Page 58 of The Shattered City

The world lurched, and time pressed at her, threatening to tear Harte from her grasp, but Esta held tight, until suddenly, night turned to day and the blaring alarm faded to silence. They were alone in the closed elevator now, with no Guard and no threat of Thoth. Ishtar’s Key was warm against her skin, and Harte’s hand was still squeezing hers tightly. But he was leaning against the slick metal wall of the lift.

“You okay?” she asked as he let out a small groan. “You aren’t going to be sick?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.” But he didn’t sound sure. He looked pale and unsteady on his feet.

They needed some air and time to catch their breath and consider what their next step should be. Slipping through time had always been miserable for Logan. Clearly, it was bad for Harte as well. Especially considering what he’d been through in the previous weeks.

She pushed the button for the library, and when the doors slid open, she pulled him into the room. She didn’t notice the figure sitting behind the broad desk until it was already too late.

Suddenly, icy fog blasted through them from all sides. Before Esta could grab for her magic, before she could even finish the thought that the elevator was a trap, her affinity slid away from her. Dead and cold and empty.

THE CHURCHYARD

1902—The Bowery

As he walked away from the Morgan mansion, James smiled to himself at the fear that he’d seen in Jianyu’s eyes. After the girl whose affinity healed him, he had not been able to practice much with the ring and with what he could do to the connections between the marks. He couldn’t show such a display around the Devil’s Own. Not yet, at least. He wasn’t ready to draw their suspicion, or worse, invoke unnecessary fear, because he knew that his control over Dolph’s people was still tenuous and in its earliest stages. The wrong move could tip the balance against him. Until he knew for sure what power the Delphi’s Tear could truly afford him, until he’d mastered that power, he didn’t want anyone to suspect what he might be capable of. Jianyu’s compliance was an excellent sign, perhaps even a promise of the possibilities to come.

Since the last time they’d talked, Jianyu and Viola had been busy. They’d saved more of his castoffs from the Order’s patrols, and they’d been searching for answers. For a while, he’d let them have their small victories, but now he was finished waiting.

With a simple tilt of his head, James signaled that Jianyu should come with him, and then he turned south, toward the Bowery, certain Jianyu would follow.

Neither of them spoke as they walked, not even when Jianyu finally released the light and appeared next to him. In stony, uneasy silence, they traversed the city in tandem as the sun sank lower on the horizon. It was nearly dusk by the time they reached the church, and neither had uttered a single word. Jianyu remained silent as James opened the graveyard gate and let himself into the churchyard and walked among the weathered monuments until he came to a stop over the small, flat stone that held Leena Rahal’s name. He felt Jianyu’s frustration—his fear and his impatience—but though the Aether vibrated with that same unreadable tension, there was no other indication of any immediate danger. So James simply waited.

It took him longer to break than James expected, but eventually Jianyu showed himself to be the weaker of the two.

“I assume there is something you want? Some reason you led me on this chase?” Jianyu asked, his voice low and surprisingly unconcerned.

James didn’t bother to turn or guard himself, because he knew Jianyu wouldn’t strike. Couldn’t strike. The Devil’s Own belonged to him now, and Jianyu and Viola both understood exactly how quickly the Devil’s Own would turn on them should he come to any harm. In the eyes of those who had once followed and trusted Dolph Saunders, it was Jianyu and Viola who were the traitors. And the remaining members of the gang would be more than happy to make either of them pay.

And if anyone else at the Strega suspected who the real architect of Dolph’s demise was? It barely signified. He’d already made it abundantly clear what would happen to anyone who crossed him. Jianyu understood the danger as well.

James tossed a careless glance over his shoulder. “I wanted to pay my respects to an old friend.”

“You were no friend to Leena.” He took one menacing step toward James.

At the same time, James gripped the gorgon’s head and sent a warning pulse through its connection to Jianyu’s marks. The cane itself was no more than an affectation now, but he carried it with him anyway. It still had its uses, after all.

Jianyu stopped, his back arching against the place where Dolph’s mark lay beneath his clothing, and James held the pulse of energy a second longer before releasing it and Jianyu both.

“I hope you’ve given serious thought to my offer,” James said. “You’re running out of time. Soon you’ll need my protection.”

“I seem to have done well enough on my own these past weeks,” Jianyu told him.

“Have you?” James mused. “You can’t still really believe you’ve been able to avoid my notice, not when I found you so easily today.”

Jianyu’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t refute the claim.

“You didn’t truly think you were so good at hiding, did you?” James asked, amused despite himself. How could he have not known? “This city isn’t so big, really. I could have come for you at any time. I could have sent any number of factions after you had I wanted you out of my way. You and Viola have been safe because I willed it. It was a gift. And now you’ll repay me for my generosity.”

Jianyu’s eyes were as sharp as any blade Viola had ever wielded. “I would rather die.”

Tightening his hold on the Medusa’s head, James focused on the Aether, on his connection to it, through it. He watched as Jianyu grimaced and went rigid again, fighting against the pain that he’d sent thrumming through the mark. “That can be arranged.”

James took a step forward, indifferent to Jianyu’s pain. Interested only in what he carried. “I want what you took from Morgan’s house.”

“What makes you think I took anything?” Jianyu gasped.

“I know you did,” James told him. “Thanks to the distraction I helped to provide.”

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