Chapter 31 Kane #2
Jules’s stare was boring into the side of Kane’s face. “What are you not saying?”
“There was a man dressed like that at the start of the commission’s meeting. He left before it officially began and never returned.”
“Do you think he caught Zaria spying?”
“Maybe.” Kane didn’t know what to think. “I don’t know why he would take her, though.”
“What if—” Jules broke off to gape suddenly at Fletcher. “Hold on. You said tall? Middle-aged? Dark hair?”
“Yes,” Fletcher replied, nonplussed.
“Fairly thin?”
“I’d say so. Why?”
Jules swore colorfully under his breath. “Pritchard. It had to be him.”
The name meant nothing to Kane. “Who’s that?”
“One of Vaughan’s men,” Jules said. “He always met with Zaria on the kingpin’s behalf.”
“Why would one of Vaughan’s crew members be here?” asked Fletcher. He was already looking a bit less pale, Kane noticed with relief.
Jules gave a panicked shrug. As he turned the question over in his mind, though, Kane thought he might know the answer.
“It’s not uncommon for criminals to masquerade as rich, high-society men.
Whoever this Pritchard really is, it’s possible he’s also a member of the Royal Commission.
Vaughan will be furious with Zaria for double-crossing him—if Pritchard did catch her here tonight, he might have abandoned the meeting to bring her to his boss. ”
The color returning to Fletcher’s face might have been leached from Jules’s, whose cheeks had whitened. “Do you think Vaughan would hurt her?”
Kane didn’t reply, knowing his silence was answer enough. If they were right, and the kingpin was connected to the Curator, there was no telling what he might do with a powerful alchemologist.
“Shit.” Jules began to pace as he said, “We need to figure out where Pritchard took her.”
“Seven Dials would be a good start,” Kane suggested. “Assuming that man was Pritchard, of course.”
“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down. Zaria could be in real danger.”
The fragile tether Kane had on his temper came loose. “Do you think I don’t know that?” he snapped. “Do you think I’m not as desperate as you are to find her? If you have any better ideas, Julian, I’d absolutely fucking love to hear them.”
Jules squared his shoulders, gaze hardening, but Fletcher stepped in front of him. “Arguing isn’t going to help anyone right now,” he said in a tone that left no room for contradiction. “If you care about Zaria, you won’t waste time going for each other’s throats. I mean, God, are we children?”
It wasn’t the first time Fletcher had given Kane hell for his inability to get along with someone, but Jules appeared rather stunned.
“You’re right,” Kane said stiffly. “Forgive me, Julian.”
“I’ll consider it if you stop calling me Julian. Only my father calls me that.”
“Fine. Jules.”
The other boy pressed his lips together. “You’re forgiven. Please accept my apologies in return.”
“Gladly.”
Fletcher rolled his eyes. “Great. Now, I don’t know about the two of you, but I’d quite like to get out of here.”
“Are you well enough?” Kane asked, scrutinizing his friend once more.
It was Jules who answered. “He’ll be fine. At most, the lingering effects of the aleuite could make him a bit lightheaded.”
“I’m okay,” Fletcher insisted. “It might as well not have happened.”
Satisfied that he was telling the truth, Kane led them away from Mansion House and down a side road, trying very hard not to dwell on any imagined scenario in which Zaria had been harmed.
A combination of urgency and the heavy rain had him moving faster than normal, despite the protest in his ribs.
He sensed someone approaching him from behind and turned, expecting to see Fletcher, but his friend was still several paces behind.
Instead, it was Jules who had come to match his pace.
“Zaria told me that you two were… intimate,” he said before Kane could ask.
Fucking wonderful. Why was she so determined to involve this boy in everything? “In that case, I suppose you’re about to threaten me.”
“No. Despite my best attempts to dissuade her, she really does care about you.” There was no sting in the words; Jules’s voice was dry.
Kane tried to suppress a pang of satisfaction. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I just thought you ought to be reminded that the second all this is over with, Zaria and I plan to leave London. No matter how she might feel, she’s not going to change her mind, and I don’t want you to try and convince her to stay.”
“I wasn’t intending to.”
In his periphery, Kane saw Jules frown. “You weren’t?”
“Of course not. I’ve always known that was her plan. Your plan.” Saying it aloud made emptiness swell within him again, but he soldiered on. “I’d never try to stop either of you from leaving. There’s no real life to be had in Devil’s Acre. I know that as well as anyone.”
Jules didn’t respond, presumably trying to discern whether Kane was telling the truth.
“I know you think I’m selfish. That I’m a terrible excuse for a man.
And for the most part, you’re right. I wish Zaria didn’t care for me at all, because that would make it easier to let her go.
She shouldn’t care for me. She deserves better.
She deserves someone who’s good-hearted, and kind, and never puts her in danger.
She deserves someone whole. Someone who isn’t coming apart at the seams. Someone who hasn’t grown accustomed to the blood on his hands.
” Finally, Kane shot Jules a sidelong glance. “So I’m going to make it easy.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Another beat passed before Jules nodded. “I appreciate it.”
“But,” Kane said, softer now, “if you change your mind for any reason, and if we make it through this… I could use someone like you, Zhao. Not as a member of the crew,” he added quickly at Jules’s furrowed brow, “but as an expert of sorts. You spent years working at that pawnshop, and you have knowledge of alchemology. That’s an invaluable combination when it comes to the dark market.
Assessing the worth of things, I mean. You wouldn’t have to answer to me—I would ask only for your input. ”
Jules didn’t respond right away. He looked a bit flummoxed as he chewed that over, eventually saying, “Thanks. I don’t foresee that happening, though. I’ve held Zaria back from leaving for long enough.”
“Because of your father,” Kane surmised, his stomach seeming to hollow.
The other boy dipped his head again.
Kane wondered if Zaria would change her mind, should she really manage to track down her mother.
He didn’t think so. No apology or explanation could make up for abandoning your child, could it?
He wouldn’t know. Neither of his parents would ever be able to explain the choices they had made. “Well, the offer stands.”
“Thanks,” Jules said simply, and Kane thought he might have meant it.
They reached the end of the alley and emerged onto Newgate Street, the main road that would take them by the notorious Newgate Prison. There was no reason to be apprehensive about that fact, but a chill climbed Kane’s spine and took up residence at the back of his neck.
The sensation was explained a moment later, however, when a group of men appeared at the corner, led by none other than Inspector Richard Price.
“Price,” Kane said loudly, scowling at the man through the rain. He refused to glance at the entourage of armed officers with their smart navy coats and brass buttons. “What the hell is this?”
Price was the only one who didn’t have a weapon out, though Kane knew better than to think him unarmed. “You know exactly what it is, Durante. Time’s up.”
“That’s ridiculous. You gave me until tomorrow.”
With a flourish, Price procured a small pocket watch and let it dangle from his fingertips. “I gave you until Friday. And unless I’m mistaken, it’s just after midnight.”
Fletcher took an automatic step forward. Kane was frozen, horror racing through his veins. He was such a fool. He hadn’t even considered that Price might come for them at the very moment his deadline was upon them.
“I’m close,” Kane said, fighting to keep his voice calm. “I’m so close, Inspector.”
Price shrugged. It might have seemed apologetic, but there was an eagerness about his stance.
“I would have been happy to work together, Durante. I really would have. But you can’t even begin to understand how many important people are breathing down my neck when it comes to this Curator business.
So, although it pains me”—he turned to nod at the men behind him—“all three of you are under arrest.”
Faced with no other option, Kane slowly raised his hands.