Page 96 of Queen of Volts

“Which we should worry about because...?” Roy looked between her and Grace in confusion.

Because if whoever was involvedwereplayers in Bryce’s game, then that meant they were a threat.

And because Enne desperately needed something to do.

“Because this is the City of Sin, and whatever my contract says, we don’t have any choice but to play.” Enne forced a shrug, trying not to seem as eager as she felt. “Besides, so I’ve been reminded, Levi and I are staging a breakup. And what makes a more romantic date than the opening of the boardwalk?”

LEVI

Over a month had passed since Levi had last seen Enne, but the moment he saw her approaching from across the pier, he knew he’d made the right call in letting Enne sign that contract.

She’d dressed conservatively, as befit her new position as overseer of a department in the National Bank. A long coat draped over her matching two-piece jacket and skirt, cinching tightly at her waist, and her hair—though normally tied up—had been swept into an elegant and elaborate knot at the base of her head. She looked utterly unrecognizable to the wanted poster that had once haunted New Reynes’ streets, but Levi was struck with the resemblance to the girl he’d first met, lost amid Olde Town’s turrets and spires.

She could be that girl again—she could lead whatever life she wanted, even if that meant Levi would no longer have a place in it.

“You look in good health,” Enne greeted him tersely. An icy February wind tore across the waterfront. Grand opening or not, this was a miserable day to explore the boardwalk. The city could’ve waited until summer, but nothing was more New Reynes than instant gratification. “I hope you’re ready for this. Half the reporters fromThe Kiss & Tell, The Crimes & The Times, andThe Guillory Street Gossipare here, flocking and pecking around like seagulls. We’d better be careful—we wouldn’t want this to getmessy.”

Enne’s words wounded him, even if he tried not to show it. Because Levi had a second, selfish reason for agreeing to the contract, and that was how much she hurt him. Not just in the past, but all the time. She hurt to look at. She hurt to listen to. She hurt to fantasize about every night they’d been apart. Because despite everything, he was still in love with her, and his desire and pain and grief were so intertwined that his heart could no longer tell them apart.

For appearances’ sake should any reporter be watching, Enne looped her arm around Levi’s with the steely tightness of a prison guard.

“You’re going to take me on a walk,” she declared, and so he did.

The boardwalk, its construction at last complete, was divided into three piers, like the letterE, and each one of varied in degrees of family friendliness. They passed Levi’s casino along the main drag, its black-and-white facade glossy as though dipped in candy lacquer, gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. It loomed over the buildings around it, large as a landmark.

In a loopy, drunken-like script, the wordsThe Legendarywere inscribed over the awning. Levi felt the name was appropriate, given how he and Jac had once dreamed of owning such a place. He hoped his friend would’ve been proud of it.

Before Levi could take the lead, Enne tugged him in the direction of the second pier, home to gambling houses and taverns—an oceanic extension of Tropps Street.

“Why are we going there?” Levi asked. “The reporters are all on the first pier.” The first pier, even from a distance, imposed on the skyline—a ferris wheel stretching up like a roulette table into the city smog.

“Perhaps I need to take a turn before I’m ready to perform,” she snapped.

“Fenice won’t like if it appears we have actual time in private.”

“Ah, yes, theChancellor, whose concerns I value more than all of my relationships.”

Levi gritted his teeth. After they’d lost so many friends, how could she casually dismiss her own survival?

He needed to tell her about her father. Then maybe she’d understand why signing that pardon had been so urgent, but before he could respond, Enne halted. Levi didn’t know why—with hours to go until sundown, none of the establishments on the second pier had opened their doors—until he spotted a smudge of black on the gray-toned landscape: the ruins of a building. The structure’s wooden frame had collapsed inward, its beams jutting out like an inverted rib cage, its remains ashy and charred. The flames must’ve been impressive to be so destructive; it was lucky the fire had not taken out half the boardwalk with it...

Lucky enough to be staged.

“Please tell me this wasn’t your doing,” Levi hissed. Arson definitely counted as a breach of contract.

“Of course not,” Enne said, her voice distracted as she inspected the soot.

If she hadn’t caused this fire, Levi wondered what she was looking for. This must’ve been the real reason she’d led him here—he doubted she needed any preparation to publicly chew him out, at this point. If anything, she’d probably been looking forward to it.

Rather than fight, he decided to play along. “For the fire to burn only one building yet leave the rest of the pier untouched, I’d guess this was the work of someone’s talent. What kind of business was it?”

“A gambling den, and it’s not the only building that burned.” Enne pointed down the pier, to the second site of a devastating fire. Then she nodded to the third pier, where Levi counted three gaping holes in its line of white buildings. Like a smile missing teeth. “Was it you?”

His mouth dropped open. “Me? Why would it be me?”

“You have a talent that involves fire.”

He snapped his fingers, igniting a spark that hovered above the tips, then quickly blew out from the blustery sea wind. “Yes, tricks. I’m no fire-maker. I can’t control it. Isolate it.” He glanced around the rubble with a heavy frown. “And whoever did do it knew how to cover their tracks. You won’t find any evidence here.” When Enne only furrowed her brows and didn’t respond, he grunted, “We’re going to the first pier. We’re getting this over with.”