As Aria finished refilling her pot of sludge behind the counter, a bell dinged over the entrance, announcing a new arrival. My head whipped up as a figure in black glided throughthe door, the hood of their sweater draped low so only their slick smile was visible.
They walked toward me with no hesitation, like they already knew where to find me. As they approached my table, they rolled up a sleeve to reveal a sword piercing a hand on their forearm. Nodding, I took another swig of sludge as they took a seat in the booth behind mine, sitting back to back with me.
Aria made quick work of ambling over, refilling my cup before setting down a fresh one for our new guest. “Is there anything else I can getcha, sweetheart?”
“Just the coffee’s great,” they purred. “I should be out of your hair pretty quickly.”
Once Aria was out of earshot, I grumbled over my shoulder. “Where’s your boss?”
“Just us tonight.” The messenger took a sip of her coffee with a satisfied sigh. “Now tell me, what concern of yours is so important that it merited another meeting?”
The fire already burning in my chest flared at that. I had requested a meeting with The Oracle, not another one of their lackeys. I had half a mind to chew this bitch out and storm the headquarters myself.
But I couldn’t risk this going south — not until Kiera was far away from Valemont. So after all the dodged calls it had taken to get here, I’d have to settle for what I could get.
“I need an extraction.” I cleared my throat.
“For whom?”
The red-headed nightmare squatting in my house.“The asset. It’s no longer safe for her to harbor in Valemont.”
“Why not?”
I bristled. It was a standard question, to be fair, but one they clearly already knew the answer to. It wouldn’t stop them from asking, though. Their organization prided themselves on leavingno stone left unturned. Something about information being the most lethal weapon of all.
Nosey fucking bitches.
“I was able to confirm your previous report.” I gripped my mug. “Zeus is moving dangerous resources within Valemont. They must know that she’s close.”
They hummed, pleased with the intel. “Have they made any advances on the asset?”
It was hard not to scoff. “No.”
“Do they know about your project?”
“...No.” I frowned, unhappy with the direction these questions were taking. The house had nothing to do with what Zeus wanted.
The messenger took another sip of coffee, weighing the next question carefully. “Your interest in protecting the girl intrigues me. Is the nature of that concern purely professional?”
The tension in my shoulders ratcheted up at that. “Of course it is.”
It has to be.If we have any hope of making it out of this alive, I can’t consider any other possibility.
“I’m not worried about the girl,” I cleared my throat. “I’m worried about the shares. If he knows, Isaac will go to any length to get after her. And if he finds out she’s in my house…”
I didn’t want to think about what would happen. All I knew for certain was that my family had already ruined her life once, and I would die before I let it happen again.
The messenger let that statement hang in the air, a small metal spoon clinking against ceramic as they gave their coffee a stir. “An extraction won’t be possible.”
“Not possible?” My grip on the coffee mug tightened, whitening my knuckles. “What part of ‘unsafe’ are you not understanding?”
“Extractions are a last resort.”
“What would you have me to do then, throw her back to the wolves?”
“No.” Their tone was a bit too amused for my liking. “You will hold onto her.”
“You’ve gotten far too comfortable telling me what I ‘will’ do.” I growled, hardly trying to conceal my frustration anymore. “I work with you birdbrains because you’re good at what you fucking do, but don’t get it twisted: I’m not some glorified babysitter you can order around. I need her gone so I can focus on the mission.”
