“When I left rehearsal today, every single person knew my name.” She fiddled with her shirt. Even after telling him the truth of her talents, this confession somehow felt more personal. Maybe because she knew it sounded absurd, even before she explained it. But still, she wanted to share it, and she knew that he would listen. “I’ve gone to school with girls my entire life who forget my existence regularly. I could walk beneath a spotlight and be mistaken for a shadow.”
“Your schoolmates were snobbish,” he said.
She shook her head. She knew it would be difficult to put into words. “It’s more than that. I stand at the back of the stage for every show. I’m marked absent when I’m the first to arrive. I introduce myself again and again, only to be forgotten.” Her breath hitched for a moment, and she quickly swallowed down her flood of emotions. She felt like she was carving herself open and laying it bare. The worst hurt in the world was the kind you grew to accept. “That’s the reason I began to doubt. Not because of Lourdes’s lies or how easily I’ve picked up acrobatics. But because I have never impressed anyone—not ever. But since I arrived in New Reynes, people haveseenme.”
“You impress me every time I’m with you.” Levi said it so simply, as if he’d repeat those words forever without doubting them, as if those words were cheap. To Enne, they were worth everything.
Enne finished the rest of her Gambler’s Ruin. As she set down the glass, her fingers trembled. All of her conflicted emotions had left her heart as sore as her body. She could lie back down on Levi’s chest and sleep until morning.
“It’s getting late,” Levi said softly.
Enne tensed and sat up. “Oh, yes.” She hurriedly straightened out her hair. “I should go.”
“You don’t... Yes. You should.” He stood up awkwardly and picked up the glasses and the now-empty box of cookies. “You ate all of these.” He tossed the box back on the table.
“You had some.”
“Yeah. Maybe two.”
“You said they were just for me.” She stuck out her tongue.
He laughed. “I’ll have to steal more for you tomorrow from the breakfast room.”
She liked the idea of him keeping cookies here for her. It gave her more of a reason to come back.
Her guidebook had been wrong about one thing: the most dangerous part of the City of Sin wasn’t the beckoning of the card tables or the threat of the gangs. It was the allure of Levi Glaisyer’s roguish smile.
She stood up. He was in her way to the door. Standing so close, smelling like he did, looking at her like that...he was quite the obstacle.
Levi reached into the pocket of a jacket on the rack beside him. He pulled out a key, grinned sheepishly and handed it to her. “It’s a spare, to my apartment. Feel free to steal my guns anytime you want, but I’d prefer if you ask me first.”
She took the key. Like the weapons he’d offered her, it felt like a dangerous thing.
“Will you be all right?” she asked. She swallowed. She definitely shouldn’t invite herself to stay longer, not when he’d already suggested she leave. It was tactless. It was...dangerous. He was her only companion in New Reynes, and she was mistaking his help for something else. “I know you and Reymond were close.” It wasn’t fair he’d given her comfort when she hadn’t returned it. “If you need to talk more—”
“I don’t want to,” he said quickly. “I mean, not tonight. But you don’t have to—”
“Stay, I know. We can meet up again tomorrow. Six o’clock? Right after my rehearsal?”
They locked eyes, making Enne’s breath hitch. His free hand reached for hers, then dropped. “I was going to say...never mind. Yes, six o’clock is fine.”
Enne hesitated. The intensity in Levi’s gaze made her shiver. When he looked at her, hesawher. She wanted to disappear into the sanctuary of a shadow. She wanted to remain here forever just to feel his stare. But if she lingered any longer, he would guess at her thoughts. She’d already surrendered so much of herself to the City of Sin, and a kiss from Levi Glaisyer would seal the deal. Her thoughts betrayed her too easily.
She took a step back. “Good night,” she said breathlessly.
He licked his lips and pulled away. His poker face, as always, revealed nothing. “Good night.”
DAY FIVE
“The South Side may seem safer, reader, but remember—some monsters wait until your guard is down to bare their teeth.”
—The City of Sin, a Guidebook: Where To Go and Where Not To
ENNE
Now in possession of a key, Enne let herself into Levi’s apartment. It was ten minutes early than their planned meeting time, but Enne had come anyway, anxious from sitting around her apartment after rehearsal with nothing to do but fiddle with her token.
She heard a shower running. She leaned against the bathroom door, feeling both embarrassed and bold. “I was thinking about what you said about oaths,” she said, hoping she was loud enough for him to hear. “And I have questions. I read the rest of my guidebook, and I can’t find anything about them orwhythey work.”
