Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
The city didn’t sleep that night. Curfew began as soon as we made it back to Ronny’s, the night as quiet as a held breath.
We waited for Dupont to retaliate. Max put out a call, and hundreds of Cursed men and women reported to the brothel before midnight as we prepared to make our move on the shipyard.
The bedroom window was left cracked open, sweeping a damp breeze through the room.
Thunder rolled beyond a wall of dark clouds over and across the canal, promising a storm soon.
Max’s dying cigarillo sat on the windowsill, where he’d left it still blazing orange on a marble plate.
The smell of his smoke lingered behind while he lit a new one from the settee nearby.
Beyond the window, the speakers in the streets shrieked awake with static.
Attention, all citizens of Valveron.
This is your humble Governor, announcing a mandatory shutdown of the city today.
From now until curfew’s end tomorrow, everyone is ordered to stay home and stay inside.
There is nothing more important to this administration than the safety of the law-abiding citizens who live and thrive in this city.
We are on the heels of the criminal overlord, Maxence Antonin, and his partner in crime, the notorious Crown Killer, Nina Veyr.
For too long, we have tolerated the immoral and unnatural existence of these Cursed and their stolen bloodlines. As your Governor, someone who has personally been affected by these violent vermin, I will rise and stand between you and the monsters who threaten our city.
As of this morning, anyone associated with the Cursed of Valveron will be arrested immediately and sent to the mines. Anyone hiding or abetting these individuals will be similarly punished.
Anyone who aids the police will be compensated. If you find these criminals, report them, and you will be paid generously for your loyalty.
The Council has bestowed these powers upon me to save our city.
Max Antonin, I speak now to you.
I looked to Max, whose stone face revealed nothing about whether he was surprised.
Your kind has lived among the honest people of Valveron for decades.
We have allowed you to exist beside us, knowing what you are and the risk you pose to us all.
Yet you have poisoned our streets with illegal drugs, slaughtered our men in uniform, and now you are harboring the most notorious criminal in the realm.
If you and your Cursed wish to remain in this city, you will give up the Crown Killer immediately.
In return, we will open negotiations for the rights of your kind.
A ship will arrive at noon, bound for the exiled mines at dusk.
You have until then to decide who will make the trip: your people or the killer you protect.
Long reign the City of Progress.
Max grinned wide at the announcement. I asked him, “Why the hell are you smiling about any of that?”
“You’re my partner in crime. Maybe they’ll draw us together on the bounty posters.” He winked. His lack of concern was hardly reassuring.
Dupont knew we were coming for him. Word of my escape and Damien’s loss must have scared him enough to shut down the city.
We’d returned to Ronny’s after stopping by the Final Wager in preparation to infiltrate the lab.
Max wore the same suit he had when he went to Opal’s, chin concealed by a high collar and lean body framed in an asymmetric jacket.
He wore a hood over his hair, covering the rest of his body in all black, from his hood to his boots.
My outfitting was similar, a jacket over my thinning frame that felt more like armor as we prepared for the last push.
I was ready to cross the city to reach the docks.
The cigarillo dangled between his fingers as he watched me dress. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Happy,” I said, and I meant it. “And hopeful.” Alive was more like it.
Everything was more defined in the world.
More color saturated the wallpaper, his laughter was lighter, the music floating from Ronny’s parlor was more romantic than I’d noticed at first. Max’s eyes were practically golden, like a pair of suns as they looked up at me.
“What about you? Not having second thoughts, are you?”
He laughed, shaking his head like it was a ridiculous question. “I have lots of thoughts I’ll keep to myself for now. But I actually wanted to make you an offer.”
“An offer?” I asked, arching a brow.
He sucked in a breath of smoke before explaining.
“When we find your mother—because we will—I don’t want you to ever look for another sanctuary to feel safe again.
I want you to know you have a place here, if you want it.
I’ll protect you both with my life, and I’ll provide anything you need to keep you happy.
I can’t offer you much, but I can give you those things at least.”
My fingertips skimmed the hard planes of his chest where his pulse was beating fiercely. “What about your heart, Max? Are you offering that, as well?”
“What’s left of it, Nina, is all yours.”
Mine. I hadn’t owned very much in this world. Not material things like a home or a business of my own. But having ownership of his heart was the most valuable thing I could imagine. As soon as we found my mother, I could start a new life as I’d always wanted.
“When are we leaving?” I asked, eager to see my mother at last, for the rest of our lives to begin at once.
“Now. The cars are waiting outside.”
“How did you get so many to fight with us?” I asked. There had to be a dozen waiting carriages parked outside, appearing as if Ronny had a full house of clients.
“You’d be surprised how little reason angry and Cursed citizens in the Lower District need to piss off the Governor,” he said, smiling.
“Damien might have encouraged them as well, explaining that Dupont would only make things more difficult for our kind if we didn’t stop him from finishing his little project in the shipyard. ”
“Damien is helping now?”
Max shrugged, grin falling. “If that’s what you want to call it. I still don’t trust his motivations.”
Outside, a car blared its horn in haste. I pushed away from Maxence, forgetting Damien for the time being. There were more pressing problems. “Come on. Andre must be ready for us.”
Ronnette’s was completely transformed as Max led us downstairs.
Healers were set up on the second floor in the parlor, beds prepared in anticipation for anyone who might require treatment after the day’s events.
The lobby was a hub for weapon distribution.
Dozens of Cursed stashed handguns, daggers, and blades beneath their suit jackets.
In the alcoves around the room, many were drinking from their bloodline of choice in anticipation of a fight the city wouldn’t soon forget.
Outside, Andre was fussing over his new car.
He’d shined up his personal cruiser to be our getaway car, claiming he wanted to finally prove to Max how fast it was. A fleet of cars waited behind him, loaded full of our men and women, ready to follow our lead to the North Docks.
Max snuck out first, scanning the street before opening the car door for me.
I quickly slipped into the back seat, on the driver’s side. Andre drove while Elli sat in the front beside him. Max took up the rest of the back seat’s bench, slipping an arm around my waist to pull me close.
Andre looked over his shoulder, making sure we were in. His gaze fell to my hands. “I thought the healer fixed your wrists, Nina. Why are they still swollen today?”
Of all days to forget my gloves… I pulled my sleeves over my wrists, hiding the evidence and trying to think fast. I wasn’t going to tell him that the marks were from Max railing me while I was cuffed to a pole.
“I was just showing Max how I escaped the handcuffs last night. I must have… scratched them then.”
“Nina is apparently very flexible,” Max added, clearing his throat.
“Please, stop talking,” Elli murmured.
Andre’s eyes lit up. “Can you show me, Nina?”
“No,” Elli and Max spoke in unison.
He smirked in the rearview mirror. “Worth a try.”
A blush warmed my cheeks. Elli turned in her seat and looked back at us, rolling her eyes.
But her lips twitched in a tiny smile as she glanced at the placement of his hand.
“I guess Max has filled you in on the situation? They’re trying to keep us locked down here.
There’s a checkpoint on the road to the docks, manned by enforcers. ”
I nodded. “Have you been down there?”
“No, it’s just what I’ve heard from the lookouts. None of the men wants to face one of those relic suits, much less an entire squad.” She pulled a watch attached to a dainty chain from her pocket and frowned.
It was strange to me that the enforcers were out.
They were controlled not by Dupont, but by the Magister, who only extended their services when Archetype magic might be involved in challenging the Commissioner’s forces.
I’d never questioned why there was one in the Fissures for my arrest. Perhaps Dupont had convinced the Academy to bend the rules and lend him resources in this fight against the Cursed.
If that were true… then he had an even more powerful ally.
We neared the entrance to the Lower District, cutting through the central zone to make our way to the northern edge of the New City.
The lane to leave was wide open, while the incoming traffic was slammed bumper to bumper, horses and carriages and cars flooded the way in as they tried to make it home before curfew.
The checkpoint was along the only road leading from the Upper District.
Dupont had known we’d have to take this route to leave and was trying to catch us or intimidate us at the exit.
I recalled coming through here for the first time with Elli, notable by the brick archway leading to the rest of Cursed territory, as she’d called it.