“The night before Malcolm Semper was to be executed for treason against the kings, he made a bargain,” Bryce continued. “He asked for the Mizers to fall, but the Bargainer—who also had been wronged, as malisons long have been by the Faith—asked for a pledge far worse in return. She didn’t just want the Mizers usurped. She wanted every single Mizer dead. At the time, Semper had only been fighting for one kingdom, for this one city. And so the Bargainer held all of Reynes hostage. She would free him and light the Revolution’s spark, and he would see the world burn—and if he failed, then she would return to this city and destroy it, his home.”
After all the years of spinning his story as though he’d come from nothing, Levi didn’t expect his anger to rise like it did. His family had been ruined, not for the righteousness of a Revolution, but from the bargain of a man too cowardly to face his execution.
Levi had put a bullet in the same man’s head.
And the weight of that story—histruestory—was not lost on him.
“Why would she do that?” Levi snarled. “Why would destroying New Reynes give her any satisfaction? Why bring about more violence?”
“Don’t you listen to the stories?” Bryce asked. “The Bargainer thrives on chaos. She grows more powerful with every deal she makes. And this city was all that Semper cared about.”
The Chancellor slammed her frail fist on the table. “If you know the true history, why would you ever summon her here?”
“Because I don’t give a muck about New Reynes, and I never have,” Bryce answered flatly.
“Well, it’s unfortunate for you that the three of usdocare about this city,” Harrison said, and Levi considered disagreeing. Harrison and Fenice were politicians, working for a government that had robbed his family of everything they had. But Levididcare about this city. And after losing so much of what he cared about, he was still willing to fight for this.
Harrison reached into his jacket and retrieved another Shadow Card, this one silver. Levi’s already jittery heart sped up at the sight of it. It was another legend, the Fool, the invitation to the Shadow Game. Only months before, the memory of that card and that night had haunted him, but he’d thought he’d gotten over that. Instead, he realized, he’d been burying all his traumas in the same spot, and after the pain and fear of the last few days, they’d all been unearthed together, like the bones of the dead after a torrential rain.
Meanwhile, Bryce laughed. “You don’t get it, do you? The era of the Shadow Game is over. The only game we’re playing now is mine.” He reached out to touch the card, and all three of the others held their breaths. The Shadow Cards had divination properties—touching it should force the recipient into a vision. But Bryce didn’t even blink as he grabbed it and tossed it over his shoulder like lint on his too-large shirt.
Run, Levi’s father repeated, louder this time. He jolted out of his chair and stood, the eyes of the room all fixed on him in surprise. He froze, embarrassed, knowing he looked shatz. So, in order to make his action seem like it’d meant something, he grabbed his gun from his pocket and aimed it at Bryce’s head.
“Let’s just do this the easy way,” Levi said, voice catching as he clicked off the safety.
Bryce raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you remember what happened at St. Morse? You can’t kill the Gamemaster by cheating.” At the casino, Enne’s bullet had whizzed right through Bryce as though tearing through smoke. But still, Levi didn’t lower his gun. He suspected the weight of it was all that kept him standing.
“Listen to him, Levi,” Harrison said sharply. “The Shadow Game isn’t what you think it is.”
“It’s a card game where the invited player always dies,” Levi rasped. “You forget that I’ve witnessed it firsthand.”
Bryce cocked a sly grin. “You still don’t know the whole picture. When Semper realized that he’d failed—there was still at least one Mizer left alive after the Revolution—he knew he had to find a way to stop the Bargainer from returning and razing the city. So he consulted with other malisons, and he and the rest of the Phoenix Club created the Shadow Game. That’s what it really is—a curse. With every death, the shade of the game grows stronger. It’s what keeps the Bargainer out of New Reynes, like a barrier.”
There’s a price to keep the devil away,Levi recalled Bryce saying at St. Morse, which Levi had written off as the words of a lunatic.
It was still too much to believe. “How do you know all this?” Levi demanded.
“I told you. I’m from the House of Shadows—all the remaining malison families live there, selling shades, ensuring the Shadow Game continues on. I just left a long time ago.”
From the grim way he said it, Levi guessed Bryce had also run away from home. Vianca Augustine had definitely had a type.
“The game was devised so that every player bets their lives,” Fenice said. “It’s why only those with the immortality talent play for the Phoenix Club—our lives cannot simply run out. The Club was formed for a noble purpose.”
Levi didn’t like this version of history. He’d preferred when the Phoenix Club was a group of sadistic South Siders replacing executions with card games. It was still mucked up, of course, but it was also layered and messy and complicated, just like the Revolution had been.
“The Shadow Game is finished,” said Bryce. “The shade that held it together is broken. I replaced it with mine. But don’t worry—I’m not thick. The Bargainer is a player, too, bound by the rules the same as you. Until the game ends, no player will be allowed to leave New Reynes—and therefore, for now, the Bargainer will be forced to keep the city standing.”
“And what is this game?” Harrison asked tightly.
Bryce stood up, paying no mind to the gun Levi still pointed at his temple. “Like I said, every person has been matched up with a target. You cannot simply steal your target’s card—it must be given willingly or taken by force. No sneaking. No tricks. And once you give away your card, you cannot take it back.”
Taken by force, Levi reflected, probably meant death. The gun wobbled in his grip.
“How does the game end?” Harrison asked. Levi had muck idea how he kept his voice so level, how he kept his composure as slick as his receding, greased-back hair. He’d been there at St. Morse. He’d seen it. And that night was only the grisly prelude to Bryce’s real plans.
“Once someone has collected a string of five cards—and done so properly. By collecting their target’s target, and so forth. There will be no cheating.”
“You realize you’ve set up a murder spree,” Levi growled. He lowered his gun to Bryce’s heart. It would feel good to shoot him, even if it did nothing.
