She shook her head. "I am not God, and I don't know his will, but I also know the Praetor isn't God either. Nor is the Censor. They are merely men, and men can be corrupted. I'm afraid this is something I can't answer for you."
His thumb caressed the back of her hand, and he tilted his head down a bit more. "You kinda did, though. It's my turn to say thanks. So what is Joshua doing, and how do we stop it?"
"I need more information," she said. "I can make guesses, but they are just that. There would be no way to know if I was wrong."
"Ok, then guess. Give me a direction, at least?" he begged.
She'd thought about this a lot, wondering if he was involved. Everything said no, and his words confirmed it, but words were often hollow lies. What she said next might put her life in danger. If Sinclair wasn't as honest and devout as he claimed, she was about to make herself the biggest threat to the Legion they had ever seen.
"He's planning to perform a miracle, either one big one or a lot of small ones, and use popular opinion to gain power. Then he'll push your beliefs on as many as he can. Ideally, this should create a positive feedback loop where he could only grow stronger—and wealthier. That will lead to more power, and people do love power. Both the ones who have it and the ones who follow those who do."
"Fuck," Sin breathed, flicking away the burned-out butt of his smoke and reaching for another. "How?"
"City elections are in five months. I expect we'll see the first miracle in two to four weeks. Due to the nature of the data being smuggled, that miracle will likely be tied to the enhanced—either helping or removing them to make more available jobs. I'm not sure which, but it's clearly tied to Stabiltrol."
"Ok. I need to tell the Fallen," he muttered to himself. "Why two weeks?"
Rissa laughed a bit. "Sin, that's when the notifications of intent to run for office become available."
"Office?"
She nodded. "The mayor is retiring."
"Shit," he snarled. "Shit, shit, shit. Ok. So Joshua wants to take over the city government and legislate religion. They tried that in a few countries back on Earth in the twentieth or twenty-first century, and it didn't work so well. Why does he think he can do this? How does he think he can get this around Benedict?" He sucked on his cigarette, his lips parting as he inhaled the smoke into his lungs, then he released it all in a strong breath. "Us. Fuck. He's going to use the Legates."
She watched the dismay flicker across his face as his mind worked. "If I'm right, he should increase the number of Legates soon."
Sin shook his head. "It's not that easy, Princess. He can't circumvent the initiation. We have to prove ourselves."
"Who decides if you pass?" she asked softly.
He grinned. "There's five of us who manage that, and Joshua no longer has a say."
But it felt like her blood froze in her veins. "Sin?" she gasped.
"What?"
"For Joshua to make this possible…" She paused to swallow, dreading her next words. "He would have to remove the Praetor somehow. That would take a scandal the likes of which we've never seen before." Then she reached up for his arm. "And usingyou would be the easiest option. It would give him control of the Legate selection again. More, if he claims your supposed actions as a sign of corruption."
"Shit," he breathed. "And while I hate what you're saying, for the first time in my life, I wish I had your mind. It might be the only way to keep ahead of this." He sucked at his smoke one more time. "I can only pray that God will give me a little help on this one."
Rissa gently rubbed his arm. "You'll do fine. Sin, you're not a stupid man. Have a little faith in yourself as well as your God. And for anything you can't think of on your own, I will help."
He nodded, and his nicotine-scented hand moved to the side of her face, gently touching her through the cloth. "Thank you, that means a lot coming from you." His thumb moved, brushing the line of her cheekbone beneath the silky fabric, and his face softened. "Maybe God's already given me the help I need."
Chapter Seventeen
The next time, he picked up his Ingénue late. He and Rissa were just over two blocks away from City Hall—her destination—when he realized the same kid had been behind them for an entire block. It could be simply a coincidence, but the boy had looked at them a few times too many. Most likely, it was simply his own paranoia, but Sin had lived as long as he hadandkept his clients alive because he was a bit twitchy about these things.
"Princess?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Can you make a copy of that file?"
"A highly compressed one, but I can't access it," she said.
"Don't care. Just create it and stayclose. We have a friend."
