It was all rather depressing if you asked her.
You’d think given how much effort went into creating a secret room in the basement of a bombed out building that her sister would at least make it comfortable.But no, that apparently hadn’t been a concern.
At least there was a table and chairs, Gus allowed.
The only thing that Cleo appeared to have put effort into was the state of the art weapon safe in the corner.
It didn’t make sense to Gus, but then, a lot of the things her siblings did continued to be a mystery.
Cleo’s choice in safe house locations was spot on, however.
The dead zone on Paxus was a place almost no one ever visited.Partially because of the rumors that Tsavitee continued to be spotted in the area.Every once in a while, the local militia rolled through and wiped out whatever they found.
These days it wasn’t much but enough to keep the riff raff from returning.
Knowing it could be a while before her sister returned from her errand, Gus brewed herself a cup of masala chai with the supplies she’d brought.She found the ritual soothing considering the difficult task that lay ahead of her.
It had taken weeks to track Cleo down and now her hunt was finally nearing its completion.All that was left to do was to wait for her prey to step into the trap she’d laid for her.
It could be hours or days.But eventually Cleo would return to this place.
There was nowhere else she could go now that Roake and half the Tuann empire was hunting her.Gus didn’t think anybody expected Roake’s Overlord to make public the forty-three’s involvement in these matters, but now that he had, Cleo was left without a lot of options.
Those that remained of the forty-three—the so called twenty-nine—had turned their backs on her.
And her little rebellion—from what Gus had heard, it was dead in the water.
Outwardly, at least.
Cleo had been disavowed and cut loose.Anyone who might have aided her before was laying low.
This was the end of the line for Cleo.
Hearing something, Gus partially lowered her teacup and listened.
Ah.
Show time.
The door opened a few moments later.
Cleo looked visibly taken aback upon spotting Gus seated at the table.“How did you get in here?”
“I came alone.No one is with me.I promise,” Gus assured her, noting the way Cleo scanned the room in search of others.She gestured at the chair across from her.“Would you care to take a seat?I think it’s time we had a little chat.I brewed masala chai.”
In hopes of allaying her sister’s concerns, Gus picked up the teapot and poured her a cup.
After a moment’s consideration, Cleo let the door slam closed behind her.“Sure, why not?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Gus watched Cleo saunter across the room to take a seat across from her.
“It’s pretty stupid of you to come here,” Cleo said, studying her.
“Oh?How so?”
A flicker of impatience settled in the back of Cleo’s eyes.“I made no secret of what I thought of you the last time we met.”
Gus swirled her tea around the cup, staring into the liquid as if it held all the answers in the universe.“Yes, you were quite forthcoming.”
