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

wasn’t lunging… he was falling. A second later, he was laid out, face-first, on the ground, with a knife sticking out of his back. The too-familiar silver handle glinted in the light spilling out of the saloon’s open door, and in the street beyond, Viola was there, looking ready for murder.

From behind her, Cela heard a strangled gasping noise, and when she turned, she saw the Five Pointers’ faces contorted with pain. Razor crumpled to the floor, lifeless, and a second later, his friend followed.

Viola was already pulling her knife from the dead man’s back. “Hurry,” she told them, her eyes scanning for other dangers.

Cela didn’t fight her brother when he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out into the night, with Joshua close behind. Her mind was still reeling. Outside, they picked up their pace, keeping to the shadows in case anyone else was watching. When they were a few blocks away from the saloon and it was clear that they hadn’t been followed, they finally slowed to a stop.

“Thanks for the help,” Abel said, taking Joshua by the hand and then pulling him in for a rough, brotherly embrace. “I hope the guys won’t be in too much trouble for it.”

“Seymour’s gonna have a bill for you if they bust up too much of his stuff, but it’ll be okay,” Joshua assured Abel. “Another few minutes and they’ll break it up.”

“I don’t understand,” Cela said, looking between the two of them. “You planned this?”

“Not specifically,” Joshua told her, glancing at Abel. “And it’s not like I did all that much. We all would’ve been in hot water, if not for your friend there.”

Cela followed Joshua’s gaze to where Viola stood, her shoulders hunched and her usual defenses clearly in place. She looked away when Cela met her eyes.

“You said you didn’t want to help,” she said to Joshua, still not understanding. “No one wanted to help.”

Joshua shrugged. “I didn’t. I’m still not willing to get mixed up with any sort of magic, but you didn’t really expect I’d leave my man here hanging, did you?”

Her brother was looking too smug for his own good.

“I didn’t—” Cela didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,” she finished finally. It was all that seemed appropriate, and still it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Come on, Rabbit,” Abel said, once Joshua had gone off on his own way. “We need to get going. It’s not going to take too long before Kelly’s boys realize what happened.”

Cela looked to Viola. The Italian girl had been standing apart from them, and now her arms were wrapped around herself, like she’d caught a chill despite the warm summer air. There was a lot that needed to be said, but Cela wasn’t sure where to start, so she settled for the thing that seemed most important. “Thank you,” she said softly, stepping closer to Viola. “We owe you our lives.”

Viola’s cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “It was nothing.”

“That’s not at all true,” Cela said, laying a hand on Viola’s arm. Jianyu had told her a little about how Viola felt using her affinity to kill. She had some sense of what the choice to take out the Five Pointers might have cost her. “You kept my brother safe. You came back for us. If you hadn’t, we’d probably be dead.”

Viola looked up finally. “I made a promise to you before.”

Cela paused, remembering that night… the conversation they’d had in the darkened doorway of Mr. Fortune’s house. Then, she hadn’t been ready to give an inch, not after how ugly Viola had acted. Now? She wasn’t sure what to think or where this put them, but she had the sense that they were somewhere new. “Thank you for keeping that promise.” She let her hand fall away. “Where’s Jianyu?”

“He’ll come soon,” Viola told Cela, but then her gaze rose.

When Cela turned, she could see the Flatiron Building rising above the city, slicing into the twilight sky.

She was about to turn back to Viola when she saw it—a man falling from the topmost point. He was no more than a speck plummeting to the ground, his arms spread like a bird’s, as if he were about to take flight.

RIOTOUS FURY

1920—Chicago

The Chicago Coliseum had become a riot of noise and confusion. Harte had barely blinked, and suddenly Esta had appeared on the stage in the center of the room. She was holding the Book in her hand, but Jack Grew had her by the wrist. Seshat railed at the sight, but Harte barely noticed. All he was focused on was the way Jack was gripping Esta’s arm and the fact that she hadn’t already been able to wrestle away from him. Jack held on tightly to Esta despite her writhing, and within seconds he’d taken the Ars Arcana from her and shoved it back inside his jacket.

The Book hardly seemed to matter anymore, though, not when Harte saw the fear that was stark in Esta’s expression. For once he understood Seshat’s point. At that instant, he would have gladly destroyed everything just for the opportunity to kill the bastard.

Harte was already pushing his way through the riotous crowd to get to Esta when he felt another blast of cold energy shuttle through the room. Suddenly the doors to the arena clanged shut, and as the cold settled over him, Harte realized that he couldn’t move. Struggle as he might, he could not take even one more step toward Esta. He was trapped in the eerie unnatural energy, locked in place and powerless.

“Help me,” Harte said to Seshat, not caring who heard him. “If I can get to Jack, I will destroy Thoth.”

I remember too well what happened the last time you made that promise. I gave you every chance, and you wasted it on an urchin.

This is different.

Is it? Seshat mused. You had a chance already to kill him, or don’t you remember? In the train station, weeks ago, the girl would