Page 53 of Queen of Volts

“I don’t know yet. I guess I have to figure that out,” she said cheerily. “What about you? Will you keep calling yourself the Iron Lord?”

Levi hesitated to answer and prolong this conversation. It would only make it worse when he told her the truth about her pardon.

“I don’t know what I want,” he answered slowly.

“Youalwaysknow what you want,” she said, smirking.

Levi reached for one of the cooled orbs from the pipes, forcing himself not to look at her, at the flush blooming across her neck and cheek, at where her hand lay outstretched, as though waiting for him to grasp it. He didn’t reach for it.

No, he didn’t always know what he wanted.

“Maybe I’ll be someone different, too,” Levi answered finally. “I think I only dreamed of being a street lord and latched onto Reymond because I desperately wanted to be someone else. It was just another way of running away from my family. But it’s hard.” He swallowed, thinking of how anxious he’d felt the past few days—especially as he left the meeting with Fenice, how it felt like the whole city was watching him. “I still feel like I need to run.”

“I think we might always feel like that, a little,” Enne said quietly. “I think that’s why it’s so easy to make mistakes.”

She watched him pointedly, and Levi knew she was asking for his forgiveness. For what happened with the Doves and Lola’s brother. Maybe also for Jac.

Levi avoided her eyes and reached for one of the cooled orbs from the pipes, then he gently eased the energy into it. They writhed and bent as they approached the glass, transforming from threads into sparks, transforming from energy into volts.

It wasn’t until he stared at the volts in the orb that he realized he’d succeeded.

His father had told him that he didn’t deserve this legacy. That it was noble and holy, and that Levi had replaced kings with street lords and Faith with legends. But now he’d achieved what his father would likely never do again. And he had done it beautifully.

“How much is there?” Enne murmured, staring at the row of glowing orbs.

Levi pressed a volt reader to each of them, tallying up their spoils. “Alot,” he answered. Enough for the down payment on the casino. Enough for so much left over.

But now that they had finished, he couldn’t put off the truth any longer.

“There’s a catch, to your pardon,” Levi said carefully. “The wigheads would like you to sit for an interview with Aldrich Owain atThe Crimes & The Times. They’d like to get to know you better before they do anything final.”

Enne stiffened. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She glanced around the table, at the volts around them, her expression darkening to accusatory. “You need the voltage, don’t you?”

Levi stared at the dying embers in the furnace. “It’s for the Irons. And the Scarhands.”

“You’re unbelievable,” she spat. “You realize what the interview really means, right? They’re waiting to gauge public opinion. About whether or not they’ll end up killing me.”

“Which theywon’tif we play our cards right. We’ll blame it on Vianca. Besides, you’re just a seventeen-year-old girl. If you come across like that during the—”

“What exactly does it mean to ‘come across like that’?” Enne demanded.

“I’m just saying, we don’t want them to cast you as a threat.”

Enne’s face was already flushed from the heat of the workshop, but now she went scarlet.

“As I’m sure you haven’t forgotten,” she fumed, “Aldrich Owain is part of the Phoenix Club. He killed Lourdes. He tried to kill the two of us.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Levi said hoarsely, knowing she’d say that. He still had nightmares about the Shadow Game. “The interview is scheduled tomorrow morning at the paper’s office in the South Side.”

“And I don’t have a choice, do I?” Enne snapped.

“Not if you want the pardon.” Levi took a risky step closer to her, but she only used their closeness to jab a finger into his chest. “I’m sorry I—”

“You’re not as clever as you think you are. You acted like you were saving me from myself when you stole the Scarhands from me. But last time you were in charge of the North Side, the North Side fell. It’s why the Scarhands approached me first, and not you. It’s why I should never have trusted you in the first place.”

Her words struck him in all Levi’s most vulnerable places, where he blamed himself for so many failures. Now he knew that Enne blamed him, too.

“I’ll be atThe Crimes & The Timestomorrow, waiting for you,” Levi mumbled. “Whether or not the interview works, it’s worth a try.”