“What signs…?” I trail off, then my eyes grow wide as I spot a plaque near a closed door on our right. My stomach drops. “Oh my God.”

SEE THE BROKER/PROPRIETOR FOR A BARGAIN. NO UNREGULATED EXCHANGES ON THE PREMISES.

His eyes dart to mine and away again. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

“Unregulated…,” I whisper. “That’s what Kizia…”

“Yep.” Alice gnaws at her lip.

Sel wraps a hand around my elbow. “We need to leave. Now.”

“What about Lucille?” I hiss. “I need her help—”

“This establishment is run by the person who helped coordinate your assassination. We will find you help another way, Briana!”

Back at the booth, William clutches a pint glass full of water between his hands, waving when we approach. He clocks Sel’s expression immediately.

“What’s wrong?”

Sel leans close. “We found out what type of business goes on here. And who runs the place.”

“Who?”

“The broker,” I answer.

William stands. “Shit.” He looks over his shoulder, sees the bouncer at the exit. “We have to pay for these drinks….”

Sel scowls. “No, we don’t.”

“Wanna get put in magical-bar jail?” Alice hisses at his shoulder. She grabs both our coats. “Cuz stealing drinks is how you get put into magical-bar jail!”

“Comrades and gentlefolk, sorcerers and warlocks, witches and winos,” a voice calls out in the darkness, using a sound system that cracks and garbles at the end of the words. “Let us put our hands together for the three sisters Morrígna!”

“We can’t get distracted,” Sel says. “I’m going to pay the tab if that’s what it takes.” He looks at me pointedly. “Stay here.”

Our table isn’t angled perfectly for the stage, so William has to scoot back when Alice whispers that she can’t see. I can see it perfectly, though, which is why I see the aether fizzing in the air on its own at the same time William does. His brow furrows as I gasp. The deep yellow sparks twist in the air above the stage until they burst in a flash of embers so bright, most everyone in the room has to shield their eyes.

Then, just as with Louis, three women appear out of nowhere.

“What happened?” Alice moves to her knees on her chair to better see the stage.

“There were sparks,” I explain in a low voice, underneath the slow drums of the intro to the performers’ song. “Sort of like fireworks, but small. They flared up, and when they were gone—”

“Those three materialized as if from thin air,” William murmurs without turning. “Just like the bouncer. How are they doing this if this power isn’t theirs?”

A rise of angry voices at the bar draws my attention—and immediately sends dread down my spine.

“Who do you think you are, kid?!” A male voice spits, half-amused and half… not.

No. No, he wouldn’t.

Yes. He would.