Vi’s breath catches and the color drains from her face. “What?”
The woman glances at me, then back at Vi. “I knew him. Before he disappeared.”
Vi steps forward. “What do you know?”
The woman hesitates. Then: “He wasn’t what they say. He wasn’t profiting from the town’s troubles. He was trying to expose it.”
Vi goes very still. “What?”
“He gathered evidence. Names. Routes. Proof of what was happening.” The woman’s voice drops. “That’s why they killed him. Not because he betrayed the town. Because he threatened it.”
Vi’s hands shake. “Where’s the evidence?”
“Hidden.” The woman meets her eyes. “But if you want to find it, I can help. It’s dangerous. But you’re bound now. Protected. You might actually survive long enough to use it.”
Vi looks at me. Then back at the woman. “Why tell me this now?”
The older woman’s mouth curves—not quite a smile. “Because I’m tired of secrets. And because you deserve to know the truth.”
Vi swallows hard. “What’s your name?”
The woman shakes her head. “Not yet.” Then she turns and walks back to her station.
Vi stands there, frozen, chest rising and falling rapidly.
I step closer. “You okay?”
She nods slowly. “I… I don’t know.”
“Good.” I turn toward the exit. “Come on. There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
I don’t answer. Just start walking.
She follows.
Because she knows better than to question now.
64
VI
The work hubfeels different the day after the fight.
I’m at my station, sorting supplies, trying to keep my hands steady. I pick up a gauze packet, check seal, set in bin, chalk mark on crate. Mechanical. Safe.
But I feel eyes on me.
Not hostile. Not even curious anymore. Just... aware. Like everyone’s recalibrated around me. Whispers start when I pass, low, quick, cutting off when I turn my head. I catch fragments.
“...saw Sting break that guy’s arm...”
“...bound to all three now, for real...”
“...untouchable...”
The last word comes from a Rotter near the water station. He doesn’t look at me when he says it. Just mutters it to his neighbor like it’s fact.
