At least that was what Juliette had understood from her father’s quick briefing after the meeting that day. They would drop it into the water supply throughout all Scarlet territory, immunizing the civilians within range and protecting their own people.
Roma nodded once, indicating that he understood what she was implying. “It is clever,” he said. “White Flowers do not live in your territories, and those who sneak into some household or another to drink the water will surely risk getting caught and having their lives forfeit. Communists are far from your territories too, likely in the poorer areas or the outer peripheries.”
“And so it is only a Scarlet solution, through and through,” Juliette finished. “Those who seek immunity must pledge allegiance to the Scarlets and physically come under our protection, pay rent under our roofs, add more numbers to those of Scarlet loyalty. I cannot take any credit for it, alas. It was all Tyler’s doing.”
“And was this Tyler’s doing too?”
Juliette swiveled around, alarmed by the unfamiliar voice. For the briefest second, her heart seized, her hand twitching for a knife with half a mind to kill the potential threat. Then her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she recognized the speaker to be Rosalind, following beside Kathleen, who came to a stop with a huff.
“I did not invite her,” Kathleen reported, adjusting her sleeve and giving Roma a polite nod. “She thought I was hiding something and came on her own insistence.”
Roma nodded back.
“Juliette,” Rosalind emphasized when she didn’t get an answer. “Didn’t your collaboration with the White Flower heir end?”
Juliette had neither the time nor the energy for this. She pressed at her hair, choking back a deep exhale. The chiming of bells sounded nearby, signaling nine o’clock.
“I’m working with him willingly.”
“Willingly . . .” Rosalind’s echo trailed off, the confusion and absolute disbelief in her expression deepening. Her eyes flicked from Juliette to Roma and then back again, and Juliette resisted the urge to flinch, knowing that her cousin could not possibly see what Juliette was afraid she might see. “You’re openly colluding with the enemy. You have a straight shot, right now, through his head—”
Rosalind spoke as if Roma weren’t standing right there, listening to her plot his death.
“Just trust me on this.” Juliette tried to sound reasonable. “There is an incredible amount of difference between killing an enemy too soon and killing them when the time is right. This isn’t a good time.”
Rosalind took a step back. “It always comes to this,” she said softly. “You decide when the blood feud does and does not matter. The Cais decide when they are enemies and when they are not, and the rest of us must fall in line.”
“Rosalind,” Kathleen said sharply.
Juliette blinked, surprised by the accusation. She wanted to guess that Rosalind was just being spiteful, that Rosalind thought it unfair Juliette could collaborate with Roma without consequence while she had to sneak around with her lover. Only that didn’t quite align with the resentment in Rosalind’s voice. It felt larger than that. It felt older—not a burst of anger from the heart but something that had been building up from the sludge of the gut.
Rosalind shook her head. “Whatever,” she said softly. “I need to go to my shift at the burlesque club.”
She turned and walked off, heels clicking quickly into the crowd of Chenghuangmiao, leaving a pocket of silence in her wake. Juliette’s eyes flitted to Roma. He did not give any indication that this had shaken him in any way. All he appeared was bored, and it was too dark for Juliette to check for his other tells.
“We’re wasting time,” Juliette said, her voice raspy when she spoke up again. “I’m going to pull the electric panel at the back of the restaurant and then lure Tyler up to his apartment upstairs. On my cue, Kathleen, you can accompany Roma into the lab. Between the two of you, I’m sure you can figure out which papers are relevant. Are we ready?”
Kathleen nodded. Roma, too, offered an affirmative shrug.
Juliette sighed. “All right, then.” She plunged into the restaurant.
“I suppose we should have clarified what exactly Juliette’s cue will be,” Kathleen remarked when the restaurant fell dark. A few of the patrons inside gave a shout of surprise. Otherwise, they merely continued eating.
“Yes, well,” Roma Montagov said, “given that it is Juliette, I am sure it will be loud and obvious.”