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It had been his idea to play the Hip Sings and the Five Pointers against one another to distract Nibsy. But the idea had not worked. Nibsy had sensed that the distraction was a ploy, and he had left the Devil’s Own to protect the Strega. When they had run—as any sane person would—he had viewed their actions as a betrayal.
Because Nibsy Lorcan did not view those who wore the mark as friends or partners, not in the way Dolph had. James viewed them as expendable.
When they reached the door to the apartment, Jianyu stopped them just inside the parlor. What he had to say was for his friends alone.
“You need to destroy the cane,” he told Esta. “You were right. Nibsy Lorcan can never be allowed to hold that power again. But as long as it exists, someone can use those connected to it as weapons. As cannon fodder for their own selfish desires.”
“He’s right,” Viola agreed. “We need to make sure it’s not a liability.”
“It needs to be done today,” Jianyu told them.
“We can do it right now,” Esta said.
They started toward the back room, but when they reached the larger gathering space where the cane rested under the watchful eye of Golde Salzer, he stopped before entering the room. Cela was there too. Her eyes met his, and he understood the silent question she was asking.
Is everything okay?
He nodded. All is well.
Good, her eyes seemed to say. Come get warmed up.
The ease of their silent conversation was a comfort, but he took a step back. What right did he have for comfort when people were being hunted for Nibsy’s sport because of him, because of the events he had set into motion?
There, sitting around the corner, were a handful of the people he had helped to free from the Order’s patrols. Some seemed content enough to while away their days with menial tasks to keep them entertained. But he had already started to hear the whispering. Many were growing tired of being away from their lives. It did not matter that without the protection of the building, they might not have lives to return to.
They were safe, but what good was safety when they were trapped? How was this building, with all its protections, any better than the Brink?
All that he had tried to do, and none of it was enough.
“What is it?” Viola asked when she sensed Jianyu’s hesitation.
“Why do we wait?” he asked, stepping into the room. “We have the sigils, and we have Newton’s diagrams. We have the Order’s records as well. We know what the silver discs are capable of. We could free people and release them from this city.”
“We’ve been over this,” Esta told him. “We can’t risk losing the sigils. Not until we use them on Thoth.”
“There’s a way out?” A boy stepped forward—Golde’s son, Josef. “You could help us escape from the Order and Nibsy Lorcan both, but instead, you’re keeping us here?”
The others had gone quiet, and he knew they were listening.
“We’re not keeping you here,” Darrigan said, but his voice was too tight. “You can leave anytime you want.”
“No, we can’t,” Josef argued. “Out there, the Order knows who I am. So does Nibsy. What do you think he would do if we left? He’d find us, and he’d use whatever he could to force us into telling him about this place. But if we could get out of the city—”
“Can we?” another of the tenants asked. “Is it really possible?”
“It is,” Jianyu told them.
“We think it is,” Esta corrected. She turned to the gathering crowd. “It’s true that the Order used the sigils to get through the Brink more than a hundred years ago, but we don’t have any idea what they would do now. We can’t risk them, and we can’t risk any of you to test some theory written a century ago.”
“We saw what happened with Jianyu’s wrist,” Josef pressed. “I felt it. You know they’ll work.”
“Josef,” Golde said, stepping toward her son.
“No, Mutter,” he snapped, stepping back. “They’re lying to us. Can’t you see that? They’re no better than Lorcan or Dolph Saunders or anyone who would control us.”
“They saved you,” Golde said. “They risked their lives, and then they gave you a roof over your head and a safe place to sleep, and what have they asked for? Nothing.”
“There’s always something,” Josef said. “Besides, I wouldn’t have needed saving if I had taken the mark like I wanted to.”
