Page 42 of Queen of Volts

Harrison let out a tired laugh. “Then she’s going to be disappointed.” He laid his black leather briefcase on the card table and opened it. Levi expected him to reach for the pens and notepad, but instead he slid out a copy ofThe Crimes & The Times. He handed it to Levi.

“I already read today’s paper,” Levi told him.

Harrison tapped the date on the top corner—November 20. “This is tomorrow’s. Take a look.”

Levi begrudgingly examined it. Opinion pieces crowded the headlines and continued for several pages more. He’d never known the city’s main news source to provide so much space for public forum, especially when the First Party had Aldrich Owain, the paper’s owner and editor-in-chief, in its pockets.

She already assassinated one Chancellor—no doubt Fenice is next,one letter wrote.

It doesn’t matter to me that she’s a Mizer,said another.What matters is that she’s a criminal.

My wife didn’t die fighting for the Revolution so another Mizer could threaten our nation.

Chills spread across Levi’s arms as he read the words, each one a message of fear.The Crimes & The Timeshad been reporting about Enne for over a week, but this was worse. New Reynes could afford a second Great Street War, but it could not afford a second Revolution.

Maybe Levi had judged Enne’s behavior yesterday too harshly. It wasn’t that she was being cruel—she wasterrified, terrified enough to consider putting a bullet in someone’s head if it meant ensuring her own safety for even one day more.

“Are these opinions legitimate?” Levi asked sharply.

“Does it matter?” Harrison asked.

It didn’t, Levi agreed. Hysteria could be manufactured. “If this prints, it’ll be her death sentence.” If not by Liberty Square, then by mob.

Pardon or no, his father’s voice whispered in his mind,it’s your death sentence, too.

“I tried to explain that to Owain, but Owain is paranoid right now—he’s another recipient of one of Bryce’s cards,” Harrison told him.

Levi sighed and rubbed his temples. Levi liked to consider himself the best card player in New Reynes, but this game was far bigger than any he’d played before. Bryce, the Bargainer, the Mizer...they were pieces on a chessboard, none of them on the same side.

Except him and Harrison, maybe.

“I told Enne I’d get her a pardon,” Levi breathed.

“You need to consider how this looks,” Harrison said. This time when he reached into his briefcase, he grabbed a travel-sized bottle of whiskey. “It isn’t even just that Enne is a Mizer. It’s that she’s also the most famous criminal in the city. It’s far too late to brand her as a lost seventeen-year-old when she’s spent the past five months making herself appear the opposite.”

“So why am I any different?” Levi asked.

Harrison paused, then offered him a snarky sort of smile. “Well, maybe itisjust that she’s a Mizer.” He swallowed the whiskey in one swig.

Levi put his head in his hands.Enne had been right—without anything to negotiate, the city wouldn’t grant her a pardon. And though Levi didn’t approve of any of the measures she’d taken, he’d undermined all of her plans by offering to pay off the Scarhands. He hadn’t helped her—he’d made things worse.

“What can we do to convince Owain not to run this?” Levi asked desperately.

“Volts maybe. Since you’ve bought this casino, I assume you’re in no shortage of those.” Harrison cast Levi a knowing look, one tinged with what looked like almost fatherly disapproval. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to be careful.”

“You don’t. But thanks, Pop,” Levi replied sarcastically.

Harrison squinted, as though affronted to be accused of being old enough to be anyone’s father. “I can’t help that I’ve taken an interest in you. We’re similar. We both come from different sorts of nobility. And after I left, I think my mother always thought of you as my replacement.”

Levi considered correcting him. A two bedroom home under nearly constant governmental surveillance was a far cry from coming from nobility. But Levi had spent years spinning the story that he’d come from nothing, and he could no longer pretend that that was true.

His guilt worsened. The only person who knew how trapped he felt was Enne, and he’d been cruel to her, all for struggling with the same legacy he was.

He needed to make it up to her. He needed to fix this.

“My father always told me that the Mizers were kings not because they made volts, but because they knew how to use them,” Levi said. “What if I can give Owain something better than a bribe? How about a story? He can interview Enne.”

“Enne will agree to that?” asked Harrison, eyebrows raised.