"And yet my trial was pretty fucking public," Sin shot back.
"They didn't say it wasbefore!" Caleb snapped. "I thought it was Briggs trying to kill off the girls so no one could trace where they'd been!"
"By who?" Sin demanded. "Who the fuck was attacking the Ingénue after their deliveries?"
Caleb shook his head as if snapping himself out of his shock. "It appears to be select extremists. First precept sorts. Sin, it's not us."
"Fuck you," Sin growled, intending to haul Rissa out of there. "Follow us and I will kill you," he warned Caleb.
"That's why you killed a priest!" Caleb called after him. "The extremists are tied to the Legion. We know that now; we didn't then!"
Which was enough to make Sin stop. "What?"
The foot traffic around them was sparse now, but this sounded like something Sin really needed to know. Glancing at Rissa, he hoped she understood. A slight dip of her head made him thinks she did, or at least she was ok with this, even if this was the dumbest fucking place to do it.
Nodding, Caleb came closer so he didn't have to yell. "Yeah… That hearing was the talk of New Cincinnati for a bit, but they only said you got jumped, not that it was before the dump. One priest, dressed as a common street thug, and what, five other assailants? They were good too, I'm betting. Dressed like hoodlums but attacked like mercenaries?"
That was a little too good of a guess to be coincidence. "They were," Sin agreed.
"Members of the mercenary gang called the Freex. They're working for the Devoted. I have videos showing four different groups like that, and all have banking data that goes right back to the Devoted, who now lead to your new Praetor. Well, three groups plus the one you tangled with. All of them include a single priest who seems to be calling the shots. All of them hadtheir faces and other identifying features concealed. One of the other groups managed to get one of the girls—but she wiped."
Which were the videos the technician had given Sin. Fuck, the pieces were starting to fall together, and in the worst way. Right about now, though, the only important thing was getting Rissa and her damned kill-me-now blue robes out of sight.
"Which means we need to go," Sin said. "I have to get this girl out of here before someone tries to jump us." But another boom cut off the rest of his words.
The three of them turned towards the sound, but the Exa-Com building was between them. That didn't stop the shower of dust from the buildings. It seemed the impact of that blast was just enough to shake everything around them - which meant it wasmuchtoo close.
However, the area was starting to grow quiet. Most people had made it out of here already.Theyhadn't been dumb enough to stand around talking, but Sin didn't exactly want Caleb following them. Then again, what difference did it make now? Worst case, if this asshole tried to stop him, Sin would put a bullet in the fucker's head.
But Caleb was busy tapping at the side of his head and his eyes began to scan the ground. It was the same look Rissa got when she was connected to data. Sin made one more check of Rissa, not shocked to see her still standing there calmly, then he looked towards the Market District.
There would be cameras all along the path, and without the crowds to cover them, that meant Rissa would be seen. Shit! Somehow, Sin had to get her away with no trail to follow, and fucking Caleb was screwing this up.
"Shit," Caleb breathed, pointing the direction they were going. "That was VeriSys-Global. They handle the server storage for City Hall! Means our patent application is now gone. Fuck!We need to get to the trains. The blasts are getting closer and every potential business target is on this side of the bridge."
"I have to go to the Market District first," Sin said, making his decision. "You can follow me or not, Caleb. Don't really care, but if you try to stop us, I will put you down."
Caleb pulled his own weapon. "Or I can cover your back, Brother Sin. Right about now, I don't give a shit what you're doing. I just have a feeling making it to the train won't be as easy as we hope."
Sin nodded, accepting his help. "Princess, you still good to do this? We've got three buildings down, and I do not want you in the open any longer."
"I can do this," she promised, grabbing his arm as the three of them started moving.
And yet Caleb wasn't done talking. "News is reporting the Devoted are taking credit for these attacks. They say there are more bombs still to go off, and there are reports of vigilante groups roaming with weapons. Could be gangs. Could be terrorists."
"Shit," Sin growled. "Riss, fuck the money."
"This won't take long," she promised. "The Market District is the fastest path to the train station, and the trains are delayed today. We can either wait at the station or do this."
Caleb just thrust a hand out at her. "What the fuck, Sin? She's…"
"She's a goddamned person!" Sin snapped.
Which made Caleb's feet falter. "Shit.She'sthe one they're looking for." Then he jogged to catch up when no one else slowed at all. "Sin, those priests are taking the girls. Doesn't matter if they are alive or dead. When the Devoted make a hit, they do everything they can to take the Ingénue's body with them. Once, they managed to snag a girl who was awake. The video makes it look like they sedated her before she could wipe."
"But why?" Sin asked.
"Why would the damned church want an Ingénue?" Caleb countered. "BecauseIhave no fucking idea."
