Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game #1)(105)



“Who is the player?” Fenice asked.

“The message didn’t say,” Semper answered. “Only to expect him here at two.”

Levi had little idea of the time, only a guess that it was almost midnight. He heard the ticking of a clock in the back of his mind, counting down to the tenth day, counting down to his end. He tried to push away his concern over Enne. He needed all his concentration.

Once upon a time, Gabrielle Dondelair had won this Game. He needed to forget about all the legends, all the nightmares. The Shadow Game was a game like any other; there were winners, and there were losers. He wasn’t helpless. He wasn’t finished. He needed to remind himself who he was.

If anyone in this city had a chance of outplaying unbeatable odds, it was the Iron Lord.





ENNE

Enne’s head smacked against glass, jolting her awake. Her eyes flickered open briefly, but, glimpsing Sedric’s face, she immediately squeezed them shut again. She heard a door open, and a warm summer wind kissed her skin. She was in a motorcar, but her surroundings were slanted awkwardly to the left. The noise of Tropps Street was gone. The events of the evening gradually returned to her—Levi’s disappearance, the drugged drink, the Shadow Card—and she held her breath to keep from crying out.

Sedric cursed and climbed out of the car. The door closed.

She eased her eyes open. Voices murmured outside, their tones escalating. Judging from that and the tilted angle of the car, they must’ve been stuck in a ditch. The windows were darkened with screens, so Enne had no way of confirming this—nor any idea where in the city they were.

She quietly reached for the abandoned suit jacket on the seat in front of her. Inside, she found her revolver from earlier, which Sedric had stolen. Rather than take it and alert him that she was awake, she emptied it of bullets and slipped them in her pocket, where the leather case with the injection was still carefully concealed among folds of satin.

The Shadow Card was sitting on her lap, the face of the Fool laughing up at her. It was the invitation card, she knew, but whose? Had Sedric meant it for her, or was he only delivering her Levi’s? She didn’t think Sedric knew Enne and Levi had any connection.

Only two things were clear now: Enne still needed to kill Sedric Torren, and she needed to stop the Shadow Game.

Voices. Footsteps. The seat tilted forcefully. The engine roared, and the motorcar jolted forward out of the ditch.

The door opened. She closed her eyes, feigning unconsciousness.

Someone—Sedric, probably—sat opposite her, bringing the odors of sweat and cigar smoke with him.

As the car resumed its course, she didn’t move for another ten minutes. Enne desperately hoped he couldn’t hear her heart pounding.

When the car finally stopped, Sedric lifted something to her nose. The stench of ammonia made her lurch. “Sleep well, doll?”

“Where are we?” She forced her voice to slur, as if she was just coming to.

“A place known as the House of Shadows.” A malicious grin spread across his face, sending dread seeping across Enne’s skin. “You might say it’s the best gambling in the city.”

Sedric opened the door and stepped outside. Over his shoulder, Enne caught her first glimpse of the House of Shadows. The name couldn’t be more appropriate—the dark stone of its exterior looked as rough and jagged as a cavern wall, and though lights danced in the windows, they were muted behind fishnet curtains. A faint bass rumbled in the air, and a flute whispered a mournful melody into the night. Beyond the tall evergreen trees lining the driveway, the city’s skyline glittered in the distance.

Zula’s warning whispered through her mind. More than anything, stay away from the House of Shadows.

On her first day in New Reynes, Levi had told her that the Phoenix Club orchestrated the Revolution and the deaths of all the Mizers, so Enne understood the risks of entering their lair. But the fear she’d heard in Zula’s voice that day—it sounded as though there was more to the House of Shadows than simply politics and history. Whatever dangers awaited her inside, it was something more. Something Enne had never known before.

Sedric handed her an envelope. “Take this to Malcolm Semper.”

She sucked in a breath. The Chancellor? He was the most powerful man in the Republic, and the leader of the Phoenix Club. Her heart clenched as she took the envelope. He was the man who had murdered Lourdes.

“They’re expecting you,” Sedric told her.

“Expecting me for what?”

“For the Game.”

Enne’s breath caught. At the edges of her vision, she glimpsed shadows. The ghost of Gabrielle Dondelair. The silhouette of Lourdes. They had both tried to protect her, but in the end, they would all face the same fate.

“Unfortunately,” Sedric continued, “I won’t be able to watch—I’m not a member of the Phoenix Club. But rest assured, I’ll be exploring the other entertainments the House of Shadows has to offer.”

She let out a shiver as she slipped the envelope in her pocket, unsure if Sedric was giving her an opportunity to save Levi, or her own death certificate.

“They don’t know who you are,” he told her, a grin playing on his features. He was relishing this. “They don’t particularly care. Times are changing—repeating, so they claim. And so they’re playing again.”

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