A PRICE FOR MIDNIGHT SUCCESS

Previously

…The alleys still seemed to hold their breath, but the shadows no longer felt entirely hostile. They were now a part of the game, a part of the labyrinth he was beginning to understand. He glanced back at Petrova’s Curiosities, the dim light from the stained-glass window a solitary beacon in the encroaching darkness. He had sought answers, and Lena Petrova, the Weaver of forgotten threads, had given him a glimpse into the underworld. But the true price of his midnight success, he suspected, was only just beginning to be tallied. The Serpent’s Eye was indeed watching, and Elias, the once-timid courier, had just stepped into its gaze.