Kane dragged a hand over his hair, the shape of his mouth rigid. Zaria had the impression she was watching him come apart in real time. “I’ll try and find someone to confirm it one way or another. In the meantime, a Mister Lombard is awaiting his commission, and I don’t intend to make him wait much longer.” He thrust an armout, and it took Zaria a moment to realize he was handing her the necklace.
She took it from Kane’s palm, her fingertips brushing his. He moved away with almost uncanny haste.
“The workshop behind Moore & Sons,” he reminded her firmly. “Adam or Elijah will meet you there soon, so don’t even think about going elsewhere. Julian—accompany her, will you?”
It looked as if Jules’s automatic reaction was to argue, but he thought better of it. “Sure. Whatever.”
“Where are you going?” Zaria dared to ask Kane.
“I have work to do.” He adjusted the collar of his shirt. “I’ll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, don’t make any trouble.”
“Yourmother?” Jules said a short while later, staring at Zaria as though he couldn’t quite grasp the concept. “Vaughan knows where she is?”
Zaria motioned for him to keep his voice down, glancing toward the workshop door outside which Elijah currently hovered like an ill-tempered bouncer. “His people claim she works for him. That they know where she is.” Her voice was a hiss. “That’s why I need to find this ledger, and why I needed to get close to Kane.”
“Wow.” Jules blinked. “So she’s still alive. And nearby, presumably.”
His words sent a pang through Zaria. “So it would seem.”
“Did they tell you anything else about her? How do you know it’s not a lie?”
“If Vaughan wanted someone to use as leverage, why choose my mother? She might as well not exist to me.”
“Makes you wonder what she’s been doing this whole time,” Jules said, still looking dubious. He considered for another moment, his brow creasing further. “Don’t you think it’s kind of a strange ask?”
“What?”
“The ledger. There are easier ways to try and poach dark market clients. Tail a couple of the crew members when they’re working. Hell, corner one and make him talk. Why does Vaughan want a physical document? Getting you involved, then waiting for you to regain Kane’s trust so you can steal it, is far more of a hassle.”
This gave Zaria pause. She hadn’t questioned Vaughan wanting the ledger—why wouldn’t he?—but Jules raised a good point. “Maybe he wants all the information at once, rather than collecting bits and pieces. He does seem content to work behind the scenes and let things happen slowly.”
“I suppose,” Jules said with a shrug. “It just makes you wonder if there’s more to it.”
Maybe there was, or maybe there wasn’t. What difference did it make? Either way, Zaria didn’t have much choice but to do as Vaughan requested. “The rationale doesn’t matter.” She jammed the toe of her boot against a leg of the worktable. “It’s Kane I need to worry about. He’s all but promised to destroy my life if I make him regret working together again.”
“But he wants your help to track down this Curator.”
“Right.”
A low whistle. “This is… complicated.”
“Trust me, I’m aware.” Zaria lit a candle as she released a breath. The workshop was precisely as she’d left it—she doubted either Kane or Fletcher had so much as peeked through the window since her final departure. Despite the tension in her limbs at Kane’swarning about her unfinished commissions, a beat of hope had rippled through her at the sight of the alchemology supplies lining the dust-covered shelves. “Can you hand me the knife?”
Jules did as she asked, though his mouth thinned when she pressed the delicate blade against her palm and let blood drip steadily into the flame. By now, it was an action Zaria had repeated enough times that she didn’t wince. “You’re not going to try to use the source?”
“I don’t see the point. I’ve tried more times than I can count.” But she retrieved it from her pocket nonetheless, grasping it tightly in the hand that wasn’t bleeding. As always, she felt nothing more than the hollow thrum of a magic she couldn’t access, and shook her head. “I’m telling you, it doesn’t work.”
Since Lombard had only commissioned a simple revolver, she was able to fit the weapon together relying largely on muscle memory, aided every so often by Jules passing her the requisite parts. She could tell he wanted to ask her something by his intake of breath, but he kept biting back whatever he was about to say.
“What is it?” Zaria demanded finally, turning to look at him through the candlelight.
Her friend’s expression was serious, a little apprehensive. “It’s just… do youwantto find your mother?”
“Oh. I don’t know. I mean, there are things I want to ask her.” She added the soulsteel and shut her eyes, turning inward. It was difficult, trying to channel her energy toward creation when her mind was so full of questions.Blood and soulsteel.Did shewantto cross paths with the woman who had abandoned her?Soulsteel and blood.And if her motherwasworking for the enigmatic kingpin, did Zaria even want to know why?
Only when she finally had primateria in her grasp did she turn, panting, to Jules once more. “Can I ask you something in return?”
He scrutinized her face, undoubtedly noting her pale cheeks and the sheen of sweat at her brow. “Of course.”
