Page 43 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“Alright,” Quinn said slowly, unsure if she was falling into a trap. “She was acting cagey?”
Hadleigh frowned. “She was sneaking and hanging around places she normally wouldn’t go—”
“And before you ask, she means like the Viridian.” Francois darted a glance at his friend. “It’s an unwritten rule for rival gangs not to mess with the Viridian.”
“No one wants to mess with Kordelia Shone,” Hadleigh said. “Most of us would rather die than endure her form of torture.”
Torture?
Quinn knew Kordelia was dangerous and very, very powerful. She was terrified of the Viridian’s owner most of the time. Still, she never assumed Kordelia would harm someone.
“What about someone in her life who might have a motive to kill her?” Quinn asked.
“No one in the Fantômes would dare, and the only person who would from her past was her husband, but he is dead now.” Hadleigh’s throat visibly bobbed.
Husband.That was right. Jane had been married. It was another thing she barely talked about, and the only reason Quinnknew about it was because she’d done the autopsy on the vile man. When asked about it, Jane refused to answer. At the time, Quinn didn’t want to pry, but now, she wanted to know everything.
“Why did Jane join your gang in the first place?” Quinn asked.
“Because her terrible dead spouse gambled away all of her earnings, life savings, and livelihood, and then he wagered her off as well.” There were warmer blizzards than the frozen lake of Hadleigh’s words.
“What are you saying?” Quinn asked.
“He offered her to his enemies as collateral.” Francois placed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wooden railing. “After a couple of nights of what I presume to be a living hell, Jane went to the Looking Glass and asked it for three lifetimes full of riches.”
“What did she trade?” Giselle asked sternly.
“It’s unclear; her deal with Nightmares has always been private information,” Francois said pragmatically. “But something did happen in that mirror that caused her never to dance again, and she somehow became tied to Nightmares because after that first deal, she visited him weekly, sometimes daily.”
“We know she got some money out of the deal because we know she paid off her husband's debts and freed herself from the Cobra Lilies. When her husband eventually died—”Was murdered. It was one of the investigations Emrys tampered with and got Quinn in trouble. “Jane came to us for refuge.”
Acid frothed in Quinn’s esophagus, and a sudden wave of heartburn hit her. The entire story was tragic. How could Jane have remained so positive and happy with everything that had happened to her? It was like she didn’t know Jane at all. And this new information slanted Quinn’s worldview and made her question every interaction she’d ever had with Jane.
“And what did you do?” Giselle asked.
“I allowed her to join my gang in a business capacity,” Francois said. “She was a stunning and talented woman, after all.”
“So she traded one gang for another?” Quinn bit out. “You took advantage of her vulnerability.”
The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “I take advantage of anything that will let me.”
Quinn swallowed her disgust. “How chivalrous of you.”
He stood up straight and caught her gaze in his midnight-fire eyes. “If you want civility, I wouldn’t ask me . . . or your prince.”
Quinn jolted. This was the last thing she expected to hear. “My prince?”
“Haven’t you seen the papers this morning? Your face is all over them.” Francois motioned to one of his cronies, who ran out of the room and reappeared with the paper in his hands. With a jerk of the head from Francois, the boy handed the newspaper to Quinn.
The headline read,Golden Prince Snubbed by Beautiful Ballerina.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Quinn said. The last thing she wanted was to be in a newspaper next to Emrys. If she were to be in a newspaper, it would involve accolades for her dancing.
She crinkled the paper before handing it back to the boy.
Francois let out a deep chuckle. “Apparently, you were quite rude. All the gossip columns are covering it. And speaking of your pretty prince, he was hanging around Jane a lot recently. The two always sneaking away.”
Quinn shouldn’t be surprised by this information because Emrys had said as much himself, but it was still startling. But she didn’t have time to think about that because a voice sounded at the door. “She was no more rude than she usually is.” Emrys appeared at the alcove’s entrance.
