With that, one of Tony’s guards from the limo returned to take Jace back out. But, as Jace said his goodbyes and rose from Mr. Giovanni’s booth, he paused.

“By the way, Mr. Giovanni. Do you know anything about our last heist?”

Mr. Giovanni’s expression softened, and he sighed. “Tony told me the bad news, kid. That’s why I was glad you reached out to me. It’s good to know guys like you can make it out of there alive. Now we can do some real business, you understand?”

Jace’s Talent didn’t pick up any lies in his words, like it did with Tony. Was he unaware of the setup? Regardless, the confirmation was nice. He nodded. “I do. Have a good one.”

Tony’s guard escorted him outside, to fresh air free of the thick cigarette smoke that was almost starting to choke Jace from the strong scent. Tony and Gnarl were still waiting in the limo, and once Jace got in, he barely noticed Goerge still staring at him from behind the door as they pulled off.

“The meeting, Jace. Have we secured our forces?” Gnarl asked.

“Somewhat. He wants us to do a job for him, first, to defend the cargo of this train tomorrow. Once we do, he’ll round up those escaped orcs for us and help us get them to safety. Tony’s apparently taking us to a safehouse for the night.”

Gnarl grunted in response. “Defending cargo. I had a similar assignment before the prison.”

“You were in the army?” Jace said, nodding as Gnarl nodded in response. “How did it go?”

“I was an easy choice compared to the others. My Skill applies to all melee weapons, and allows me to cut through anything. As such, my Talent gives me mastery over any melee weapon after I use it a second time.” Gnarl ambiently stared out of the window. “I didn’t learn to kill from executing prisoners.”

“I see. And the train assignment?”

He shook his head. “That is something I’d rather not discuss.”

It was a light topic, but Jace’s curiosity had already been peaked. He searched his Talent for a possible answer, but the results were disappointing.

“[Speech 40/50] The Divine doesn’t like secrets. What happened?”

“Come on, Gnarl. You know how the Divine feels about secrets, and I don’t want it to erode our teamwork. What happened?”

“Why were you on death row?”

“Because I tried to steal the Magistrate Emperor’s Infinicore,” Jace said, leveling a glare at Tony, who fidgeted nervously.

“And how did that go?”

Jace pursed his lips.

“Then I would expect you to respect my refusal to elaborate,” Gnarl said. “Being appointed Executioner at a prison is not a promotion, Jace. It was punishment. That is the most I will say.”

Gnarl had put him in his place. He didn't even want to push it further anymore, but that was also because his anger towards Tony had returned. The weasel knew something about that day, and he was still on Jace’s list along with the rest of his heist crew.

But, if this mission would put him in a business relationship with Mr. Giovanni, killing Tony and taking his revenge would ruin that entirely. Tony’s life would have to be spared.

Could he do it with Speedbinding? Here, right now? Tony avoided his trained glare, but Jace wasn’t smoldering at him anymore. He was instead wondering if transferring the limo’s speed to Tony’s neck would kill them all before it broke his neck.

----------------------------------------

The place Mr. Giovanni gave them was small and simple, with bleak white walls and hardly any furniture aside from a single couch facing the window in the living room, a bed in each of the two bedrooms, and one bathroom. They had a fridge, but it was only stocked with milk and a basic brand of cereal.

Gnarl didn’t bother staying up for much longer. They both retired to their rooms, preparing for the day tomorrow. But, the bleak, simple room reminded Jace of his cell, and for a moment, he thought he could hear his cellmate’s insane rambling once again.

As the sun dropped over the horizon and left darkness in its wake, Jace still sat straight up in his bed, staring at his toes.

Ishanti was gone.

He knew where she and Sam were, but she was gone from him — from being his wife. Despite his new Talent, he still wasn't strong enough to convince her to stay.

But that could change. A lightbulb went off in his mind, though it didn’t light the darkness around him. His Speech checks against Honor and Ishanti stopped at 100, and most Talents had that as their limit. If he convinced enough people to gradually get his speech up to 100, couldn’t he change Ishanti’s mind?

Couldn’t he change everyone’s mind?

The hopeful thoughts guided him to sleep, and before he knew it, he was woken up by a pounding at the front door. He heard Gnarl’s heavy footsteps soon after, alerting him that it was time for the early morning mission.

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Jace dragged himself out of bed and didn't even bother with breakfast. He’d gotten used to skipping meals by now; it would’ve almost felt wrong to eat. Instead, he immediately opened the door, and shivers rolled down his spine as he stared into George’s bleak white eyes and blank, shadowy expression.

George held up two uniforms and disguises, and tossed the bundles into Jace’s arms before Jace could even speak. Jace chuckled. “Good morning to you, too, I guess.”

George tapped on his wrist.

Hurry up.

Jace couldn’t read him with his Talent since Geore hadn’t said anything, but the message was still clear. Mr. Giovanni had sent them both with new disguises, better than the patchwork blankets they were using yesterday. While Gnarl’s was sleek and black, with tribal orcish patterns embroidered into the cloth, Jace’s was white, and they both did a good job at hiding their faces.

Outside, Tony waited for them in the limo, and George followed them out there like a shadow, without saying anything. Tony whistled. “Looks like I got the sizes right! My Father had the idea after I told him about the junk you two were wearing yesterday.”

“What you call ‘junk’ was all my family could muster in a desperate moment,” Gnarl’s deep voice rumbled.

“Oh. Oh, I didn’t even know. I take it back, man. But it's better, right?”

Gnarl grunted.

“Thanks anyway,” Jace said as they started to ride. “How’s your father even still able to do business? I thought the Magistrate would’ve ran him out by now, without they try to keep everyone on a short leash.”

Tony scoffed. “Yeah, they tried. But, between you and me, we made a few moves to convince them otherwise.”

“[Speech 40] You paid them off? That’s amazing!”

His Talent suggested Jace play on Tony’s ego, and Jace did just that. “You paid them off, didn’t you?” he laughed. “Only you could pull that off.”

Tony nodded. “See, the difference between working in the Republic and working under the Magistrate? As long as you make your tributes to the Emperor, there’s a lot they’ll turn a blind eye to. Especially if you’re paying them extra tributes alongside that.”

“Level up! Master Speech is now Level 43.”

“My family’s first home was in an area ruled by the Giovanni’s,” Gnarl said. “This is why the police never came, correct?”

Tony snapped. “Bingo. Sorry about the trouble, though. It wa just business.”

Not too long after that, they arrived at the train station, but a different one than the passenger-focused train station they were at, earlier. This one looked more industrial, more focused towards specifically shipping and receiving freight and cargo, as men carried heavy things back and forth and shouted while moving items from the train with cranes hissing with steam from every movement.

And Jace’s sharp eyes caught the Giovanni men positioned everywhere. Tony led him and Gnarl and George to the specific train car they had to protect: a red one on a really long train. Jace used a Speech check to dig for more info on the specifics. Most of the train was owned by a shopping company, but Mr. Giovanni had paid for his own illegal goods to be secretly transported at the same time.

Illegal was an understatement. The inside of the train car had a wide interior, but it also had caches of lots of weapons and strange devices, and Steamcores for powering other things. The fires of Jace’s ambition cracked on the inside. If a partnership with Mr. Giovanni could get him and his future rebellion weapons like these, maybe Tony could stand to survive a little longer.

Once the three of them were on the train car, with Jace and Gnarl standing and George silently sitting in a corner, Tony left, and the train left the station, rolling along the tracks loudly and with hissing from the steam engine. It was a bumpy ride at first until they reached the outside of the city, where the railroad managed to straighten out. Gnarl drew on his knowledge from his last job, and agreed to guard one door while Jace stood outside of the one facing the city going away.

The city where he’d been locked for ten years.

Before long, the Magistrate Empire disappeared and left a tall forest in its weight, with the towering trees rushing past. Jace stood there and kept watch, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

That is, until he heard footsteps behind him. He turned on a dime, preparing his Skill — could he blast someone off of the train with Speedbinding?

But, it wasn’t an enemy. It was George, standing casually on the side of the train.

Jace's jaw dropped. “How…how are you doing that? Shit, you are a Gravitybinder, aren’t you?”

George stared.

“How specific is that? I mean, my Skill’s Speedbinding, so I can transfer and steal speed. I haven’t completely tested what I can and can’t do, yet, but how does it work for gravity?”

George stared. The wind howled.

Jace sighed. “You’re not a talkative one.”

George walked towards him, smoothly stepping around the side of the train to standing beside the door, having his feet planted next to the door and his head only a foot away from Jace before he stepped onto the ground. After that, he pointed at Jace.

The floor became the wall.

His mind flipped 90 degrees, and the flat train car floor he was standing on was the wall. Only the boxes piled to the side became his floor after that, and Jace almost shouted in panic for a split moment before it returned to normal. He held his chest, heart pounding. “That’s what you feel?!”

George stared, and turned away from him before smoothly stepping onto the wall, walking up to stand on top of the train car.

What a weirdo.

But, Jace had to admit, he was a powerful weirdo, if he could control gravity itself. Better that he was with them then against them. As they went further north, though, it started to get colder. Snow started hanging from the branches of trees whizzing by, and his breath started to become visible.

Jace rubbed his shoulders, and tapped back into the red train car, closing the door behind himself and crossing to the other side. “Hey, Gnarl? I think it might be better to guard from inside. It’s getting cold out here.”

Gnarl entered from the other side, his own breath visible, too. “I agree. I would prefer to die by the hand of an attacker than by the frigid wings of the north.”

He laid his axe against the wall and started to sit down, but as soon as he did, they heard a shout outside, and thuds from beyond the door where Gnarl was previously guarding. Jace’s stomach plunged. Gnarl shot to his feet in an instant, and, axe in hand, charged through the door. Somehow, he ended up tackling George, and he and the hooded black figure fell to the ground.

And someone else stepped into the train car, wearing a cowboy hat and spurs that jingled with every step, a revolver in hand. “Well! They really beefed up security. Looks like I lucked out.”

John Wilson, the Maximum of Luck, had come for the cargo.