Esta could feel Harte’s eyes on her in the darkness of the carriage.
Outside the window, the rain-drenched city passed by at a slow, steady pace. I’ll miss this, she thought with a sudden pang of longing. ?This city was so different from hers, but it had become home just the same. She loved how it seemed to know it was on the cusp of greatness, as though it were simply waiting for the years to pass and reveal what it would become. Now that she had spent so many weeks walking those cobbled streets, she would always see this city there, beneath her own. At night, especially, she would never again need the help of Ishtar’s Key to sense this time, this place, sitting just below the present. Just beyond her grasp.
Because there would be no returning. Once she had her stone, she could come back, but she knew already that once she left, she never would. There would be no reason to. She could look back on newspapers and reports like the clipping tucked securely in her bodice, but so many of the people she’d come to respect were invisible and unimportant to the men behind desks who wrote history.
She could not let that distract her, though. Against her skin, the waxen envelope with the news clipping reminded her that she had other responsibilities and another place to be. Whatever fondness Esta might have felt for this time, for this city, the news clipping reminded her that she had a duty to the future. She had to make sure that the past remained just as it should have been, or else who knew what her future might hold?
And the only way to do that was to make sure Harte didn’t take the Book. To betray him—to betray all of them.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Of course,” she told him, but she wasn’t sure how much of a lie it was.
Not that it mattered anymore. Before the night was over, the Book and the stone would be hers, and she would be gone.
“It’ll be fine,” he said, his eyes steady. “Just like we practiced.” He reached over and ran his fingers over her shoulders, rubbing lightly at the stiff muscles in her neck.
For a moment she felt only a strange, sudden wash of relief, as though all the tension between them, all the distrust and anger drained away with the tension in her muscles. And for a moment she allowed herself to feel real regret for what she was about to do. But no sooner did she let herself relax against the warmth of his fingertips than she also felt the heat of his magic.
She jerked away, her heart pounding in her chest. I am such an idiot. “Stay out of my head, Harte.”
He stared at her, his expression unreadable until she turned away, wondering what he’d managed to see that had put that look on his face. Wondering what it meant for her careful plans.
They rode the rest of the way in a dangerous silence. She kept her eyes focused out the window, resolutely ignoring him and using the time to gather her thoughts. She could practically feel him watching her, but she refused to turn and give him anything else. There was too much riding on this night. Too much he could have discovered with that single touch.
The carriage came to a clattering stop. “We’re here,” he said, as though she couldn’t see that for herself.
Harte got out of the carriage first and opened a large black umbrella before handing her down as well. Esta glanced up at the driver, Nibsy, who looked wet and miserable sitting in the drizzling rain. She gave him a nod that she hoped seemed confident. She wished she could apologize. After all, in the next two hours she’d betray him as well.
“It’s time,” Harte said.
She straightened her back and strengthened her resolve. Everything that had happened to her, everything she was, came down to this night. She knew that both Dolph and Harte wanted the Book. Both would try to take it for themselves.
And both would have to lose.
IN THE VIPER PIT
Khafre Hall
“It’s time,” Harte said, sensing that Jack was already watching them from the covered portico, but Esta only stared at him with an unreadable expression. He would have been more comfortable to see rage in her eyes, but she was looking at him now with an emotion he couldn’t place, and that worried him more than fury would have.
Maybe it had been a mistake to use his affinity on her one more time, but he had to know what he was in for. She’d been so reserved ever since Dolph had shown up unannounced at his apartment, doing everything by the book but never once letting him see what she was thinking. He’d hated it, the tiptoeing around each other. There had always been tension between them, a sense that they were both on different sides of the same game, but he felt like the game had been slipping away from him. And now he knew the truth.
He wished . . . He didn’t know what he wished. That he hadn’t seen the intentions behind those honey-colored eyes of hers? That he hadn’t predicted her duplicity so easily? Or maybe, stupid as he was, he wished that he could stop himself from the inevitability of hurting her? But wishes were for children, and he’d grown up a long time ago. Only one of them could win this game, and it had to be him.
“You’re going to have to talk to me eventually,” he said. “Jack’s going to notice if you don’t. He’ll suspect that something is wrong.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Her expression was devoid of emotion. “I’ll do my job. ?You just make sure to do yours.”
Harte glanced back at Nibsy. ?The boy looked like a drowned rat sitting up in the driver’s seat, but his eyes were steady and he wore an expression that warned not to cross him. Harte gave him a nod and pulled Esta’s arm through his. She was stiff, clearly not wanting him to touch her. She looked afraid, not like someone who was planning to double-cross him before the night was through.
Looks could be deceiving, he thought to himself, ignoring the pang of regret he felt. Let the games begin.
Jack was waiting, nervous and jittery, with a glass of what was probably his usual whiskey already in his hand. He downed it and came to greet them. “Hell of a night, isn’t it?” he said, sweat beading at his temples.
Harte extended his hand. “It was good of you to have us, Jack.”
Next to him, Harte felt Esta transform. “Jack, darling . . .” She pulled herself away from him and held out both of her hands to greet Jack in her rolling accent. “I am so looking forward to meeting your friends.”
Jack gave her a leering smile that made Harte clench his hands into fists. She isn’t for me, he reminded himself.
“They’re looking forward to meeting you as well,” Jack told her, his voice carrying a note of something like lechery. Esta only smiled up at him.
Harte cleared his throat. “Did the equipment for our demonstration arrive?”
Jack didn’t take his eyes from Esta. “This afternoon. It’s all set up and ready for you.”