Hands linked, the pair made their way through the hall to one of the back exits. It was the same one Levi had fled through after the Shadow Game, when he’d first seen his wanted poster, when the events of this war began.
Enne pulled at his hand, slowing them down. “Levi,wait.”
“We don’t have time to wait,” he answered. “We need to get back to Olde Town.”
“But—”
They turned the corner, and a puddle of red glistened beside the doors. Levi frowned, but before he could inspect it, Enne twisted him around to face her and her bloodshot eyes. Her hand trembled as she let go of his.
“I need to tell you something,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Then tell me,” he snapped. He didn’t mean to sound impatient, but they couldn’t afford this now. They couldn’t slow down. And she was starting to scare him, the way she shrugged him away when he reached for her, the way her gaze remained fixed on the blood.
“Vianca found out about you and Harrison,” Enne whispered.
“It’s fine,” Levi assured her hurriedly. “She’s dead.” He was already planning their escape route in his mind. They would find the others. They would barricade themselves in the museum...
“She told me to... I didn’t want to.” She placed her hand on her forehead to steady herself, and Levi almost didn’t catch her next words through the strain in her voice. “I couldn’t tell you about it. I couldn’t stop it.”
Amid a thousand horrifying possibilities, Levi’s mind settled on his darkest thought. On the worst-case scenario. The fear felt like a stone on his chest.
“Jac’s dead,” she choked out. “I killed him.”
“What?” Levi asked, even though she’d spoken clearly.
“She...” Enne swallowed. “She ordered me to fix it, to fixus. Then she told me to break your heart.”
New Reynes was loud with sirens as Levi threw open the back doors and vomited onto the pavement. His mind had gone quiet, numb, but something about that wailing still made him sick.
Enne apologized, over and over. He didn’t hear her over the sirens. He didn’t hear her at all.
As they wove through the streets of the Casino District, all Levi’s memories of the past day with Jac seemed meaningless. His heart kept returning to that one day—the day they’d fought. Jac had been right. Levi was selfish, shortsighted, and arrogant. And Levi had willingly taken all of those insults, apologized for them. But it didn’t matter. In the end, Jac was the one who’d taken the bullet.
Only as St. Morse fell farther behind them did Levi remember that he was finally free of Vianca, free of that casino.
But as he listened to the sirens, Levi couldn’t believe he’d ever called the ache in his chest destiny. No desire was as precious as what he’d already had.
* * *
When they returned to the museum, Tock and Lola were leaning against the hood of Lola’s motorcar. They still wore the same clothes from earlier, but Tock’s skin was covered in soot, her dress torn. Lola clutched her keys in her fist like a weapon. Blood was smeared on her cheek, and she held a leather notebook open in her hand.
When Levi and Enne approached, equally as worse for wear, Lola choked out a sob, tossed the notebook down, and threw her arms around Enne.
“We thought you were gone,” she said.
“Almost,” Enne whispered.
While the two of them hugged, Levi made his way over to Tock. He felt so exhausted that it was a struggle to stand. Exhausted and nothing else.
He waited for Tock to perform some sort of grand gesture, to wrap her arms around him and cry as though they all had something to be thankful for.
“Tell me,” Tock said instead, gently.
“I can’t. Not here.” His voice shook. He peeked at Enne over his shoulder, and something ached inside him to look at her. All he could see was that pool of blood.
“Tommy was shot beside me. I couldn’t save him,” Tock murmured. “It was an ambush. Ivory hadn’t brought all the Doves to the Catacombs, because there were at least another thirty of them waiting for us at St. Morse. It was a massacre. Not just Tommy—we lost Linton, Melika, Anna, and Eric. The Scarhands’ second died. Scavenger is gone. The Spirits made it out without casualties, but several of them were wounded.”
Levi’s knees shook, and he leaned against the hood of the car for support. He’d intended to end the war tonight.
