Page 170 of Queen of Volts

“Better than dying?” Levi finished for her. “I wanted to leave. But now I can’t ever leave, can I? I can’t risk it. I’ll always have to stay in New Reynes.”

The glimmer of a new dream, of who he might’ve been, flickered out. He was done with his story—he wanted a new one. But it seemed this story wasn’t done with him.

The woman nodded solemnly. “That’s how it would appear, yes.”

Despite his disappointment, it wasn’t an offer Levi could refuse. An hour ago, he didn’t think he had a chance to survive at all.

He thrust out his hand. “Just do it,” he told her.

“Levi...” Enne started.

“Justdoit,” he repeated again, making Enne wince. He instantly felt sorry. He hadn’t meant to snap at her. Especiallyat her. He wasn’t the only one who’d sacrificed something great for ending the game. Enne had lost her blood talent forever.

The process only took a few minutes. Enne and Delaney talked in the sitting room, whispering low enough so that Levi couldn’t hear, so that Levi knew they were talking about him. The woman extracted the shade from him much the way he extracted volts. Within moments, the nausea in his stomach settled, and the burning inside him faded.

“You can use my phone, you know,” the woman told Levi while she worked.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “For what?”

“For that call you want to make.”

He cursed inwardly. He hated the House of Shadows. The people here unnerved him, playing with souls and curses the way he’d play for volts.

Or maybe he was only losing his poker face.

“Fine,” he muttered. It wasn’t that he needed to make this call now—unlike everything that had happened to them in the past year, the stakes weren’t life-or-death.

But the life he’d wanted for himself had been stolen from him. He didn’t want to wait to secure himself a new one.

When she finished, he stood up and took the phone. He dialed the number he’d long ago memorized.

“’Lo?” the voice asked on the other end.

“It’s me,” Levi said.

“Levi, you’re...” Harrison stopped himself, and Levi was surprised to detect notes of worry in his voice. Harrison cleared his throat awkwardly. “You’re all right, then?”

“I’ve been better,” Levi said dryly. “I’m surprised you’re still awake, but I’m not surprised you’re home.”

“I’m in the middle of a very important meeting. I don’t exactly like to do those from my hospital bed,” Harrison told him. “But when the operator tells you that you have a call from the House of Shadows, you take it. So this better be important.”

“I have a favor to ask you,” Levi said smoothly.

“You want something of me? How unlike you.”

“I want you to give me a job.”

Harrison paused. “The previous Chancellor tried to have me killed. What makes you so certain I evenhavea job?”

“Call it a gambler’s hunch,” he said, certain Harrison could sense his smirk over the phone.

“I thought you’d rather be caught dead than end up on the South Side.”

“Didn’t you hear? I nearly did die.”

“Careful—people might start calling you a public hero, and not just people on the North Side. That might sully your reputation beyond repair.” Harrison paused, and Levi tapped his fingers anxiously against the counter, afraid that for as friendly as they’d become over the past few months, Harrison might actually say no. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

Levi’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you,” he said seriously.