Page 164 of Queen of Volts

It wasn’t until they both left, until Harvey had a moment alone in the room where he’d loved Bryce, in the room where he’d hated him, that he realized something.

He wasn’t powerless.

He had done countless favors for Bryce—anything Bryce could want, anything he could ask for, anything to please. And it might’ve made him pathetic, but over the years, those debts had added up.

He smiled a Chainer smile, wide and slick with false charm, the best weapon he’d ever had.

ENNE

As the sun rose, as the casinos and clubs of the North Side closed their doors and patrons stumbled onto the sidewalks, half-finished bottles or half-drained orbs still clutched in their hands, Enne’s motorcar sped north. She disregarded every sign—she knew these streets too well to need them. But she was distracted, her gaze flickering to her rearview mirror to inspect Levi in the backseat, his head tilted back onto the cushions, his breathing haggard. And when she caught her own eyes—once again her natural brown instead of purple—a burst of panic flared inside her. She swerved slightly, the car jostling as the tires ran the curb, making her four passengers groan.

“Careful,” Levi croaked weakly.

Enne swallowed down a fit of nervous laughter. Tampering her talent and cursing himself in the process was far from careful. But she didn’t trust herself to speak. Tears already blurred her vision, and she blinked them away. They were speeding toward the Orphan Guild, and Enne knew she needed to brace herself to face Bryce. But Levi was dying, and her blood talent was gone. Even if the game continued, it felt like—in all the ways that mattered—Enne had already lost.

Beside Levi in the backseat, Poppy blotted the blood on his chin with a silk handkerchief, and Delaney examined him warily. “You look like you might swoon,” warned Delaney.

He swatted Poppy’s hand away. “I don’tswoon.” He smirked, but it was lopsided with dizziness. “I black out. Or collapse. Much more gangst—”

“Shut up,” Grace growled from the passenger seat, her volume startling everyone—even Enne. Enne slammed on the brake. “We’re here.”

After the car screeched to a halt and the three other girls climbed out, Enne turned around to Levi. Her heart seized, taking him in. Each of his breaths sounded like a rattle in his chest. “You need to stay here,” she told him.

“Not a chance,” he answered, shoving the door open and nearly falling out onto the pavement.

Enne jumped out and hurried around the car to his side. “Lola said Harvey and Bryce are here, but we don’t know what we’re walking into.” While Lola had called, trying to reach Harvey, the five of them had left. Sophia, Lola, Justin, Tock, and Narinder had all sworn to follow in the next car.

“You might need me,” Levi rasped.

“You can’t fight, Levi.” As much as Enne always preferred to have Levi at her side, Levi was barely strong enough to stand—if he came along, he’d only be a burden. Or worse, he’d risk hurting himself more. This was a game they needed to win without him.

“And you hesitated, when you shot Arabella.”

His voice wasn’t unkind, but still, Enne flinched. Even miles away from St. Morse, it’d been hard to aim the gun and feel anything other than helpless. But after she’d waited for Jac’s last words and Arabella never spoke, Enne managed what had to be done.

“I still—” Enne started.

“You’renotplaying for my life again,” he told her fiercely, and their eyes met. She remembered only a few months ago, when Levi had looked nearly this terrible in the House of Shadows, during the Shadow Game. No—he looked worse now.

“This isn’t that,” Enne murmured.

“No, it’s bigger than that,” Levi grunted. “It’sallour lives, and you’re not doing this without me.”

“How exactly do youthinkyou’re going to help?” Grace snapped from behind them. She carried a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other, and she’d never looked so much like murder. If Enne wasn’t so panicked about Levi and capable of being a better friend right now, she would’ve insisted that Grace stay behind, too. But Grace was their most capable fighter, and no matter how much she deserved space, they needed her.

“We need to talk through what we plan—” Levi started.

“We’re not talking,” Grace snarled.

Poppy put her arm around Levi to hold him upright. “Don’t worry, Enne. I’ll make sure nothing happens to your North Side boy.”

A prima ballerina hardly seemed like a suitable bodyguard, and Levi shouldn’t be coming at all. He should be waiting in the car where he could focus on breathing and hiding and staying alive. But Enne didn’t have time to argue. Grace was already charging into the abandoned prison.

They each followed.

The prison was dark, vacant, and silent except for the rhythmic echo of someone clapping. The steady pulse of it reminded Enne of the Shadow Game’s timer, thetick tick tick.Her heart sped up, and she shakily pointed Levi’s gun into the blackness.

“You did it,” Bryce said as they turned into the prison’s mess hall, lowering his hands. He’d changed since Enne had last seen him—his skin as gray as the New Reynes coastline, his posture taller, grander. It was hard to imagine that this was the same boy that she’d met over the summer, cradling the radio as it narrated a romantic story—a boy whose desperation cast the longest shadow.