Page 25 of Heartless Enemy
She just stared back at me, completely bewildered. But before she could say anything, Ulric’s footsteps came from the stairs.
Marla abruptly cleared her throat and stepped back. After flashing me a smile, she started towards the kitchen. But I could see the questions and doubts now swirling in her eyes.
“Ready to go?” I said as I turned towards Ulric.
“Yes.”
I nodded and then walked into the hallway to put on my boots while Ulric said goodbye to his wife. Once he had put his jacket and boots on as well, he pushed open the door and started out into the cool morning air. I flicked one more look behind me while smug satisfaction surged up inside my chest.
The spark had been lit.
Now, all I had to do was to fan the flames until they turned into a wildfire.
Chapter11
When I had said no, I had meant it. I was not going to climb into a dark narrow space and crawl through a tunnel that was fuck knows how long. I wasn’t.
Except… there was no other way in.
According to the information Eve had gotten, the constables would wait two or three weeks before launching their next attack. The death of Captain Wright should hopefully push their invasion towards the far end of that time frame. Maybe even more than three weeks, if we were lucky.
But then again, we might not be lucky. And we had already used up a week and a half of the preparation time.
We needed to strike before they did.
I didn’t want the south side decimated in a war now that I finally controlled it all. War was bad for business. And I had also been fighting too many battles on too many fronts lately. I just wanted a fucking break.
Which meant that we had to get the parliament to cede the south side to me before they set their attack into motion. And that meant that we had to get inside the parliament building, which in turn led us back to that fucking tunnel.
“Damn, you really look awful.”
Tearing my gaze from the trapdoor, I turned around and narrowed my eyes at Eve.
She smirked at me. “White really isn’t your color.”
Despite the nausea rolling inside my stomach, I huffed out a breath of amusement and then glanced down at the white leather uniform that I was wearing.
Just as she had promised, she had managed to steal an extra uniform for me to wear. It was a little tight around the shoulders, but it fit decently enough that I could still move unhindered. Eve was right, though. It really did look awful on me.
With the pristine white leather and the glimmering gold trim on both the uniform and the boots, I looked like one of the constables. But I felt like a fool. The moment I had put it on, it was as if my usual confidence just bled right out of me until I barely even knew how to move properly anymore. Normally, I walked with utter confidence, expecting everyone to move out of the way when I approached and bow down to my strength and power. But in this uniform, I somehow felt like an uncertain teenager who still hadn’t found his place in the world.
“Yeah, well, now you know what I’ve been thinking every time I’ve had to watch you wearing it,” I replied.
Eve tilted her head to the side, conceding the point. “True. But if everything goes well tonight, it will be the last time. Both for you and for me.”
My heart stuttered at the mere thought. This was really happening. Eve was really joining me on the south side. Or notmeme. But joining the south side at least.
But first, we just had to threaten the parliament into submission. I slid my gaze back to the trapdoor. And that meant, getting through this tunnel.
“Ready?” Eve asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But let’s get going anyway.”
She nodded, her eyes searching my face. “Just… tell me if you need me to do anything.”
“Yeah.”
I drew in deep breaths through my nose while Eve crouched down and lifted the trapdoor. In my chest, my heart was beating wildly. Fuck, I didn’t want to do this. I didnotwant to do this.