“Yes.”
“We’ll go see her now.”
Stella looked nervously at Enne. “And...Séance?” Last time Enne had entered the museum, she hadn’t been wearing her mask. Now, she looked like a rival lord.
Enne cleared her throat. “Are the phone lines working?”
“The storm took them all down.”
She wouldn’t be able to contact the Spirits until morning. She’d told Grace to take Roy to Jonas’s contact, but she hoped that Grace had the good sense to stay inside.
The three of them retreated into the museum. The Irons slouched over card tables, playing Tropps in the dim candlelight. Enne recognized a few faces from the Catacombs and the party, but even with some missing, the Irons’ numbers had grown—maybe even doubled—since she’d last seen them. The building itself had changed, as well. A black carpet draped down its magnificent grand staircase, and flowing curtains now concealed the boarded windows.
Tock appeared around the corner. Her eyes widened, and she threw her arms around Levi. “I thought the sirens meant you’d been caught.”
“You think I’m worth all this commotion?”
He smirked, and she punched him in the arm. “Hwan and Liddy are still missing. They were both at shifts at the Sauterelle.” Her expression turned serious. “We need to send searches out.”
As Levi launched into a heated discussion with his third, the other Irons peered at Enne curiously, taking in the sight of her soaked South Side dress and the gun by her side. Her hands trembled. They’d nearly died tonight. She’dkilledtonight. But instead of feeling scared or horrified, she only felt numb.
She wanted to convince herself that the worst was over, but she had no idea what this “lockdown” would mean. They should’ve expected this level of retaliation. For the past month, the North Side had been theirs, and Enne wondered how many people had died tonight for the wigheads to take it back.
“We can’t leave them out there,” Tock growled.
“We have to. We all have death warrants on our heads. The streets are crawling with whiteboots.No one else is leaving here tonight,” Levi commanded. “They’re smart. We need to believe they found some place to wait out the night.”
“Do you believe that?” she challenged.
“No one knows Olde Town better than us,” he answered. “Keep the watches out, but don’t leave the grounds.”
Tock gritted her teeth. “Fine. We’ll wait until morning.”
“Good. Now, unless there’s an emergency, please don’t disturb us. We’ve been shot at for the last hour.” Levi’s voice remained impressively nonchalant as he started up the steps and motioned for Enne to follow.
Her heart was still racing from earlier, and she almost didn’t have it in her to be embarrassed.Almost. And though no one snickered, Levi’s steady voice didn’t fool Tock, who shot Enne a lewd smirk before she turned away.
Enne nearly ran up the steps, eager to escape their stares. But that left her and Levi alone in the empty hallway, and the quietness made her breath hitch. Every sound—his breathing, the rain’s drumming on the roof, the click of the door sliding open—made her stomach loop in uncomfortable, delirious knots. She’d faced far scarier predicaments tonight than a room alone with Levi Glaisyer, but her heart seemed to believe otherwise.
“Are you worried about the missing Irons?” she asked. Though subtle, she could see the angry force in his movements as he jammed his keys in the lock and threw open the door.
“Of course I’m worried,” he said, stalking into the room. Enne followed him, but could make out nothing in the dark.
Levi flipped the light switch, then muttered something under his breath about the storm and snapped his fingers, igniting several candles along his bureau. Like his old bedroom at St. Morse, everything here was impeccably clean, and his headboard looked like it had been made from Olde Town iron.
In the shifting darkness, she could just make out Levi’s furrowed eyebrows and pained expression. “But I can’t send anyone out, right?” he asked her. “Would you?”
“It’s the right decision,” she agreed. Then, because it seemed far easier than staring at him, she turned around and opened the drawers of his dresser. She pulled out a shirt several sizes too large for her, but blessedly dry.
“I think so, too... What are you doing?” Levi asked.
She peeked over her shoulder. “Finding myself dry clothes.”
He opened his mouth, then promptly shut it. “Probably a good idea.” Though his voice seemed to hint that he’d had other ideas.
They each turned around so the other could dress. “I nearly lost Tommy last night, and now this?” Levi said. “It doesn’t matter how rich we are now. If anyone gets caught, I can’t bail them out without getting arrested myself.”
Enne turned around, feeling swallowed by his shirt—it hung nearly to her knees. And though she was far warmer than she had been, she shivered from the way he looked at her in that moment. He’d changed into a sweater, old and clearly worn many nights before. He looked particularly boyish in it.
