Page 122 of Queen of Volts

“I’m sorry about everything,” Enne told her. “I really am. After Jac died, I wasn’t myself. The fact that I hurt you...” Her gaze flickered to the side of Lola’s head, where her red hair fell flatter than it once had. “I don’t know how I could ever make it up to you, but I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.”

Her voice sounded sincere enough for Lola to believe her, and so Lola muttered, “Thanks.” Lola’s palms were sweating, so she wiped them on the edges of her blazer.

Maybe youcantrust her, a voice whispered, one that was lighter and gentler than Lola’s own. Perhaps that was the happier version of herself, reduced to merely a figment of her imagination.

“But there’s something I wanted to ask you,” Enne said softly.

Lola had been so focused on preparing her own speech that she hadn’t expected that. “Sure.”

“How did you find out that Veil was my father?”

Lola tried not to betray her surprise. Of course Levi had told her by now. “Old records,” she bluffed, the same lie she’d fed Levi.

“But if there were records of a living Mizer, then that Mizer would’ve been killed, just like all the others,” Enne said. Her voice still sounded soft, but in her lap, she clenched and unclenched her fist.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Lola continued, nervously. “Why Veil hid his face? Where he got his funding? Why the Great Street War was so violent—”

“I didn’t say it didn’t make sense,” Enne said, coolly now, “I asked how you knew.”

She knows about Arabella, Lola thought with panic. But of course she had to know—Tock told them. But that didn’t mean she knew all of it, that Lola had lived with Arabella for the past three months, that Lola had defended Enne when Arabella had considered killing her.

That Arabella had warned Lola not to come here at all.

Lola scooted a few inches away from Enne. “I knew there were still questions about you that had gone unanswered—important questions. But you were too focused on being a street lord to ask them yourself.”

“Then it should’ve beenmeto bargain for them,” Enne snapped, and Lola realized that Enne hadn’t invited Lola here to start over at all; she’d invited her here to confront her. “You could’ve bargained for anything, but you chose for answers aboutmylife. Why wouldn’t you bargain for one of yours?”

Enne’s questions might not have been meant to hurt Lola, but they still did. Lola’s life wasn’t like Enne’s. She hadn’t been born the daughter of two wanted criminals—she’d been born insignificant. To the world. To her own family. There were no questions in Lola’s life that she needed answers to. And though Lola did pride herself on a few things—her cleverness, her scrutiny—she wasn’t Enne or Grace. She wasn’t capable of protecting her friends with brute force. Levi had been right when he’d accused her of wielding secrets like weapons, because secrets were the only weapons Lola had.

Lola felt a pressure build behind her eyes, and she blinked back tears. She was fully armed now.

“Lourdes Alfero was never your mother’s real name,” Lola said scathingly, eager to finally be the one to deal a blow for a change. “It was Clarissa Semper Reid. She was Semper’s daughter.”

Enne stiffened, “That’s not possible. Semper was the one who killed her.”

“Semper was trying to save this city, and he couldn’t, because Lourdes’s talent was savingyou.”

The look of pain that crossed Enne’s face was worse than if Lola had stabbed her with any of her knives, but Lola was surprised to find that she got no satisfaction from it. Tears finally leaked from Lola’s eyes. Nothing and no one ever worked the way she wanted them to.

“I know that I’m the one who made mistakes, but I feel like I don’t know you at all. You were never...cruel,” Enne whispered, and though she didn’t know it, there were no other words she could’ve spoken to take Lola so off guard.

Maybe Lolareally was the worst version of herself, no matter what choices she made.

“I—I should go,” Lola said, standing up. “This was a mistake.”

But Enne moved faster, and for all Lola’s cleverness and scrutiny, she didn’t see it coming. In an instant, Enne swept Lola’s feet from underneath her and bound her in a headlock, exactly as Lola had watched Enne do it a hundred times during Grace’s lessons.

“Let me go,” Lola snarled, but Enne’s grip only tightened, her forearm digging into Lola’s throat. With her other hand, Enne rummaged in her dress pockets.

“For what it’s worth, Iamsorry,” Enne told her.

And then a lacy white handkerchief pressed against Lola’s nose, and for as much as she tried to squirm away, only seconds passed before her consciousness faded completely.

LEVI

Levi stood in the lobby of his casino and waited for the Bargainer to arrive.

Other than Sophia, he was the only one who’d seen her before, and he hoped his descriptions from memory would suffice. He remembered her pale, almost translucent coloring, the way her face looked older and wearier than her skin betrayed, her limp light brown hair, eyes crimson red. Of course, she could look utterly different now—the legends claimed she possessed a face-changing talent, like Rebecca. The endless list of ways tonight could go wrong was making him sweat through his shirt.