“Have you seenThe Times?” Jules demanded as Fletcher tossed the paper in question onto Kane’s desk. He grabbed it, not needing to read any farther than the headline to know why they’d come. He drew in a sharp breath, his stomach turning over.
BREAKING: TREACHERY OR TOMFOOLERY? ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS DEVICE APPEARS AT THE EXHIBITION.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I was on my way to tell you when I saw Jules doing the same thing,” Fletcher said.
Kane looked between the two of them. “Somehow I doubt he was coming to tellme.”
“I’m not sure what difference it makes,” Jules retorted. “Seeing as I can’t seem to get Zaria away from you. Where is she, anyway?”
“I expect she’s still recovering from yesterday. You ought to have made sure she was in good health before devising a plan to blow up my shed.”
Jules blanched; Fletcher arched a brow. “What are you on about?”
“Forget it,” Kane said too casually, jabbing a finger at the newspaper. “I need to figure out what we’re going to do aboutthis.”
The second device had been placed on the other side of India’s displays, directly across from the first one. If London’s residents were perplexed by the appearance of the first, they were positively befuddled by the second—the article made that very clear. Kane was surprised Jules and Fletcher had visited before Price. The inspector was doubtless losing his mind currently.
As Kane had the thought, his gaze dropped to the bottom of the front page. Two images accompanied the article: each was a drawing of a small rectangle. His heart stuttered against his ribs as he realized what they were meant to portray.
“Yeah,” said Fletcher, following his gaze. “Apparently this so-called Curator has been leaving business cards behind. The Royal Commission decided to release them to the public in case anyone has information.”
The images were re-creations of the front and back of the business card. Kane recognized the first one: It precisely matched what Price Senior had shown him the night they’d met up. The Curator’s title indicated in looping font, nothing more. The second image was also strangely familiar. It depicted a complex shape: Two sets of parallel lines intersected to create a sort of diamond, and in the center three circles were contained within one another, like a bull’s-eye. Another four lines connected the innermost circle to each corner of the diamond.
“What’s this supposed to be?” Kane said aloud, rotating thepaper as if that might yield answers. When neither Fletcher nor Jules answered, he rose and crossed to the door, newspaper still in hand. The shape’s familiarity was like an itch inside his skull. He couldn’t shake the thought that it looked similar to sketches one might see in writings about alchemology.
Fletcher tensed as if to follow him. “Where are you going?”
“To show Zaria.”
“I’m coming,” Jules said, his eyes tight with suspicion when they locked on Kane’s. “You’d best not have done anything to her, Durante.”
Kane snorted a laugh. “Do you mean because she attempted to break into my office and steal from me, or because she admitted to working with another kingpin?”
“What?” Fletcher blurted, face contorting in horror. “What other kingpin?”
“A mysterious Mister Vaughan is trying to establish himself as kingpin of Seven Dials. I’m sure Julian knows all about it.”
Jules crossed his arms. It was obvious he was attempting not to look shaken by how much Kane knew. “Vaughan threatened us. Zaria didn’t have a choice. I swear, if you—”
“Of course I didn’t harm her,” Kane snapped. “She had harmed herself well enough already. Though I would have been perfectly within my right to punish a crew member who attempted torob me.”
“Don’t act so disgusted. Half of what you do is rob people.”
“It’s not robbing if they owe you money.”
“They owe you nothing! And neither does Zaria, for that matter.”
“As long as she’s part of my crew, she owes me her loyalty and obedience.”
Jules brought his teeth together. “You’re delusional if you believe she’ll ever truly be loyal to you.”
“And you’re a fool if you believe—for asingle second—that I would ever allow harm to come to Zaria.” Kane snarled the words, fingers digging into the wood of the doorframe. Silence followed in the wake of his exclamation, and he faltered, swallowing. He didn’t know what had made him say it. Why he had allowed that inconvenient truth to leave the confines of his private thoughts.
God. The only fool here was him. He kept giving too much away. Even last night, upon learning of Zaria’s mother, Kane had barely kept his emotions in check. There was no reason for him to feel such fury toward a woman he’d never met, but the idea that anyone might notwantsomeone like Zaria in their life was preposterous.
Jules looked taken aback, his glower losing some of its heat. He didn’t seem to have a reply, and Kane was relieved when Fletcher intervened.
