He pursed his lips. “Nothing about what you all do here is honest.”
Grace grinned. “You like it? It was my idea.”
Enne crossed her arms. She realized she couldn’t paint Owain’s murder as noble if she tortured Roy to make it happen. But at least torture would’ve been quicker.
“You know what else isn’t honest?” Grace reached up and grabbed his badge off her bureau. “Don’t they take your badge after you’re fired? But youwerefired, otherwise people would’ve come looking for you a long time ago. Did you steal this?”
“I didn’t steal it,” he gritted through his teeth.
“You didn’t steal this, but you’re also not a whiteboot.” Grace leaned against the wall beside him, pondering this. He inched away from her, as though disturbed at the thought of them touching. “I know you are who you say you are. I’ve seen your picture in the papers. You led the attack on the Orphan Guild. You killed a nine-year-old, you know. He wasn’t a Guildworker. He was just somebody’s brother.”
Roy stiffened, but remained silent.
“So why is the golden boy of Humphrey Yard no longer a sergeant? Why didn’t you go back to give them your badge? That’s procedure, and you’re all about procedure.” She tossed his badge across the floor. “Because you couldn’t. You’rerunningfrom them. Captain Hector wants you dead.”
Roy still said nothing.
“Because it wasn’t the whiteboots who attacked the Orphan Guild. They’ve been telling a lie on every radio station for weeks, and you just can’t live with it.”
Roy’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
Grace gave him a wicked grin. “I didn’t. But now I do.”
Enne’s mind reeled. The whiteboots had claimed credit for the attack. If they didn’t do it, who did?
Roy glared at the floor as he spoke. “The captain thought it would be better for the city if everyone believed we’d done it. And when I wanted to find out who was really responsible, the captain forbade me from following the case. I did anyway. I left after my partner tried to kill me, probably on Hector’s orders, but if I find out the truth...I can expose them. I can go back.”
“So you thinkIdid it?” Enne blurted, horrified.
Roy startled, as though he’d forgotten Enne was there. “No. I think the Guildmaster or one of his associates planned it, but when I saw you leave that day, I knew it was an opportunity. So I followed you.”
“Bryce would never hurt the Guild. And Rebecca and Harvey are too loyal to him to do so, either,” Enne said. “Why do you even suspect them?”
“Because of how quickly they moved, how few people were hurt. It was like they knew it was coming. Like they tried to limit casualties.”
“That’s not evidence,” Grace pointed out. “That’s coincidence.”
“At the time, only the Families had those sort of weapons,” he admitted. “But I still trust my instincts.”
“I trust logic,” she countered.
“You asked, and I’m telling the truth. But I’m not helping you kill a man.”
“He’s not aninnocentman. He killed her mother. Think of it this way—you would be helping bring him to justice. You love justice.”
“Stop doing that. Stop talking about me like I’m some comic strip character.”
“I can’t help it when you look like one. I bet you’d look great in tights.”
He flushed and inched as far away from her as his handcuffs would allow. “If my precinct knew that the headquarters of the Spirits was likethis... The whole damn building smells of nail polish. There arecatseverywhere named aftermurderers. And all you eat are sweets.”
“Roy,” Grace cooed, and Roy scowled at the raspy, provocative way she said his name. Enne suspected she knew why Roy insisted on staying with Grace, and it was far from a death wish. “Whodoeshave a motive for starting a street war? Whodoeswant to see the North Side fall?”
When Roy didn’t speak, Enne took it upon herself to answer. “The Phoenix Club.”
“The Phoenix Club hasn’t been active since the Revolution,” he said.
“Troops in the North Side. Talent registrations. Curfews. It’s starting to feel an awful lot like the Revolution repeating itself.” Enne got up and walked closer to Roy. This was the first time he’d actually looked at her—not at Grace or at the floor—since she’d entered the room, and his eyes widened as she approached.
