Page 40 of A City of Smoke and Demons
Analise’s jaw was set so tightly it would shatter if she flinched.
Jem cleared his throat. ‘We’ve come to take you both somewhere else. You’re not going to argue about it, either of you. We’ll leave in half an hour.’
Analise stormed from the room.
‘Where are you taking me this time?’ Ezra asked flatly. He wasn’t sure he cared.
‘Home.’
Maybe offering the woman who hated him a knife wasn’t Ezra’s finest moment, but he honestly didn’t know what to do, not when his heart was shattered and his insides were on fire. He could still taste her, still feel the glorious heat of her skin, and it made him want to cut out his own tongue.
He should never have touched her.
After gathering her things, Analise stalked from the safe house in a cloud of crimson magic and fury, following Lira into a carriage with the insignia of the Gendarme on the side. Ezra smiled inwardly at the irony. When Jem and Ezra were seated, the driver flicked the reins and they were off.
No one spoke. Analise spent the trip silently tearing Ezra to pieces.
They stopped on a bustling street, and Ezra peered out the window. They were outside the Canem Club. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of the place. It was grimy and dark and smelled of spilt drinks and sweat, but it was home.
He turned to Jem. ‘Are you letting me get my things?’
‘If he’s getting his things, I want to go back to my lodgings,’ Analise snapped.
Jem sighed. ‘If you want your belongings, Analise, I’ll organise for you to have them.’
Lira climbed out of the carriage. Analise gave Ezra and Jem one last scathing look and followed her.
Jem got out and when Ezra didn’t follow, he turned back, frowning. ‘If you’re worried—’
Ezra shook his head. ‘She doesn’t know what she’s doing with it.’
Jem nodded.
‘Her magic is more than one colour,’ Ezra told him quietly.
His frown deepened. ‘What does that mean?’
‘I have no idea.’
Analise and Lira were waiting by the doors. ‘What are we doing here?’ Analise demanded. She snarled at a man who looked at her for a second too long, her expression deadly.
Jem’s face was tight. ‘I’ll explain once we’re inside.’
The Club was locked and Ezra’s eyebrows rose when Jem produced a key from his pocket. ‘Didn’t realise you and Maddog were on such friendly terms,’ he commented.
‘What you don’t realise would fill the river,’ Analise mumbled. Jem shot her a look, caught somewhere between pity and exasperation. She sneered and sauntered inside.
The front bar was dim, dusty light sneaking in through the windows. A harassed Jem led them past the bar and towardsthe basement. Ezra thought longingly of his bed upstairs as he wondered where Maddog was, if he still had a job, and how the fuck a member of the Gendarme had a key to the front door of a gangster’s club.
Analise was instructed to leave her bag behind before they followed Jem single file down the narrow steps to the basement. They passed the boxing platform. Without the crowds, the basement was an empty, soundless place of shadows and old sweat. For a moment, Ezra saw a woman without a face staring at him.
Jem headed towards the far corner of the room, where he unlocked another door.
‘How long has that been there?’ Ezra demanded.
‘Defeats the purpose of the secret if everyone knows about it,’ Jem said.
Lira laughed. ‘You weren’t meant to know, Ezra. Nobody but the Order of the Dawn knows.’
