Page 44 of Our Violent Ends
“You should take this anyway.”
Juliette shoved both into her pocket. Roma only watched the motion warily, his eyes glowering black, like he suspected she would perform a magic trick to make the vial disappear. She wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to make a grab for it at some point on their way back into the city.
Don’t even think about it,she mouthed.
Wouldn’t imagine it,he mouthed back.
“So,” the man said into the silence that had fallen. “Would you two like a bowl of wontons?”
Sixteen
The last train back to Shanghai had been canceled.
“What do youmeanit’s been canceled?”
Roma and Juliette jolted and glanced at each other, disturbed by the unison in which they had spoken. The worker behind the ticket booth didn’t notice. She was more occupied by the book open on her lap.
“It has been canceled,” she repeated. “The train scheduled to arrive at nine o’clock was operating earlier and encountered some trouble. It has been rerouted for maintenance.”
Juliette pinched the bridge of her nose. That was the very same train that had brought themherethen,the one with the last compartment soaked in blood from a monster attack.Maintenance. She hoped they had some heavy-duty bleach.
“Don’t tell me,” Juliette managed tightly, her breath fogging the air around her, “we just missed the previous one?”
The worker peered at the timetable board. Juliette could have sworn she was holding back an amused grin. Rural dwellers were without doubt sadistic when it came to the misfortunes of city folk.
“By ten minutes,xiaojie,” she confirmed. “Next one is tomorrow morning.”
Juliette made a noise at the back of her throat and paced away from the booth, stomping along the platform.
“All the local cars have stopped for the night,” Roma said, following after her, “but we can call one from Shanghai.”
“By car, the two cities are almost four hours apart...one-way,” Juliette replied. She stopped, observing the empty station. “It would be morning before we return if we call a chauffeur. We may as well remain here until the train comes. At least it is relatively warm.”
Roma stopped too, pensive as he turned to face her. His mouth hovered open to speak. Only then his eyes widened at something over her shoulder, his whole expression turning stricken.
“Get down!”
Juliette hardly had a moment to register his command before he had grabbed her arms and yanked her to the ground. Her breath snagged in her throat, her knees scraping hard against the platform. With his hands circling her wrists and her gloved fingers curled up against the edge of his sleeves, the thought that it would be so easy to draw him close whispered through her mind, but that was all: a whisper. Easily quieted, easily snuffed out. Before she could do or say anything preposterous, Juliette shook out of Roma’s grip and turned around, trying to catch whatever it was that had incited such a reaction.
“What gives?” she demanded.
Roma’s eyes remained narrowed, searching the dark. “A shooter,” he said simply. “A shooter who decided not to shoot, it appears.”
Juliette saw nothing, but Roma had no reason to lie. There had been a strange, watchful feeling following her all afternoon, and she had thought it to be discomfort—that prickle up and down her spine only natural in a place so quiet. But maybe it had not been in her head. Maybe as she had suspected earlier, someone had been on their tail since they disembarked the train.
“Come on,” Juliette said, getting to her feet. “We cannot stay, then. Not in the open.”
“Where else is there to go?” Roma hissed. After a delayed beat, he hurried up too, brushing the dust off his trousers before it could stain. “Do you know how early people go to sleep around these parts?”
Juliette shrugged, forging ahead. “We are charming people. We can charm some doors open, I am sure.”
But as it turned out, Roma was right. They trekked to the nearest residential block of Kunshan and started to knock on doors, making their way down the narrow streets. By the time they had twisted around and along each building, smacking their palms against every front gate, there was still no answer from anyone.
And it was miserably cold.
AndJuliette was getting a prickly feeling again.
She palmed a knife, stopping at the end of the road. When Roma finally trudged over after giving up on the final building, she held out her hand, asking for him to stop too.
