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Ruby whimpered, still struggling to break free of Viola’s grip.
“Shhh,” Viola told her gently, tugging her back farther from view. Her instincts were prickling, and she cursed the opium that was still thick in her system. She did not have her blade, and she could not grasp her affinity.
“We have to find the bride!” Jack shouted. “Ruby Reynolds. They took her. Mageus did this. They killed Theo Barclay. I tried to stop them from killing his bride as well, but I was too late.” His voice rose in near hysteria. “They’re monsters. Look at what they’ve done to this hallowed building. Look at what they’ve done to my friend.”
“Lies!” Ruby screamed, but Viola clamped her hand over Ruby’s mouth before she could draw attention their way.
“We have to go,” Viola said, but Ruby was still fighting her.
“We can’t let him lie,” Ruby told her, desperate with her grief. “Let me go, and I’ll tell them I’m fine. I’ll tell them Jack is lying. That he’s the one who did this.” She struggled to get away from Viola, scratching and clawing to be free. “Let me go, Viola.”
Viola didn’t listen. “Jack won’t let you live, not after what you’ve seen. He would never allow you to speak against him. If you go out there, if you show yourself now, you’re dead. He’ll kill you as he killed Theo.”
“Then let him kill me,” Ruby sobbed, still trying to push away from Viola. “Let him show everyone the monster he is. It’s no worse than I deserve.”
Viola could feel her affinity starting to return to her—too late—and found Ruby’s heartbeat, wild and erratic. Viola let her magic flare, only a little, just until Ruby went limp in her arms.
FRAGILE
1902—Uptown
Cela heard the carriage approaching right about the same time she got a sort of chill down her spine. She put down the trousers she was stitching and stepped out onto the front stoop of the building as Viola was helping another white lady down from a hired carriage. The other lady was dressed for a wedding—her own, it looked like—and her face was nearly as pale as the lace that was framing it. She didn’t seem to be completely conscious, but she leaned on Viola in a dazed sort of way.
If Viola was bringing home the bride, something had gone terribly wrong.
“Where’s Jianyu?” Cela asked, coming down the steps to help Viola with the girl.
Viola didn’t so much as look at her when she answered. “I don’t know,” she said, her voice tighter than usual. “Help me get her inside?”
“Who is she?” Cela asked.
“Theo’s,” Viola said simply, and the way her eyes welled up was all Cela needed to know before she took the bride’s other arm and helped Viola get her up the steps of the front stoop.
Abel was off on a Pullman run. He wouldn’t be back for two weeks, but his friend Joshua was there, hanging around to keep an eye on her like he usually did when her brother was away. He looked up from his papers and gave Cela a questioning look as she helped the white girl into the room. All Cela could do was shrug.
They got the girl situated on a cot in the back room, but she just sort of sat there, slumped—as much as anyone could slump in a corset—and stared into the distance.
“Looks like she can’t hardly breathe in that thing,” Cela said, frowning at the way the girl didn’t seem to respond to anything they did. “Help me loosen it up, would you?”
Together, they unfastened the endless row of buttons that secured the dress in the back and then undid the laces of the girl’s corset to loosen the boning. Beneath, her pale skin was marked with angry red lines. The girl didn’t so much as stir. She just sat there like some sort of fancy porcelain doll, but when the corset was finally off, the girl took a deep, shuddering breath. And then she began to cry.
Good lord, Cela thought. Abel was going to kill her if he came back to yet another problem.
“Shhh…” Viola eased the girl back down onto the cot and tucked her beneath a heavy blanket. As quickly as the girl’s tears had started, they stopped. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she began breathing more softly, all peaceful-like.
Viola didn’t say a word about anything until she and Cela were back in the kitchen, and even then, she didn’t settle. Instead, she propped her hands on the sink and stared out the window.
Cela traded looks with Joshua, who was watching Viola warily now. She understood. Viola was being so unusually quiet that it was starting to make Cela nervous too.
“Come on now,” Cela said, putting a light hand on Viola’s shoulders. “Whatever happened out there, it’s gonna be okay.”
When Viola turned to her, there was nothing but raw pain in her strange violet eyes. She looked so completely vulnerable—so unlike herself—that Cela let out a small sigh.
“Come sit down here,” Cela told her, offering her a chair. “And when you’re ready, you can tell me everything.”
“I’m going to head back down to the office,” Joshua told Cela, giving her a meaningful look that she knew meant he’d be close if she needed him.
Cela drew some water from the pump at the sink and filled two cups. Then she took the seat across from Viola and offered her the drink. “You look like you could use something stronger, but I think we better start with this.”
