The Serpent's Curse by Lisa Maxwell (read an ebook week .TXT) 📕

until suddenly they were gone with only a burst of numbing cold left behind in their wake.

“What the hell—” Harte swore as he scrubbed at his mouth. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “They’re gone.”

“I don’t think those were the authorities,” Everett said.

“I don’t either,” Esta agreed. “You saw their badges.…” She glanced at North and knew he’d recognized them as well.

“They were definitely from the Brotherhoods,” North said. His face was caught in the shadows of the room, but Esta could tell that the truth of the situation was starting to become more real for him.

“Something’s happened,” she told them, her stomach sinking. “Those sirens—”

But North’s attention was on Everett, who’d been moving toward the door that led back into the Nitemarket. He snagged his son by the collar. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“If those men were from the Brotherhoods, the ones inside probably are too. If we don’t go back, people are going to die in there,” Everett told him, straightening so that he was taller than his father.

“And you think I’m going to let you go die with them?” North asked.

“I can stop this,” Everett said, his face a mask of stubborn determination. “You know I can.” He pulled a couple of small metal devices from his pocket.

“Maybe you can, and maybe you can’t. But that’s not a chance I’m willing to let you take,” North told him. “Right now we’re not going anywhere but back to the warehouse, where you’ll be safe. Before anything else happens.”

But Esta had a strong suspicion that North already knew his idea of safety was an illusion, especially if the attack had already happened.

“I can’t leave now, not knowing I could’ve helped.” Everett tried to pull away from his father, but North was still the stronger of the two. “You can’t ask me to live with that.”

“As long as you’re alive, I can ask anything I want of you,” North told him.

“What are those?” Esta asked, nodding toward the small objects Everett had in his hands. They didn’t look like much—quarter-size bits of metal and wire that were clearly homemade.

“One of his inventions,” North growled. “He’s always tinkering with something or another.”

“They’re neutralizers,” Everett told them. “They could stop those men and their weapons. Easily.”

“It doesn’t matter what they can do. You’re not going back in there, and that’s an order,” North said, sounding every bit the old man he’d become.

Esta ignored North’s blustering and studied Everett. The objects in his hand weren’t the vials or concoctions Maggie had created. They looked much more advanced, well beyond the technology that should have existed in the twenties. “You really think those are enough to stop what’s happening in there?”

“I know they are,” he said.

“We don’t have time for this,” Harte argued. “I’m with North on this one. We need to go. Now.”

Esta shook her head. “I think Everett’s right. We have to go back. Especially if those sirens mean what I think they might.”

“Like hell,” North growled, stepping between Esta and his son. The action was sweet, but Everett was so far from being a boy that it was also a bit ridiculous.

“Think about it,” she pressed. “If we allow the Brotherhoods to destroy the Nitemarket and get rid of everyone inside of it, who will be left to question the attack that’s maybe already underway?”

“That might be, but if you’re thinking of going back in there, you can do it without Everett,” North said. “He’s not—”

“What I’m not is a child,” Everett cut in, his expression earnest and determined. “I know you think I’m too soft. I know you see me reading and tinkering and working by Mama’s side, and that you want me to be more like you. But I already am, or I wouldn’t care about this so much. I can do this. I need to do this.”

“I can keep him safe,” Esta told North.

“No.” Now it was apparently Harte’s turn to play the hero. “I’m not letting you go in there alone.”

It took everything Esta had not to roll her eyes at him. As much as she was warmed by his concern, she knew they couldn’t risk him going back in there. “Seshat isn’t going to be any help if you come with me,” she reminded him. “You stay here with North and keep watch in case anyone else does happen to show up. Everett and I will take care of the men in the Nitemarket.”

Esta handed Harte the other pistol she’d been holding. With time pulled slow, she wouldn’t need it. Then she held out her hand for Everett.

“I still don’t like this,” North said, stepping forward.

“That’s because you got old,” she told him dryly. “You’ve lost all your sense of adventure.” But there was an emotion in his eyes—a fear that Esta knew she might never understand—and it made her soften a little. There wasn’t really a version of her story that she could see ending with the sort of consequences that North and Maggie had to watch over. “I’ll take care of him, North. I promise.”

It felt like an odd promise to make since Everett was no child. He was a couple of years younger than Esta herself, but he was more than tall enough to feel like her equal.

“Ready?” she asked, and when Everett gave her a determined nod, she reached for her affinity and left the others suspended in time.

“It’s quite a trick you can do there,” Everett said, clearly trying to cover his unease with a little bravado.

“Yeah, well…” She shrugged off the unspoken question. “I’m more interested in seeing what sort of tricks you can do.”

Once they were back inside the market, Esta saw that the destruction had progressed. More of the stalls were being consumed by the strange flames that filled the space both with the heat of fire’s normal oxidation and the icy energy that was the mark of unnatural magic. It felt the same as standing too close to the Brink, and considering what the explosion had