The Serpent's Curse by Lisa Maxwell (literature books to read txt) 📗

him either. But Dom was too good a contact to cut out completely, so North dealt with the old man alone.

“Anyway, I’ve been hearing some whispers in Chicago about something big happening. I don’t suppose you know what’s in the works?” North asked.

Dom frowned, the bushy brows drawing together like woolly bears creeping over his eyes. “I haven’t heard anything about anything. Things have been quiet all around.”

“Are you sure?” Esta asked, breaking in like she was part of the conversation.

North stepped in front of her again. “She’s not used to big cities,” he explained when Dom looked suddenly wary from her interruption. “Gets nervous about things.” He lowered his voice a little. “You know how women can be.”

That seemed to mollify Dom a little, even if North could practically feel the heat of Esta’s fuming behind him.

“So you haven’t heard of any deeds in the works?” North asked again. “Because I’d hate to get in the middle of something unexpectedly, especially with my boy here.”

“If anything is happening, it’s not part of the usual network. No one would be stupid enough to start trouble with the convention in town—too much security and too much risk for anyone with any sense.”

“That’s what I suspected,” North said, his mind churning at the implications. Esta had plenty of reasons to lie about the attack. She knew how he felt about her wanting to go back to change the past, and he had a sinking feeling this was another one of those misdirections of hers. “I appreciate your confirmation, anyway.”

“Anytime,” Dom told him, still trying to get a peek at the strangers with North. “Give Maggie my best.”

“Will do,” North said with a tip of his hat.

He wouldn’t, of course. Maggie would have him by the short hairs if she knew he was dealing with Dom again. Especially if she knew he’d introduced the man to Everett.

With a jerk of his head, he got Everett and the other two moving, but all the while he could feel a headache building. North wasn’t sure what Esta and Harte’s game was, but he didn’t plan to be a pawn in it, not this time.

He led them back toward the entrance of the market but ducked into a side aisle that was empty once they were well out of Dom’s view. He closed the distance between himself and Esta, snagging her wrist so she couldn’t get away from him.

“You got about two minutes to tell me what you’re playing at,” North hissed at Esta, using every inch of his height to tower over her.

“Back off,” Harte said, the words coming out like a growl from low in his throat as he stepped toward them, but Everett had read the situation and was already between them, pistol drawn. Harte took another step forward, apparently not caring that he didn’t have any chance against a gun.

“You might not want to mess with that,” North warned Harte. “The boy has a way of tinkering with things to make them more effective.”

“All of you, stop it,” Esta said, not bothering to hide her frustration. North felt her tug at his wrist, but she didn’t do more than test his grip. “I’m not playing at anything.” Her voice was as calm and even as the liar she was born to be. “What I told you before was the truth. I can’t help it if your contact hasn’t heard anything.”

“Dom’s been with the Antistasi for a long time, and he knows things before anyone else. If the Antistasi had something planned—especially something as big as you’re saying it’ll be—he would know.”

“The attack will happen,” Esta insisted, not backing down one bit.

“Then it won’t be done by the Antistasi,” North told her.

Esta froze. For a second she looked like one of the hares that go stock-still when they get caught unaware out in the fields at the ranch, like not moving could save them from danger. “Then it’s not the Antistasi.” Her voice sounded unsteady, like she was shaken by this realization. She looked at Harte. “It’s a setup,” she told him.

“What?” Harte shook his head, clearly not following any better than North.

“It’s a setup,” she repeated, turning her attention back to North. “The whole attack… You could be right. Maybe the Antistasi don’t have anything planned, but whoever is going to do the attack will set them up to take the fall for it.”

“Nice try,” North said. “But I’m not buying what you’re selling, and I think we’re finished—” There was a commotion at the other end of the hall, coming from the direction of the exit to Chicago. “What the—” But the string of curses that came out of North’s mouth were lost in the noise of an explosion.

The Nitemarket was under attack.

ADESSO

1902—New York

Viola wasn’t quite sure how everything had turned upside down so quickly.

She should have been smarter. She should have realized that the same boy who had betrayed Dolph—who had killed Dolph—would not be so easily defeated. A boy like that could do practically anything. But Viola hadn’t imagined that skinny little Nibsy Lorcan could convince the Fox himself to move against her brother. It was unthinkable, but it had happened all the same.

Viola chanced a glance back at the park, wondering if Jianyu was nearby. The plan had been for Jianyu to wait near the building, a backup that neither Nibsy nor Paolo would know about, but that was before, when they believed that they could stop the wagon from arriving until after the Golden Hour’s protection waned. But nothing else had gone to plan, and Viola could only hope that Jianyu was close. She hoped, too, that he’d heard Nibsy’s threat and would understand that he must go to help Cela and Abel before John Torrio could harm them. She risked another look back toward the open spaces of Madison Square Park, but she could find no sign of Jianyu there or anywhere else.

“You’re not thinking of running now, are