“Todd’s being a downer again,” Ken said.
Sophia sauntered into the room and slapped a volt jar. “We talked about this,Todd. Pay up.”
Jac frowned. “You guys already have half my paycheck in there.”
“It’s our tab tonight at Kaleidoscope,” Sophia said. Their group often liked to finish a shift at this den and immediately patron another. “We keep toasting to more misfortune. You keep our glasses full.” Then, without warning, Sophia ran her thumb over Jac’s brow and forehead, as though wiping away a stain. “They didn’t get that right, did they?”
Jac flinched, assuming she was referring to the scar he’d earned a few weeks back—a scar that wasn’t on his wanted poster.
“I’m going to check on the others,” Ken said. He shot Jac a wink as he left—he had a bad habit of constantly leaving them alone. Sophia might have been stunningly beautiful—the type anyone would want flirting with them—but at this point, every kiss she blew at him seemed more like a threat.
Ken closed the door, leaving them alone.
Jac shoved the volt jar away. “I’m not paying. You’re all running me broke.”
“Fine, don’t pay.” Sophia shrugged. “You’re lucky I won’t tell anyone.” Jac knew that statement wasn’t about the volts.
“Stop doing that,” he growled.
“Doing what?”
“Oh, you know exactly what you’re doing.” Confrontation was a dangerous move—Sophia had all the leverage, and Jac had nothing. He didn’t know anything about her. Not where she lived, not how she’d gotten this job, not what her talents were. She was a complete mystery.
She pulled a taffy from her pocket and unwrapped it, leaning against the desk. “I keep waiting for you to ask me. After all this flirting the past two weeks, I figured you eventually would.”
Jac’s mouth went dry. Did she... Did she think he was going to ask her out? He was far more concerned about the thousand volts on his head, dead or alive. She looked like the sort of girl who might take her men either way.
“Ask you what?” he managed.
She grinned and popped the candy in her mouth before saying, “Walk with me, Todd.”
And so he did, because he felt like he didn’t have a choice. Jac followed her into the hallway and out the den’s back door. It was dusk, and the rain from earlier had lightened into a drizzle. Sophia marched forward, paying no mind to getting wet.
“Where are we going?” Jac asked.
“We’re going to meet with Delia. She wants to reorganize our pickup locations again,” Sophia answered. “Normally I go to those meetings alone, but it’s been sort of touchy around here lately. Plus...” She winked at him. “I thought we could use a littlealonetime.”
Jac wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. He wouldn’t have thought it possible to be as frightened of someone as he was attracted to them, but so it was between him and Sophia.
But this could be a great opportunity to gather information for Harrison. Too great of an opportunity to pass up.
“Touchy?” he pressed, ignoring her other statement.
“The state of the Torren business is...precarious,” Sophia told him. “Neither Delia nor Charles want a messy war. But the Apothecaries, the ones with the talent for brewing their drugs, are loyal to different siblings. If it gets too messy, some of them might turn toward the Augustines instead.”
“So what’s going to happen?” Jac asked.
“Either Delia and Charles fight petty territory battles until the other goes broke...or real blood gets spilled, and all of this goes to hell.” She unwrapped another taffy and popped it into her mouth. It was a wonder her teeth weren’t rotten through with all the sugar she ate. “One can only hope.”
One can only hopewhat?Jac wanted to ask, then thought better of it.
They turned down Tropps Street in the direction of Luckluster Casino, and even from a distance, its lights shone scarlet into the overcast evening sky.
“So whoever has the favor of the Apothecaries wins the empire?” he asked.
“Yes, and no. The Apothecaries are vital, but the hierarchy is far larger than that. At the top of the Family is the don, which was previously Sedric Torren, and not long before him, his father, Garth Torren.” Jac nodded—this was all information everyone in New Reynes already knew. “Then there are the other family members, mainly Charles and Delia, Sedric’s cousins. They’re followed by consiglieres, advisors, underbosses, bookkeepers, den owners...it all filters down to people like you and me at Liver Shot.”
Jac furrowed his eyebrows, trying to follow.Thisinformation was new. “Are the Augustines the same?”
