“You’re very argumentative.”
“No, I’m not.”
“And you suffer from a lot of denial.” Tock smirked, sliding her hands up around Lola’s waist, careful to be gentle with Lola’s broken rib. Lola didn’t push her away this time. “In case there’s anything else you’ve forgotten.”
Lola winced, even if it was a joke. Even if Tock’s lips now grazed her cheek, trailing down her jaw. But she still didn’t push her away. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” Tock said, and Lola could feel her smiling against her skin. “What else didn’t you remember?”
Lola flushed. But she’d also given up. She could keep apologizing, and she would. She’d apologize over and over because she would never let herself forget again.
But even hours later, when Lola returned to her typewriter with a lantern and a mug of spiked coffee, Lola knew she still had one person she needed to face.
Lola wandered around the Irons’ museum, pacing through every room that wasn’t the cardroom, where Enne now sat, reading the article Lola had given her.
“This place is filthy,” Lola muttered to herself, examining the collection of dirty glasses left on the kitchen counters, or the crumbs littering the sofa cushions. She almost didn’t want to touch anything. This place had been condemned when Levi first found it, and somehow the Irons had made it even worse.
But hovering here was better than reading over Enne’s shoulder. Lola had stayed up all night writing and rewriting the story, and she had every intention of hand delivering it toThe Crimes & The Timesoffice this afternoon. But it would be remiss for Lola not to let Enne read it first, if Lola had any intention of bridging what had broken between them.
But she still wasn’t sure if she did. Lola had never wanted this life, after all. Maybe it was finally time to leave it.
“It’s really good,” Enne said, making Lola jolt and spin around to where she stood in the doorway. “You’re really talented.”
“I wasn’t asking for feedback on how itsounded,” Lola told her, exasperated but pleased. “I want to know if you approve of it.”
Enne bit her lip. “Well, it wasn’t what I expected. You omitted a few things that I did. Levi, Veil, Harrison—”
“I want to do something good with the truth,” Lola said. “Not make a weapon out of it.” Arabella had put too much responsibility on Lola’s shoulders—a burden Lola hadn’t wanted or deserved. But Loladidwant to tell this story, and that came with its own share of responsibility. Its own share of burden. And she was determined to do right by it.
Enne said nothing, only handed the papers back to her.
Lola accepted them warily. “Would you rather I’d portrayed you harsher?”
It would’ve been easy. Even if Enne hadn’t known the truth about her talents until she’d come to New Reynes, no matter how clear Lola made that fact, Enne had adapted quickly to the unsavory nature of this city. Lola had taken care to always refer to her by her name, and not by Séance—the one the city had given her.
Unless that was really the one Enne wanted.
Enne smiled weakly. “You know, you’re the only person who never underestimated me, even from the beginning.”
“I did initially try to fight you,” Lola said, shrugging.
Enne snorted. “That was overestimating yourself.”
Then, to Lola’s surprise, Enne threw her arms around her.
“Ow! Careful! Rib,” Lola grunted.
“Oh, sorry,” Enne said, quickly pulled away. “I’m just glad you’re back.” Lola froze. She’d never claimed to be back. “And I’m so very sorry. For your brother. For your ear. For...everything. Even if we won, there are a lot of things about the story I wish had been different.”
Lola’s thoughts flickered first to Jac, and her heart gave a painful clench, thinking of what he would’ve thought of everything that had happened since his death. If he’d learned that Lola had known the Bargainer better than anyone—the sort of legend that would’ve had him reaching for his Creed—he would’ve bet volts that she’d been lying.
But she also thought he would’ve been proud of her. She’d found her place in the story. And written him an impressive ending, the kind he would’ve wanted.
Arabella’s ending, on the other hand, still left Lola conflicted. Even if Lola understood that a tragic past did nothing to negate the wrongs Arabella had done, Lolahadbeen her one friend in the world, and she didn’t know whether the story of a monster should be told by its friend or by its victim. But really, Lola had been both, and so she’d tried to pen Arabella’s truth, in the most earnest way she could. Arabella would have respected that.
Enne swallowed, obviously nervous. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in working with me. I have...plans in mind—good ones, I think. The Spirits are still at the National Bank, and you and I were always the ones who weren’t counters. It was just the two of us, before anyone else.”
After everything that had happened between them, Lola had never imagined Enne to make such an offer. And Lola’s thoughts suddenly flashed—not to the times that Enne had hurt her—but to when she and Arabella had spoken in the alley. Lola had been one breath away from condemning Enne, and even if she’d ultimately made the right call, the depths to which she’d fallen left a lump of shame in her throat.
