“Clearly,” he growled, Sophia’s good odds apparently not good enough, “neither of you belong here—”
“We’ll take this one,” Poppy said, pointing to a small ring in the display. Sophia squinted at the inscription underneath:Tell me.
Delaney had instructed them not to touch anything, and even if Delaney acted like her brassiere was perpetually digging into her ribs, Sophia had to agree with her here—they shouldn’t mess with curses. But when Sophia shot Poppy a warning look, Poppy smiled wide, purposefully ignoring her.
The shopkeeper looked Poppy over shrewdly. “Nine hundred volts.”
Sophia whistled, but Poppy didn’t even blink. She took off her sparkly bracelet and handed it to him.
“I told you—volts only—”
“It’s Maxirello.”
He rolled his eyes and removed the ring. “Fine. Take it. Leave.”
Poppy slid it onto her pinky finger, grinning wickedly. She winked at Sophia. “Sometimes you need to make your own luck.”
“Delaney said not to buy anything,” Sophia said carefully.
Poppy rolled her eyes. “Tell me—how did Delaney meet Harrison?”
A strange sensation filled Sophia’s stomach, something warm and syrupy, like a cordial.
“I don’t know,” Sophia answered automatically, her voice a little slurred even when her head felt clear.
Poppy frowned at the ring. “Doesn’t it work?” Before Sophia could respond, Poppy opened her purse and pulled out her Shadow Card, the same one Sophia had seen before: the Star. Except this time, red writing stretched across the back.THE EMPRESS.“Who does the Empress belong to?”
“Enne,” Sophia answered automatically. “You can’t keep—”
“Do you think she’d give me her card, if I asked?”
Sophia couldn’t stop herself from speaking. “No. But—”
“Do you know whose target I am?”
“Mine. But you can’t—”
“Did you only tell me Delaney was coming here tonight so you’d have a chance to make me surrender my card?”
“Yes,” Sophia answered, even as she tried her best not to. Then she bit down on her bottom lip, hard. A flush of shame made her face feel hot.
Instead of backing away from her, Poppy’s face brightened. “Wellthisis the best purchase I’ve ever made. And that bracelet wasn’t even Maxirello—it was a knockoff.” Poppy covered her mouth with her hand. “Looks like it has a few side effects. I didn’t mean to say that.”
Sophia didn’t like the idea of this ring. She hid her secrets like Jac hid his cigarettes, places no one would think to look. For instance, no one would expect the girl who’d destroyed her family’s empire to miss them, to miss calling herself a Torren, to miss being someone’s daughter or cousin or sister, no matter how terrible they’d been. Maybe she just hated the feeling of being alone.
“I get it if you don’t trust me,” Sophia said, “but I’ve messed with shades before. And it’s why I’m warning you—you shouldn’t, either.”
Poppy glanced at Delaney, who was in a heated argument with the other store clerk. Then Poppy linked arms with Sophia and pulled her back into the party.
Once they were safely from Delaney’s sights, Poppy narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have to talk to me like she does.”
Considering Delaney and Poppy were dating—or something, as Sophia had never been sure—she doubted she could’ve sounded like Delaney in that moment.
“And how is that?” she asked.
“Like I’m about to break. Because I’m not.”
Sophia had not forgotten that Poppy’s father was recently killed, but she hadn’t grasped until this moment that Worner Prescott had died the same night as Jac.
