Luna is dead, by my hand, no less.
What the fuck has my life become?
“It can’t get any worse, can it?” Aria asks, breaking the silence.
“Don’t jinx it,” I chuckle. “But God, I hope not. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
“Do you think we’ll ever catch the rat among us?”
“Yes,” my response comes quickly, and it leaves no room for further argument. “I won’t stop until I find out who the motherfucker is.”
Aria pauses, her lips pursing. “Do you think we should reach out to X? He’s a valuable asset.”
“He is,” I nod in agreement. “But he’s also dealing with demons of his own. I’m not going to burden him unless it’s necessary.”
“Speaking of X,” Aria gets that mischievous look in her eyes, and all I can do is sigh, shoulders slumping. “What’s his deal anyway? Why is he not speaking?”
I deadpan. “How long have you been wanting to ask me this?”
“Ages,” she grins. “Now, spill.”
“No,” I drawl out. “If you’re that curious, ask him.”
I try to hide the amusement on my face, yet my lip still quirks upward. Aria grows more annoyed with me, as seconds tick by. She’s always been like this – her way, or the highway.
“I did!” She whines like a petulant child. “He didn’t respond.”
A frown tugs on my lips. “How, exactly, did you ask him?”
“I approached him, and point blank asked ‘Hey, why don’t you speak?’ and he just looked at me blankly, and walked away.”
My eyes widen slightly, I stare at her completely baffled. “What the hell did you expect? Out of all the ways you could’ve gone about it, you chose the rudest route?”
Aria shrugs. “Eh, maybe, but I got too excited. Now, spill the beans.”
“No.”
“Please?” she begs.
“No,” I roll my eyes.
I love my sister to death, but this is X’s story. He told me what happened in confidentiality, and there’s nothing Aria can do to make me break the promise. In some sense, X has become a friend over the years, and I won’t betray his trust.
“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” She pouts.
“Absolutely not,” I roll my eyes.
“Then... did he ever speak to you?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Aha!” She grins. “That means he still has his tongue.”
“No one ever said he didn’t, Aria.” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. For someone so intelligent, she does and says the stupidest shit.
“Well, there are a bunch of rumors going around. Some say that he had his tongue removed for betraying the CIA, some are saying that he’s just choosing not to speak for the same reason, others claim it’s the trauma that caused him to go mute. No one knows what the real story is.”
I smirk. “Ha! I do.”
