pay, or are reduced to buying wood gathered by the Tinkers. It’s said the Tinkers refuse to use myth —something about it bringing bad dreams or bad luck. And no one exactly knows what happens in the Imperial Refinery attached to the Empress’s Tower, beyond supplying the Empress’s household with an endless quantity of myth .
    The deliveryman nods to me as he finishes his chore and hurries to his cart and the next house. I shove my hands in my pockets and find the embroidered handkerchief, a red secret as deadly as the letters stitched on Athena’s execution gown. Will Pedant Lumin notice I’m absent