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“You’ll need to move it,” Esta told her. She was aware of Harte watching her as though she might disappear, but there would be time for that later.
“I need to take it back,” Cela told her. “It belongs to my brother’s friend. I can’t risk anything happening to it, and I need to warn the others,” Cela said. She looked like she didn’t want to leave them. “Whoever was after us will have seen the newspaper’s name. If they can’t find us, they’ll go after the Age. I can’t leave Joshua unprepared.”
“And Abel,” Jianyu said. “Is he not expected tonight as well?”
Cela nodded. “I need to warn him, too.”
“You cannot go alone,” Jianyu argued. “We should all—” The words were barely out before his whole body contorted in pain and nearly collapsed to the snow-covered ground.
They all rushed toward him to keep him upright, but Cela moved fastest of all.
“We need to get him inside,” Esta said, looking up at the building and feeling that same creeping unease. “If you’re sure it’s safe.”
“No,” Jianyu said.
“It’s fine,” Cela told her at the same time. She turned to Jianyu. “You need to stay here and let your friends take care of you.”
“I need to protect those inside,” he whispered.
“You already have.” She kissed his cheek softly. “It’s your turn now.”
When she stepped back, Cela had tears in her eyes.
“Maybe Harte could take the wagon,” Esta suggested, knowing that Cela wanted to stay.
She could tell that Harte hated the idea—and she didn’t blame him—but Cela shook her head before Harte could even start to refuse. “It wouldn’t be right for anyone but me to go.”
As the others helped Jianyu into the building, she watched Cela climb back into the wagon.
“Be safe,” she told Cela.
“You take care of him, okay?”
Before Esta could do more than nod, Viola shouted for her to wait. She was already handing Jianyu over to Esta and Harte.
“I’m going with her,” Viola told them.
“I’ll come too,” Ruby said.
But Viola shook her head. “You’ll be safer here with them,” she told Ruby. “And I’ll be back soon.” She looked at both Esta and Harte. “Jianyu will show you the way.”
“You should stay,” Cela said as Viola climbed into the wagon. “They’ll need your protection.”
“They have plenty inside to keep them safe,” Viola told her. “Andiamo.”
Cela hesitated a second longer more before she snapped the reins and launched the wagon into motion. In a matter of seconds, the wagon disappeared into the falling snow.
Almost as soon as they were gone, Jianyu’s legs nearly went out from under him. Esta caught him up, supporting him with Harte’s help. “We need to get him inside.”
She looked back up at the building, and despite all her misgivings, she helped Harte keep Jianyu upright as they made their way through the darkened entryway.
Inside, the building was strangely quiet. The tenement houses Esta had been in before were always noisy. They were crowded with homes and places where people lived out loud, because it was pointless to try to go unheard. The walls were too thin, and the rooms were too crowded for any hope of privacy. But the hallways of this building didn’t echo with voices. There was an uneasy silence that filled them, like all sound had been sucked away. It was cold as well, and the hallway was filled with the chill of corrupted magic.
Jianyu directed them through the main hall, and Ruby led the way as they took the back staircase up three floors.
“What is this place?” Esta whispered as she helped him up the steep stairs. It felt almost dangerous to speak out loud.
“A safe house that Dolph used.” Jianyu groaned. “He showed it to me before he died.”
