"Considered," I said.
"Why is the city let go like this here?"he asked.
"I don't know," I said."High crime rates?It's not worth it as an investment?"
"What is crime?"Nagi asked."Merely the inability to adhere to a set of established rules."
"You make it sound simple," I said."Laws are complicated.They're a compromise, something we all agreed to follow because we've collectively decided that's the best way that things run."
"How many of those laws did you get an opinion on?"Nagi asked.
"What?"
"How many of the rules you follow were you asked about?Did you ever have a choice, or were you conditioned to follow them before you could understand them?"
"I don't understand," I said.
"You may, in time," Nagi said."I am not much older than you, but the act of being different from birth has given me a fluid perspective.When you don't fit in, Stacey, or you don't naturally belong, it makes you think about things differently."
"We've arrived," Yara said.
Nagi bent low and scanned the horizon.
"The sun's hateful rays scorch the skin of lesser men," he said, quietly."And yet still we persist and exist.Come along."
And he got out of the car, brimmed hat and voluminous robe making him look like Lady Gaga in a music video, and I wondered who on Earth I was riding with, and how much depth Nagi really had, deep down…
Eddie and Brynholflooked up when we approached.Brynholf had a sneer on his face.He'd worn makeup to show up in person.It helped his complexion immensely, though I wondered at his choice of shade for his natural skin color…
"You look like a grieving widow," Brynholf said.
"You summoned me before sundown," Nagi said."We all do what we must.Surely you yourself are bothered by the golden light.Let's go inside."
"Police are everywhere in the apartment," Eddie said."CSI beat us here."
"What happened?"I asked.
"Why are you even here?"Brynholf asked me.He turned to Nagi."I thought I told you not to bring her."
"You did," Nagi said."Yet, I insisted.I am not one to sit on my heels and follow orders, and you must understand that when I say I will do something, it will be done."
"She's a member of the human media," Brynholf said.
"That she is," Nagi said."And as such.She is in a key position to understand what has happened and digest it, to translate it into something and regurgitate it for the masses.She's perfect for what she does.And she's the reason we're all standing here today, instead of strung up on crosses or staked in our sleep."
The way he said it made it feel like an insult, even while it acted as a defense of my presence.That was the hard part about it.That Nagi's opinion on me was that I was really just some… well… normal woman.It bothered me.I didn't know why, either.Everywhere I went, people had commented on my birthmark.They called me Moon-Kissed.And because of my articles, I was even starting to get popular.And I hated it.So why did it upset me when Nagi said it?
"Update us on the scene," Nagi said.
"It's a mess in there," Eddie said.He did not look at me when he said it.This hurt too.I know he was probably trying to be professional, and that our work that we did was separate from what we got up to in our spare time… but I knew he was hurting, aching even to see me show up with Nagi.I wanted to tell him—"It's not like that"—but I knew that wasn't true.Not at all.
Eddie stopped for a second, and then put a hand to his head.
"Stacey, not everything is about you," he said.
Brynholf was staring at us.
"Can't you block me?"I asked.
