“Lord Cai will kill you for this,” Kathleen said quietly.
Rosalind blew a harsh breath through her nose, feigning an amusement that didn’t land. “Lord Cai hardly has the time. Don’t you wonder why Dimitri thinks he can stage a coup? Don’t you wonder where he got the nerve?” Her gaze shot up, landing right on Juliette. “The Scarlets and the Nationalists are working together to purge the city of Communists. As soon as the Kuomintang armies are ready, they will open fire on the city. Dimitri is waiting. He waits for that moment, and in the struggle, it will be him who comes in like a savior with his guns and money and allied Communists, driving the Nationalist effort back. It will be Dimitri who rises just as the workers are at their lowest, and he will give them hope, and when he is the prize force of the revolution, he will have the power he wants.”
The safe house fell quiet. All that could be heard was faint shouting outside, as if soldiers were nearing. Quickly, Marshall walked to the window and peered through the cracks again. The others in the room remained where they stood, ignoring everything beyond their four walls.
For whatever absurd reason, Juliette’s mind went to the assassin who had come after the merchant at the Grand Theatre. There was no greater scheme; there never had been. It was merely Dimitri trying to stir trouble with Roma’s tasks. It was merely Dimitri, intent on taking the White Flowers for himself.
“Where did you hear this from?” Benedikt asked in horror. “Why would you have information about secret Scarlet plans when even Juliette does not?”
Another laugh. Another dry, bitter sound that held no humor.
“Because Juliette is not a spy,” she replied. “I am. Juliette did not lurk in the corners listening to her father. I did.”
Juliette’s pulse was beating so hard that the skin of her wrists trembled with movement. Roma reached over and squeezed her elbow gently.
“How long might we have?” Juliette asked, the question directed at Kathleen. “If the Nationalists decide to purge everyone with Communist alignment out of the Kuomintang?”
Kathleen shook her head. “It’s hard to say. They haven’t come to an agreement with the foreign concessions yet. They might wait until jurisdiction settlements are made. They might not.”
A purge itself was bad enough. But monsters and madness loosed on the gangsters that went in with guns blazing? It would be slaughter on both sides.
“We have to stop Dimitri before the Scarlets do anything,” Juliette said, almost speaking to herself. It was impossible to put a stop to politics. But monsters could be found, and the men who controlled them could be killed.
“Should we?”
Juliette looked at Kathleen sharply. “What?”
“It might help,” Kathleen said quietly. “If the Scarlet Gang is organizing massacre, setting chaos onto our side might help save the workers.”
“Don’t get brainwashed.” That was Marshall—cutting in. “You can’t control an infectious madness. Besides, your Scarlets have practically been overtaken by the Nationalists. You haven’t had true power for months. You cut down a few of your numbers, and the armies only bring more in.”
The room grew quiet again. There was no easy answer to any of this.
“Benedikt,” Roma said after a long moment. “Do we know where Dimitri is?”
Benedikt shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since the takeover. I don’t think anyone has seen him since the takeover. He hasn’t been around the house. All his men are scattered. Lord Montagov even suspected he might have been killed during the battle in Zhabei.”
“But he is alive,” Juliette said, her eyes pinned on Rosalind. “Isn’t he, biǎojiě?”
“Alive,” Rosalind confirmed. “Only I don’t know where.”
“Then I’ll ask again . . .”
A click echoed through their tight space. Juliette knew it was disbelief that had every gaze in the room reacting so slowly, that caused the stunned, gaping alarm when Juliette pointed her pistol at her cousin, the safety off.
“I want his location,” Juliette said. “Don’t think I won’t do it, Rosalind.”
Kathleen started forward, panic setting into her eyes. “Juliette—”
“Wait.” Roma stepped in front of Kathleen quickly, keeping her out of Juliette’s way. “Just wait.”
“I am telling the truth,” Rosalind snapped. She pulled against her ropes to little avail. After all these years, she knew that Juliette did not wave around her pistol to make an empty threat. Juliette might not aim for the heart, but a body had many expendable parts. “You wouldn’t even have caught me if I hadn’t heard screaming about a monster attack and followed the sounds in an attempt to stop it. That was out of my own goodness. I have been trying to find Dimitri too! The men inside the monsters don’t listen to me anymore!”