Page 156 of Queen of Volts

“No!” Lola screamed, clambering after them. Levi didn’t—too shocked by Scythe’s appearance when he’d expected the Bargainer. But by the time Lola reached the elevator, the doors closed. “No!” She slammed the button over and over.

Levi didn’t know why Scythe was here, but if he was going upstairs, Levi could only assume he was seeking out Harrison. “Come on. He’s headed to the fourth floor,” Levi croaked, already bolting toward the stairs.

Lola ran to follow him, but Tock grabbed her by the shoulder and twisted her around. “Let me go!” Lola yelled, squirming in Tock’s grip. “He can’t—I just got him back—”

“There are dozens of whiteboots upstairs,” Tock told her. “He’ll be all right. He—”

Regardless, Lola broke away toward the stairwell. The four of them—Levi and Enne, Lola and Tock—tore up the stairs. Before the door closed behind them, Levi noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye. Someone new had entered the ground floor by the emergency exit.

The Bargainer.

He cursed and picked up his pace, skipping steps at a time. “Run faster.”

“What is it?” Tock asked.

“Just don’t turn around.”

By the time they’d reached the third floor, there was a sound of new footsteps entering the stairwell, and the hairs on the back of Levi’s neck stood on end. The Bargainer certainly had a speed talent, yet she climbed steadily while they ran. She was being purposefully slow, savoring the chase.

Upstairs, he heard the echoes of rapid gunfire, and he nearly stuttered to a stop.

Lola shoved him forward. “Keepmoving. My brother is up there.”

“But—” Levi started.

“Levi,” Enne squeaked, leaning over the railing and peering down. Levi glimpsed the Bargainer, less than a minute from reaching them.

Levi squeezed the king’s token in one hand and grabbed his gun with the other. Without Delaney, they didn’t have a plan. Even if Veilhadbeen the greatest mastermind of New Reynes, Levi had no one to warp the shade in the token. And that meant he was all out of ideas, caught between a choice of the Bargainer or gunfire.

Run, his father suggested.

He chose the gunfire.

Despite fleeing for their lives, as soon as the group threw open the double doors into the fourth floor hallway, they each skidded to a halt. Levi slammed into Enne’s back, nearly sending them both crumpling to the ground. Lola screamed, then slapped her hands over her mouth.

In front of them, a collection of bodies littered the floor, butchered with the kind of efficiency only the second of the Doves could accomplish. Medical staff had swarmed the fallen whiteboots, scouring amid the dead for the wounded. Levi’s heart pounded as he searched their faces, too, waiting for that inevitable pain of recognizing someone he cared about. Though he spotted no one, acceptance settled over him fast—too fast. He’d experienced it when Reymond had died, when Levi had watched helplessly surrounded by grieving Scarhands. Or when Bryce had murdered hundreds in St. Morse. After Jac. After the whiteboots who were slaughtered in his own casino. The sea of red should’ve sickened him, but he only numbly trudged forward.

“You need to get out of here,” Levi told those in the hallway, barely managing more than a rasp. He reached for Grace, who stood outside of Harrison’s hospital room, frozen still. He shook her shoulder. “The Bargainer is...”

Then he saw it. It didn’t matter how much death he’d seen—his whole body shuddered, revolted. Scythe and the Chancellor might’ve deserved this, but Roy had not.

“Don’t come closer—” Levi warned to the three behind him. But then Lola’s brother pushed past him out of Harrison’s room and into the hallway. He staggered over to his sister and threw his arms around her. Lola let out a relieved sob into his shoulder.

“I did it,” he breathed. “I killed him.”

Tock watched uncertainly from the side. Until Lola turned to her.

“Leave,” Lola said frantically. “Arabella is—”

“Here,” came a voice from the stairwell.

Levi’s breath hitched. The Bargainer stood at the edge of the hall. She took in the scene before her—eyes moving from the blood to Lola. She grimaced. While the Bargainer’s attention was elsewhere, Levi grabbed at Enne’s shirtsleeve, yanking her closer to him.

“You need to leave,” he whispered into Enne’s ear. “It’s you and your talent she—”

“But the token!” Enne squeaked. “We haven’t—”

“I thought the game would be over by now,” the Bargainer said softly.