Viola Vaccarelli watched as the lamps around the edges of the saloon were lit, illuminating the apprehensive expressions of the patrons. She understood the nervous glances they traded with one another, because she’d felt it too. The blackout had been something more than the usual inconvenience.
Dolph caught her eye from across the room. He was already making his way through the uneasy crowd to where she stood behind the bar.
Leaning on the bar for support, he spoke in low tones, as though he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “You felt that?”
Viola made a pretense of polishing a glass, but gave him a subtle nod as she kept her attention on the room, alert for any sign of attack. “What was it?” she murmured low enough so the patrons at the bar couldn’t hear.
Behind her, a man called for another drink, but she ignored him and set a glass in front of Dolph instead.
“No idea.”
But she didn’t miss the way his hand tightened on the cane. Ever since the night on the bridge, the night they lost Leena, Dolph had been changed. She knew the loss had been a blow, but there had to be something more to have made him so different. Where once he never betrayed his worries, now he was often on edge.
The customer down the bar was whistling now, hooting to get Viola’s attention as he thumped his glass on the counter. “Hey! You hear me or what, puttana?” the man called.
Dolph glanced over and began to push himself away from the bar, but Viola tapped his arm and shook her head slightly. She didn’t need protection, at least not from some drunken stronzo making a nuisance of himself.
“Scusa,” she said, her other hand already finding the familiar cool weight of the knife she had tucked into her skirts. “I’ll be right back.”
“Try not to kill him too badly,” Dolph said, pulling away from her and smiling softly into his glass.
Viola made sure she had the man’s attention before she gave him a slow, warm smile. He elbowed the customer sitting next to him, gloating at his success, as she began to approach him. She let him think she was interested, amused even at his antics, and with the smile still on her face, she drew the knife and with a flick of her wrist sent it sailing through the air.
The satisfying thunk of it finding a sheath in the cast zinc vibrated down the length of the bar, and she didn’t hide her laugh at the look of surprised horror that flashed across the man’s face. She took her time closing the distance between them to retrieve her blade, and when she finally made it to the end of the bar, she leaned across to whisper a warning into his ear.
When she pulled back, away from the rank stink of his body and the beer on his breath, she saw that the man’s face had all but drained of color. Va bene. Good.
“Thank you for not skewering him,” Dolph said with a hint of humor when she returned.
Viola made a throaty sound of disapproval under her breath. “You’ve told me it’s a bad business to kill the customers, no?” she said tartly. She had trouble controlling her accent when she was angry, and for a moment she heard her mother in her own voice and felt a fierce pang of longing.
“I appreciate you watching out for my bottom line,” Dolph mused. “Perhaps you could also watch out for my property? I’ll have to pay to repair what you’ve done to my bar.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I’m not even sure I can repair the mark that knife of yours left.”
Viola shrugged off his concern. “Leave it as a warning,” she said, picking up another glass to distract herself.
“I might,” he said after a second.
She could practically feel him watching her, as he often did when he was trying to press her into opening up to him. But she didn’t have anything to say. ?What was done was done. She’d made her choices, and if she had regrets, she’d save them for Father McGean.
“What sort of game was that trick with the lights?” At first the voice seemed to come out of nowhere, but then Jianyu materialized next to Dolph, his elbows resting on the bar as though he’d been there all along.
He probably had been, Viola thought with some irritation. Jianyu’s ability to disappear was a skill that came in handy when Dolph needed to know things, but it was less opportune for the rest of them. In Dolph’s crew, it was nearly impossible to keep secrets—no matter how personal they might be.
Jianyu had been with them only a little over a year. Maybe Dolph trusted the boy after so short a time, but Viola was still uneasy around him. Especially when he looked as humorless as he did then.
Dolph lowered his voice and slipped into Cantonese, and the two went back and forth for a moment in tense, low tones, effectively keeping Viola from their conversation. As her frustration—and temper—began to grow, she thumped the glass down to get their attention, but they were too engrossed in their argument to notice.
Just as she’d finally had enough and was about to say something, Jianyu’s posture changed. “You really think it could have been the Order?” he asked, doubt thick in his voice. “It doesn’t seem their style to strike so broadly. ?Too much risk that it would affect more than our kind.”
Viola hated to admit it, but . . . “He’s right. The Order usually prefers to strike in secret.”
“I don’t know what else it could have been,” Dolph admitted. “There’s been no word on the streets?”
Jianyu shook his head. “Not even a whisper.”
“I don’t like it,” Viola said. “Nothing good happens when the rats all go to ground.”
“I agree,” Jianyu said, giving Viola an appreciative glance. Then he tilted his head to gesture across the room. “Who’s the girl? I saw her come in with Werner. She moves like a cat about to pounce.”
Viola couldn’t keep herself from smiling at the aptness of the description.
“Bridget sent her.” Dolph downed the rest of the ale and passed the glass back to Viola. “Tells me she’s a thief.”
“You have enough of those already,” ?Viola said, dismissing the idea as easily as Dolph had.
“Bridget doesn’t usually waste my time. Nibs thinks she might be of use.”
“You will try her?” Jianyu asked.
Dolph squinted across the room to where Werner and the girl stood. “Yes. I think I will,” he said. “Profits have been down lately, especially with the last raid. If she can work the Dead Line undetected, she could be an asset.”
The girl didn’t look like much. She was tall, yes, and she held herself with a calmness that Werner certainly didn’t have. But her clothes were too fine, her skin too fresh and soft. It took strength to last in Dolph Saunders’ world, and from across the room, Viola wasn’t sure the girl had it.
“And if she can’t?” Viola asked, almost feeling sorry for her.
“It won’t be my loss, now, will it?”