I look around to see if anyone is watching me and grab it from the handle. The note reads,For my little Rabbit. Bring it with you wherever you go. If you’re feeling like a good little Rabbit, then keep it white, but if you are feeling filthy, change it to black, and I’ll make sure you’re treated properly.
I further inspect the rabbit’s foot and see that the fur changes colors like a coat. If I push the fur all one way, it changes to black, and swapping it makes it white. I know it came from Ryven. He is the only one who calls me rabbit. What does he expect me to do, hang it from my belt? I chuckle and toss it on the seat next to me once I open the door.
When I throw the note next to the rabbit, it turns over. There’s writing on the back of the card. I sigh and grab it.You better wear it, Ro. I’ll know if you aren’t.I roll my eyes. “Who does he think he is?”
I pull into the parking lot of the desolate building the rebellion meets in. Two other cars are here as well. That means at least six inside. Maybe more. People rotate in and out depending on the day. One of them is Jennifer. Good, that means I can talk to her.
I leave the rabbit’s foot on my seat along with the note and grab my bag. I’m halfway to the building when I remember Ryven told me he would know if I don’t wear the stupid foot, so I return to get it.
I might as well just wear the stupid thing. That way, he doesn’t give me shit for it later.
The door slams shut behind me as I walk through the front of the building, and Jennifer looks up from the table she is leaning over. Her eyes widen a fraction, and she walks my way. “Rory! There you are. Have you heard from Thomas today? I haven’t heard from him since yesterday.”
I sigh softly. “Nope.” I toss my bag on the chair next to the table and gaze at what she was studying when I came in. It’s a huge map of the district and locations of recent sacrifices. Red pins for confirmed kills. Black for suspected rituals. Blue for the rebels’ safe houses. A new mark is on the map in black ink. It’s the one Ryven did where he marked the woman.
I point to the location where I know their church is and say, “Why don’t you have this marked?”
She walks up beside me and checks over the map. “Why would I? We don’t mark what we can’t confirm,” she says. “Too many bad guesses get people killed.”
I circle the larger area. “This is where they worship. This is literally the church they use.”
She flushes red. “You’re right. I’ll mark it now.”
I roll my eyes and stroll to the whiteboard on the wall to maneuver the pictures around so that they signify what is sacrificial killing and what is just murder.
Jennifer sits in an empty chair and kicks her feet onto the desk. She’s not the leader, but she’s close enough that people listen when she speaks.
Once I’m done moving my pictures, I lean against the table and lay my arms across my chest. “I need to talk to you about something.”
She sighs. “What’s up?”
“First thing is that our district council member is missing.” I pause to see how she takes this news.
She puts her feet down and sits up straighter. “What? What do you mean missing? Like dead or something? What will happen to our district now if we have no one to vouch for us?”
I scoff. “He never vouched for anyone other than himself. But that’s beside the point. I don’t know any answers to any of those questions right now.”
She waves me off. “Then how do you even know he’s missing?”
I give her a flat stare. She knows I meet with Ryven, but it doesn’t stop her from hating him still.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course, that little twirp would be the one to give you the information. He always gives you just enough to keep you on the hook.” She groans and gets up from the chair. “Tell me what he said.”
I chuckle. “That’s all he said. Just that Kris was missing, but he didn’t know why or how. Although, now that Kris is gone, Ryven is basically taking his place in a sense.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Oh? How so?”
I shrug. “I don’t really know. All I know is he will be in charge of giving out the orders now, and he wants to let us use this to our advantage.”
She angles herself against the table, staring into the distance. “Can we really trust him, Rory? We’ve lost people trusting bad intel before. I mean, I know you guys have a history, but these are our people's lives at stake if we take him up on this offer. Not just ours,” she mutters. “There are three other cells in this district alone.”
I nod. “That’s what I told him. But I trust him, Jen. He’s never once steered me wrong. What would be the point of luring us into a trap?”
She grits her teeth and cringes. “You never know with the bastard cult members. I wish they would all go up in flames.”
Her hatred for them is similar to mine. Her father was executed by them when she was ten, and she swore at that young of an age to get her revenge like me.
“Well, I mean, he has a plan, so I guess we should just hear him out. If he’s controlling the orders, we can predict movement and intercept before they act.” I smirk. “Would you be willing to meet with him?”
