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"What's that?"
"Something that might help you."
"Thought you weren't going to engage in my extracurricular activities?"
Her head snaps up and she glares at me. "Do you want to know or not?"
"We should go back inside before you start dropping intel."
"The minute we step back into that building, I'm going back to not engaging in whatever asinine plan you have to bring down a huge organization like the Guild. One with massive amounts of money and more members than you can imagine. Not to mention a ton of officials in their pocket."
"I'm well aware."
"Are you? Just because you saw them scuttle out of Synd with their tail between their legs doesn't mean shit. That was a fluke, an anomaly that's never happened before, and I doubt will happen again. It's not as simple as finding where they get their funds from and cutting them off. It's not like you can just blow up this building and the whole thing will crumble. Shooting Jenkins won’t do shit. It's a hydra, able to grow two more heads in his place."
"Actually, I meant I'm aware of the support from men who should be on the other side of the law. Judge Merrick and I have dealings."
She rears away from me, and it hits me what that sounded like to her. I open my mouth to explain, but she shakes her head, holding her hand up as if to ward me off.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Aelia. And the fact you still don't seem to know what I'm willing to do to keep you safe is a little insulting," I snap, running my hand through my hair.
"Then what dealings do you have with Joseph Merrick? What about Anders Drake? Any connection to him?"
I tilt my head, watching as the blood drains from her face and her breathing ticks up. We're standing at a precipice, staring into a void neither one of us can fully understand. I'll have to tell her who I am. She'll learn how I'm connected to the others in Synd. Handing over that information could put my sister, my club, my friends in danger. She swallows hard, taking another step back.
"Don't run. I'll tell you, but..." I pull in a shaky breath, nerves rolling in my stomach.
"I'm not going to go spouting about it. I'm not a fucking spy," she spits out, but she's still pale and her eyes are darting around the alley as if she's searching for the lies she thinks I'm going to spew.
"I trust you," I say, surprising even myself with the conviction in my words. "That doesn't mean they can't force it from you."
"You think they'll torture me?" she whispers, her eyes staring over my shoulder, mind a million miles away. Or rather, in the crimson chambers one floor below. "Sorry, that was a stupid question. Of course they would. That's okay."
"What the fuck do you mean, that’s okay?” I snarl, advancing on her, and her eyes widen.
"I have a plan. If they try to get me down there, I mean."
My mouth drops open, and I'm suddenly at a loss for words. What the fuck does that even mean? She can't have some grand plan to escape. If she did, she'd be racing out of the alley right now. I glance behind me, wondering why she didn't take off when she first came out here. In fact, if she's known about this exit all this time, why didn't she use it before now?
"What did you find out?" I ask as I lean my shoulder against the stone.
She tilts her chin up, blue eyes narrowing the tiniest bit. "There are some discrepancies within the accounts."
"You're going to have to be a little more specific," I drawl, examining my nails, feigning disinterest.
"They're moving money around, but it's the same money. Nothing new is coming in. I think that's why Jenkins was so eager to make a deal with you. Usually you have to give up—" She covers her mouth, coughing. "You have to sell someone."
"Who? A loved one?"
She scoffs, glancing away. "None of these men know how to love. They have to give up the closest thing they have to love, I suppose."
"To just get in the club?"
"To get on the board. To be a VIP."
Aelia gives me a small smile, but it's soulless. Whatever snark she walked into the alley with has fled now that reality has flooded back in.
"Aelia, who sold you?"
