“Is that what I’m worth to you?” he demanded. “Muck, Levi. I’m not just another thing for you to gamble away.”
He made toward the stairs, and Levi shot up after him.
“Jac, wait! I had a reason for this. Agoodreason—”
“Yeah, I bet you did.” Jac threw open the trapdoor.
Levi winced as he raced to follow him. His broken ribs made it agonizing to move, let alone run. “Where are you going?” he called. Jac couldn’t go home—not with a bounty on his head.
“Like you care,” Jac snapped.
Before he made it to the door, Zula let out a shrill shriek. “You—boy—don’t youdarego outside. Both of you, be quiet.”
They whipped toward her. Zula was seated at her desk, a beaded shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a mug of tea in her hand. She hunched over the radio and turned up the volume.
“The most recent reports are confirming eight casualties,” the newscaster spoke. “Several of the injured have been rushed to New Reynes North General Hospital. Although Captain Hector declined to comment, we were able to get in touch with Sergeant Roy Pritchard, who personally participated in the operation. Sergeant, what information can you give us about tonight’s events?”
“After the tragic assassination of Chancellor Semper, the precincts across the city have been working around the clock to bring the perpetrators—Levi Glaisyer and this so-called Séance—to justice. But as far as we see it, these are two individuals who make up part of a much larger problem. We fully intend to purge organized crime from the North Side, and the success of today’s operation sends a clear message to criminals: We will show no tolerance...and no mercy.”
Levi and Jac crowded around the radio together, their fight momentarily forgotten. “What happened? What does he mean?” Levi asked, his mouth dry. He wasn’t exactly used to hearing his name on the radio.
“Eight people are dead?” Jac murmured. “Who did they say—?”
“If you’d both be quiet, you’d have your answers,” Zula hissed.
The newscaster continued, “Many have already called our station expressing outrage at the age of the victims. The Orphan Guild—”
“Is a misleading title,” the Sergeant said quickly. “They are an organization comprised of people of all ages, feeding agents directly into gangs such as the Scarhands and the Doves. It’s little better than human trafficking. Although we were unable to apprehend the Guildmaster, Bryce Balfour—”
“Lola works for the Orphan Guild,” Jac squeaked.
“She couldn’t have been there,” Levi said, even though he didn’t know if that was true. Eight casualties at the Orphan Guild wasn’t just an operation—it was a massacre.
It was war.
Zula switched the radio off and glared at them. “Thisis how it began last time. Already, people are dead.” Her gaze fell on Jac’s fingers, clamped around his Creed. “Yourprayers are worth nothing, boy. You’re the ones who started all this.”
But Levi wasn’t in the mood to swallow Zula’s pointless judgment. He shot Jac a desperate look. “Please don’t leave.” Without Jac, he had no means of securing the information Harrison needed about the Torren empire. Without Jac, Levi was without a second, without a best friend, with the entire world in flames around him.
Jac averted his gaze. “I won’t. Yet.”
Levi realized this was the best he could hope for until he explained the truth. But there wasn’t time for that now.
He spotted Zula’s telephone against the wall and limped toward it. His fingers trembled as he turned the dial. “Operator? I need you to connect me to St. Morse Casino. I need to speak to Erienne Salta.”
3
“They say the Bargainer wanders the world, approaching those desperate enough to strike a deal. But everyone knows that the Bargainer is from New Reynes. The most fearsome legend ever told, and it startedhere.
“And one day...the Bargainer will come back.”
—A legend of the North Side
ENNE
Enne sat on her bathroom counter, gingerly examining her bloodshot eyes in the foggy mirror. The contacts Levi had given her were uncomfortable and, she suspected, deeply unsanitary. She’d managed to find better ones at a costume shop, colored a warm brown as opposed to the unnatural blue of the old ones. She prayed Vianca didn’t notice her eye color changing every other day. Thankfully, the donna had other things on her mind.
“It looks like a crime scene in here,” Lola said from behind the shower curtain.
