City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

Author:Mirah Bolender [Bolender, Mirah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

14

CASTOFFS

The sun peeked over the horizon as they boarded their early-morning trolley. Laura couldn’t actually see it with all the buildings, but the sky brightened to pinks and yellows against the clouds. It was a myriad of subtle brightness that belonged somewhere on a painting; Laura would think it beautiful if she weren’t exhausted. In the barracks she’d been running on adrenaline and fear, but that had drained out of her system. She felt overwhelmingly tired, and she was feeling the pain from falling down. A simple glance showed she was bruising where she hit the stairs, and Okane wasn’t doing much better—a bruise of his own blossomed on one cheekbone.

She wished nothing more than to sit and relax in the Sweeper shop, but traffic had decided to spite them. While normally one of the fastest routes, Nestore Street was packed with idling automobiles bound for work. A truck had been transporting equipment and been involved in an accident; the logo for Sullivan Piping had been marred so badly by the scrape it was barely legible, and some equipment had fallen out. Men heaved the dropped pipes back into place, overseen by a man who looked far less like a worker and more like an executive in his low bowler hat and nondescript coat. Another man stood just beside him, head shaved bald; it must’ve been a new change, because he had the wide collar of his coat popped up to hide his features in lieu of hair. Automobiles rattled past, impatient and far too close to the straining workers, but the trolley was stuck on its line and couldn’t maneuver anywhere. The trolley driver grumbled and pulled the horn. The man in the bowler hat waved apologetically.

Clae’s eyes narrowed and he stood. Okane started.

“What are --- doing?” he hissed.

Clae didn’t reply but heaved open the window to lean out. Okane sank so low in his seat he looked ready to melt onto the floor.

“What’s going on?” Clae called.

“Slight accident,” the bowler hat man replied; the bald man turned away entirely. “Nothing more. We apologize for the delay. We’ll be out of your way shortly.”

“They’re not the actual Sullivans,” said Laura, tracking Okane’s slouch. “They’re just employees. They probably have no idea who you are.”

“They do.” Okane tilted his head just enough to peer out the window before ducking. “They’re not employees. They’re mobsters.”

Seriously? Laura tried peeking out too, but Clae shifted to block the pair from view.

“Where are you going?” he said.

“Interior.”

“For what?”

The bowler hat man gestured grandly at the truck. “Plumbing. The Council’s approved a new line.”

“Where, exactly?”

“Fifth Quarter?” The man shrugged. “Location’s been changed.”

The workers finally cleared the road. Traffic started moving again. The bowler hat man jammed the hat further on his head, so they couldn’t make out much of his features as they passed.

“Consider switching to Sullivan yourself, sir,” he cheered. “We’ll flush all your problems away!”

“More likely they’ll get it all stuck and back up the system,” Clae muttered, closing the window again.

“Why are mobsters out doing Sullivan work?” said Laura, craning her neck to see the disappearing truck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.