Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
The back entrance led straight through a busy kitchen and into a darkened hall bustling with servants running by in colorful, beaded dresses and headbands full of jewels.
I thought it strange the staff would wear uniforms so eccentric, but I had never left the quaint seclusion of the Fissures.
Perhaps this was how things were in other places.
When we broke through a pair of swinging doors, the lighting dimmed dramatically over a large space decorated with lavish furniture.
Empty sitting areas of plush couches surrounded a massive desk beneath a crystal chandelier in the center of the lobby.
The walls were adorned with crimson damask wallpaper, and there were ornate mirrors above dead fireplaces and stained glass windows on either side of the front entrance.
Massive, richly stained wood pillars lined the way to a winding staircase behind the desk, curving to a second level. Music from a string quartet drifted from the floor above us, down the thickly carpeted stairs.
The woman behind the desk noticed Elli and me, smiling and offering a small wave. Her hair was cut short and razor sharp, and she had large brown eyes and a bloodred smile. The thin straps of her dress appeared like they could barely hold up the heavily decorated bodice.
“That’s Corrine. She welcomes the clients.”
I glanced at her, connecting what I knew about gambling and Max’s kind of patrons. “What kind of business is this?”
She glanced at me. “It’s a mind-your-own-damn business.”
“So it’s a brothel.”
“Did I say something different?” She nodded to Corinne. “Is Ronny free tonight? We have another cuff problem.”
Corinne checked a book in front of her, nodding. “She should be wrapping up. Duvain never lasts long—”
On cue, a couple began to descend the steps.
A gentleman in a well-pressed suit, middle-aged and looking entirely too pleased with himself, followed behind a tall, slender woman.
Her transparent gown trailed the steps as she tugged him along.
The chandelier caught the movement of the dress, emphasizing each well-placed crystal.
“Until next time, darling,” she said.
“As always, Ronnette. I’ll bring you another bottle of that wine,” he told her from the bottom of the staircase while Ronny let him slip past her as he left, leaning over the metal railing.
“You spoil me, sweetheart. Now get home safe.”
He blew her a kiss before he turned to finally leave, winking at Corinne on his way out. When he was finally gone, Ronnette cursed from the stairwell.
“Bastard never tips,” she hissed. “The only reason I took him on instead of throwing him at Margot.” Her scowl softened as her attention crossed us. “Oh! Elli. How did the drop go? Got us more juice?”
“Got the first load around back, but I couldn’t stay to help with the rest,” Elli answered, beckoning to me with a thumb. “I found this one fighting for her life. She got caught in some cuffs. Thought you could help her.”
Ronnette looked me up and down from her high ground. “She got cuffed in the docks? And you brought her here?”
“She claims to be a friend of Max’s.” Elli crossed her arms.
The woman’s eyes lit up, widening. “Well, why didn’t you say so! Come on up to my office. We’ll get those ridiculous chains off you in no time.”
I nearly cried in relief, sure my hand would have fallen off if I’d left the cuff on much longer. I kept the sleeve of my coat covering the blood staining my fingers, but the chain dangled. We climbed the twisting staircase to a parlor, where the real entertainment was in full force.
Men and women were intertwined on circular couches below a vaulted ceiling. The stringed band stood off in a shadowed corner, playing just loud enough to mix with the moans and playful banter coming from the patrons.
We passed alcoves leading to another set of wide stairs, curtains drawn for more private performances. If I hadn’t been so tired, so weak and in pain, I might have blushed at the sounds coming from inside. I was hardly inexperienced, but I’d never made the sighs I heard coming from the booths.
“Many Cursed come here to feed,” Elli murmured. “Her girls have bloodlines, and they get paid well to fuel the Cursed.”
“Why would someone from a bloodline leave the Upper Districts?” I wondered. “Life there is supposed to be perfect.”
“Money doesn’t always mean happiness,” she whispered.
I shrugged. “It certainly helps.”
Ronnette’s office was the first door off the hall. Inside, she had a view of the entire city. The full moon illuminated the outline of the rest of Valveron through a wall of arching windows. A smaller version of the chandelier downstairs hung from a tiled ceiling. Her desk stood below it.
She went to a hutch on the far-left wall and pulled out spectacles, a pair of pliers, and a handful of vials I knew to be disinfectants. “Grab a towel from the wet room, Ell.” Ronnette gestured to me. “Take off your coat and sit on my desk. I hate bending over if I don’t have to.”
I smiled, slipping off my wet coat to drape it over a nearby chair, and followed her orders. She placed the towel under my hand, and I was embraced by her rosy perfume as she stood close. “Your face is all over town, dear. You know that?”
“Unfortunately. The look on your face when you saw me said half as much.”
She pulled a pin from her hair, letting one of her amber curls fall over her dainty shoulder. “Is that why you got arrested? Did you get caught?”
“Technically, I was disguised, then the Commissioner put this cuff on me and ruined the illusion. He saw me in the alley.” I shrugged my opposite shoulder. “Though I’m not sure if he’s alive or dead. No one knows I’m in the city. Besides you two.”
“And Max,” Elli said, staring down at the street.
“Where is Maxence? He left town weeks ago in such a rush.” She glanced at me while she bent the pin into an odd angle. “Did he leave for you?”
I couldn’t swallow my laughter fast enough. “Not at all. I ran into him in the Fissures and… helped him get his dice back.”
“And now?” Ronnette asked.
She was a curious woman, but I supposed I owed her answers. She was freely helping a strange girl in a precarious situation. “And now… he’s helping me find something that was taken from me.”
Elli turned to look at me, an unreadable expression pinching her face.
I couldn’t figure out if she was related to Max or not.
They had similar attributes but looked nothing alike.
Possibly half-siblings, I guessed. But they were close, no matter what their relation.
I’d seen that look on Max a hundred times.
“Max doesn’t help anyone,” she said. “Tell the truth.”
“I told you the truth. He’s helping me because he has something to gain in the process. He thinks the person I’m looking for is someone he wants to find, as well.”
“Then why do you have his dice?” She turned completely to face me then, crossing her arms.
I swallowed, unsure how to answer. “He gave them to me—”
“Now I know you’re lying.” Elli laughed. “No one touches his relics. They’re more important to him than his own soul.”
“Well, you can ask him when you see him, since you’re so sure he’ll find me here.”
“Easy, Elli,” Ronnette said as she fed the pin into a small hole in the cuff, using the pliers to twist it inside. “Max practically lives here under my roof. He will come and explain everything, I’m sure.”
“Sure,” I murmured, gripping the edge of the desk as she poked and prodded the cuff. One final twist, and a spring was tripped, opening the claw of the cuff to release my arm.
I practically whimpered in relief. The freedom alone made the pain of my burns more bearable. Ronnette took her stash of medications and began tending to the injuries.
“We’ll wrap it until the poison subsides, and it can be healed fully.” She spoke to me like I wasn’t an accused murderer. Her hands were gentle, but I sensed no Archetype in her touch.
“Thank you,” I said, voice cracking between the words. “You have experience with this?”
“Unfortunately,” she said with a sad smile. “You’re not the first person the police have harmed under the false pretense of justice. And you won’t be the last.” She wrapped a gauzy strip around my wrist, securing it with a red ribbon. “For aesthetics.” She winked.
“Much prettier than a bloody chain,” I noted.
“Have you heard back from Sophie?” Elli asked Ronnette.
Ronnette stroked a thumb across my chin, admiring something about my face as she replied. “No. She went away to visit family for the week, Ell. I’m sure she just lost track of time. She’ll be back soon. Don’t you worry.”
Elli sighed, staring out the window. “I wish she would have mentioned it before she left. I can’t help but feel like something’s wrong.”
“Everything is wrong,” Ronnette said quietly. “Now, Nina, do you need a room for the night? Perhaps a warm meal? A bath? No offense, dear, but you look like you’ve been through some things.”
“I can’t sleep without—” I glanced at Elli, who quirked a brow. “Without knowing if Max is alright. We were supposed to meet afterwards. What if he was caught?”
Elli shook her head. “Max will have done his best to keep the guards distracted for as long as possible to allow you to get away. I’m sure he’s fine.”
The brothel owner continued her fretting. “Show her to the bathing room, Ell. And grab something out of Sophie’s wardrobe, since she’s gone for a bit. They look about the same size.”
“I don’t want to be a burden—”
She tapped my shoulder. “You’re nothing of the kind, Nina. You’re a friend of the house. So you need to be treated as such.” Taking a small step back, she added quietly, “And you need to smell like one.”
I slipped off the desk and took a quick look out the window, searching the street below for movement, for a flash of orange eyes in the shadows. Nothing caught my eye.
“I’ll let you know when he shows up. No need to wait by the window,” Elli said.
I scoffed. “I’m just looking at the view.”
She squinted her tawny eyes. “I’m Cursed, Killer, I’m not an idiot.” But despite her annoyance, she looped her arm around mine, pulling me back into the hall and leaving Ronnette behind to clean up. “Did you get separated coming off the ship?”
I sighed, nodding once. “Last I saw him, he was smashing a guard’s face in with a crane hook.”
She huffed a breath. “Sounds about right. Then I saw him after, when he was on his way to the dry docks. I’ll show you to my rooms. There’s a bathroom with a nice tub and some dresses from a friend in the closet.
Lock the door. There are too many drunk men wandering around.
I’ll be back in a few hours if I don’t find him. ”
“I can help—”
“You need to lie low,” she interrupted. “Everyone’s looking for you right now, thanks to your bounty posters. You’re only safe within these walls.”
“Why here? What makes a brothel such a safe place?”
She flipped her hood on, frowning. “Because no one would ever admit they saw you here, Killer.”
She didn’t return until the following morning.
I woke with a start in Elli’s room, realizing I’d managed to sleep straight through the sunrise.
I was about to go looking for Max myself when Elli returned in a rush, throwing the door wide open. But Max wasn’t with her.
“Nina! You need to come with me. Immediately.”
Fortunately, I’d already dressed. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Max,” she said, out of breath. “He’s in a bloodrage down at the old Artisan Row. We locked him in a storage container, but I can’t get him to calm down. I thought maybe—”
I snatched the pair of dice from the bedside table and met her at the door.
“Take me to him.”