Still nothing.
Don’t be an ass.
Then heat burst beneath her touch as the flame caught fire. A not-so-gentle thought ricocheted through her head.
What?
At least he’d answered.
Étoiles. Two hours.
Silence. Then.Fine.
Elara wished she felt more relieved. She also wished Fernand wasn’t her only option—again. She wished for a lot of things.
But this was the best she could do.
She looked up at Blai. “I’m going to need—”
“I know, I know. A costume.”
“Remind me again why you dragged me here in this heat?” Blai grumbled.
“You volunteered.”
“Ah. A momentary lapse of sanity on my part, then.”
Elaraalmostmissed the frock Blai had designed for her. It would’ve been nice to return in a new Aspirant dress with wide panels and lace at the sleeves.
But the Restes would’ve questioned it.
The police would’ve noticed.
Now she and Blai were sneaking their way back in bleach-stained Restes frocks. As far as anyone else here suspected, Elara had been rejected by Gaetan and likely forced out of her Société. The lie needed to be upheld for her ruse to go on.
Rather than stealing across the bridges, Elara ducked down an alley that guided them to a narrow spot in the river that was little more than a trickle. It was easy enough to leap over, but the ledge on the other side was dangerously slender.
She’d had to hold Blai against the wall as they scrambled onto a darkened wedge on the Restes side.
“Remind me why we couldn’t take the bridge like normal people?” they huffed.
“Because we aren’t normal. And because guards ask questions.”
They were on the southernmost end of the Restes, a place she hadn’t visited in years. The run-down Société tenements were practically palatial in comparison to this area. The river was too narrow for filtration here, and things as basic as drainpipes didn’t exist. Waste was thrown directly into the river, garbage left to rot in the alleys.
Blai grimaced as rats scampered from a crack in the wall. “Where the hell are we?”
“My old home.” Elara didn’t look up. Kept her eyes straight ahead. “My mother tried for years to earn enough at the factories to get us out of here. It wasn’t until she joined Arts Culinaires that she could afford an apartment a few streets down.”
Thatwas home for Elara.
“Why did you come?” she asked as they turned a corner into a more open street. A few more blocks, and they’d see the sun again.
“I’m ready to turn you in if there’s a reward.”
Elara rolled her eyes. “You’re all bark and no bite.”
“My ex-lovers would tell you I bite plenty.”
