"And solve problems." He sighed. "Girl, I'm sworn to protect those weaker than myself. I think you fucking qualify."
Her fingers traced the outline of the stylized wings on his chest. "The last three times it happened, I've remembered. I wake up with my memories clouded, but they're still there. Three years of them. I'm just not sure I can do another wipe." She paused, her swallow audible. "It hurts more every time."
"Then we'll make sure that doesn't happen. You're going to have to trust me though."
She nodded. "I'm trying, Sin. I'm terrified, but I'm trying."
"Yeah," he said, rubbing his hand across her shoulder. "I don't bite, though."
"No, but you speak a lot. The wrong joke, and..." she glanced away, letting him imagine how that would play out.
"Yeah. Gotcha. How long until your solution is complete?" he asked, checking in. She tensed, her eyes darting across the people on the street behind them so he rubbed her shoulder again and looked for her. "There's no one paying any attention to us at all."
"The problem was unnecessarily simple again. The data is massive," she whispered.
"What does that mean?"
"My mind is off the net. There's no way to track what I carry, except to jack it. The questions lately have been too easy for a Primary Ingénue and the data they're wrapped in is too big."
"You're carrying black-market data?"
"Whatever it is, has been encrypted," she whispered. "If I look at it, other than when transferring it, they'll know."
"When did this start?" He leaned over, looking in her face. "Think, Rissa. When did this start happening?"
"Four days before my last wipe."
"The day before the jackings started," he said. "You want to revise your assessment of why I was contracted?"
She shook her head. "I took that into consideration. The Praetor's knowledge of this would have resulted in a media scandal, which could have shut down the Ingénue Project. It didn't. That means he has something else he wants. Otherwise, he would've refused the assignment."
"Shit," he breathed, realizing he'd all but forgotten about the question. "Yeah, but I think my religious issues can wait. Right now, this seems to be a little more important."
She tilted her head slightly. "But the Legion's involvement is the only variable I cannot account for. The church's power in New Cincinnati is influential. All of the possible outcomes are skewed without that data."
Which meant hereallydidn't want to ask her right now. "Riss, you're verging on accusing my faith of being corrupt. That's right up there with me making jokes about your mind. It hurts."
"The answer isn't always desirable," she said gently. "You should also know your faith is not the same as your religion or your church." She looked away, her demeanor completely changing. "Legate, the solution is complete. Would you like to take me to SiSec LLC?"
"Yeah," he breathed, aware she'd just shut him out again. "But every time you do this, I'm gonna call you Princess."
She smiled again. Twice in one day he'd seen those eyes light up. It had to be a record.
"I don't mind," she admitted.
He chuckled as he grabbed her arm. Placing her hand on his elbow, he tucked his arm against his waist. "Then I might even start treating you like a princess too."
"Sin?" she asked, ignoring that completely.
"Yeah?" He looked down at her.
"I don't hate you." She made it sound like a gift.
He smiled down at her, knowing it must've been hard for her to say. "I don't hate you either, Rissa."
She said nothing, just followed beside him, looking more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. He didn't rush, taking a leisurely course so she could walk slowly and keep her feet out of the filth on the streets.
She even seemed to enjoy the trip, her eyes jumping around quickly. Once, she reached out to touch a stone wall as they passed, her fingers sliding along its surface. He couldn't imagine what was going on in her mind. Not because of her intelligence, but because she'd never experienced even the most basic things like stone walls and sunsets, so he wanted to give her the chance to see it all.
