Page 130 of Queen of Volts

Enne cursed herself for not realizing it earlier. Harvey, Delaney, and Sophia were all Harrison’s omertas. If he died, so did they.

“Then we go back,” Enne said. “We get him out.”

The smell of burning made her crinkle her nose. Smoke snaked in through the hallway’s mouth, making the hallway gray with haze. The fire was spreading—and fast.

Because Tock and Delaney were the only ones who still had their firearms, they led the group of five to the edge of the hallway.

“Do any of you know your way around this place?” Narinder hissed.

“No,” Tock answered, and the rest of them shook their heads, as well. Not studying the casino’s blueprints now seemed like an oversight in their planning, but they had never anticipated this.

Delaney peeked her head out into the lobby. She sucked in her breath. “Harrison looks badly hurt. Sophia is still with him.”

“How many whiteboots?” Harvey whispered.

Delaney counted. “Fourteen.”

Enne cursed. “What do we do, then?”

“If we separate them, I could take a few of them out,” Tock suggested, squeezing her hands into fists.

“Yeah, but you’d take the building down with it,” Narinder muttered.

“Enne, you’re a good shot. Could you shoot Hector from here?” Tock asked.

Enne’s heart seemed to stagger. Hector was close enough, but it wasn’t the distance that made her doubt.

Thankfully, Harvey saved her from responding. “If you shoot Hector, the whiteboots might kill Harrison,” Harvey squeaked.

“We could exchange hostages,” Delaney suggested.

“We don’t have a hostage,” Tock said.

Delaney gave her a sly smile. “We’ve got the Mizer.”

The four others turned to Enne. It was a desperate plan, and it would mean that all of the effort Enne had put into not being recognized would be meaningless. It would nullify her contract. She’d lose her pardon.

Worse, it would mean she’d be apprehended. Though the whiteboots would hardly shoot her on sight—the Chancellor would want to execute Enne properly at Liberty Square—it was the most perilous sort of gamble. Could she trust her friends to save her?

But she couldn’t shoot, couldn’t fight. Giving herself up was the only useful thing she could manage.

“Fine,” Enne said, her stomach churning. “It’ll buy you time to get Harrison out.”

“You should be the one to make the exchange,” Delaney told Narinder.

“Why?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“Because you look the most frazzled.”

Narinder frowned and tucked aside one of the long black hairs that had fallen from his braid. “I don’t know what I’m doing! I... I...”

“He’s right,” Tock cut in. “It should be me. My talent is the only one good for—”

“Which is why you, me, and Delaney should be backup, in case something goes wrong. Narinder is the best option,” Harvey said. He squeezed Narinder’s shoulder while Tock offered him her gun. “You can do this.”

Narinder looked at him, expression dark, and nodded. He grabbed the pistol.

“Sorry,” he murmured, lifting it to Enne’s head. Even without the threat, the feeling of having a gun pressed against her made her insides writhe.