A couple of hours earlier...

Kass turned her phone back on as she reached the bottom of the courthouse steps. Her case had gone okay but it had been a long day. The number of notifications that popped up on her phone reminded her that it wasn’t quite over. She had one missed call from Indi, one from Wolf, one from Jesse’s school, and one from the locksmith. She was about to call them each back when a male voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey Fox.”

Kass spun, her blood going ice cold as she recognised the speaker.

“Baelfyre.”

Dark hair, deceptively warm brown, golden-flecked eyes, and a surprisingly clean-shaven face. The Baelfyre she had known had always had a tidy beard but she knew that face. She’d have known it anywhere. It was a face she had hoped to never see again.

They had been allies once. Did he know that she had betrayed him? Was he here to get revenge? Or to pick off a target? Was she the target? How had he found her?

He was dressed in a suit, simple office attire, similar to her own style. He fit right in here on the courthouse steps. At least it was a public place, but then when had that ever stopped him. The man had once killed a politician in broad daylight with a blowgun concealed in an umbrella.

“Last I heard you were dead,” he mused. His sharp eyes, watching her every move.

“You have me confused with someone else.”

“I don’t think so. I’d know those rosy cheeks anywhere. That was clever though. Faking a house fire. Nobody had any reason to check the identity of the bodies. Where’d you get them out of interest?”

Kass didn’t answer. She simply glanced to the sides, checking her surroundings. If he had found her then perhaps others had as well.

“If you’d prefer we could go somewhere else to talk?”

“Here’s fine.”

“I’m not here to kill you. You know as well as I do that we wouldn’t be having this conversation if I was.”

Kass wasn’t so sure about that. If she had information he wanted then he might wait.

“I’ve actually come here to make you an offer.”

“How did you find me?”

He hesitated and then he smiled.

“Pure coincidence actually.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“A bit like you I’m working for an aristocrat.” He reached into his coat.

Kass felt every fibre of her body tense in response. She knew he was unlikely to pull a gun on her here but things hadn’t always been so civil in the north. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Baelfyre was a trained killer. One of the best, just as she had been once.

He handed her a business card.

Kass hesitated. Apparently he’d killed someone with one of those once too. Poison, rubbed along the edge.

She took it anyway. Some small part of her had been waiting for that shot to come for a long time, half hoping even, just to get it over with, to achieve some semblance of peace and atonement. But she already knew that day wasn’t today. Still, she could feel herself getting tired. It was hard to be alert all the time, to force herself to care. But there was still one thing that mattered. As long as Jesse was safe, she didn’t care what happened to her.

“You’re a lawyer now?” she asked as she looked down at the card.

“Well, that’s what I was before.” He smiled. To anyone else that smile would have looked normal, friendly. But Kass knew too much of the man underneath.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I remember.”

“Like you, I’m retired. Sort of. At least life is simpler now. I still do the odd job but it’s different you know. The aristocrat I work for resides in the Emerald City and he’s quite happy to stay there, as long as Mr Chase stays up here. But of course, he likes to know what his neighbours are up to, as I’m sure does your employer. Sometimes there are benefits in bringing him good information. Perhaps we could help each other out? Nothing too devastating of course, but a tidbit or two to sweeten the pot occasionally.”

“You want information on Coal?”

“I’m willing to exchange.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Are you sure? I’m sure your boss would be very grateful for whatever I could give you. He might even offer you some extra protection from your other enemies, should they ever find you and that son of yours.”

Those last words and the way he said them chilled Kass to the bone. Of course he knew about Jesse.

She took a step toward him and very coldly replied, “I’m done with that life.”

“Mmm, well that’s fine. If you change your mind you know how to find me. I’ll otherwise keep out of your way, unless we ever happen to meet in court. I must say, I was surprised to find you work for the defense now. Too much like looking in the mirror when you see them sitting there in cuffs?”

“Let’s just say I’ve realised the government doesn’t always put the people’s interests first.”

“It was always for the people, Kass. But I don’t entirely disagree with you. And speaking of dirty governments, here’s a free piece of information, your friends in the desert are rebuilding. They’ll have that place up and running again in no time.”

“What?

“Our common enemy. You say you just want to live your life, well, that’s going to get mighty hard if Mercy ever extends their reach down this end of the continent. They say we live in the wild down here. That it’s chaos. You and I know better of course, what the real wild looks like, but still this environment, it’s relaxed enough that it lets you keep hidden. Imagine if Mercy introduced their citizen registers down here. Your enemies would find you in seconds. Like you, I like my privacy, as does my boss. Now, I don’t know what they’re doing in that place but they’re getting a little too close for comfort, them setting up base in that desert.”

“That’s no man’s land.”

“And he who controls the centre of the board controls the game.”

Kass hesitated. It was a problem if that facility was being rebuilt, but not for the reasons Baelfyre thought. It was what was trapped in that place beneath the rubble that worried her. Mimics that had been immune to fire. Was there a chance they were also immune to the sun? Did the excavators know what they were digging up? Perhaps she should go out there and check for herself?

Her thoughts were disrupted as Baelfyre handed her something else, a photo of a woman. She had curly brown hair, blue eyes, and she was smiling. It was an otherwise normal looking photo, just a head shot of her sitting or standing somewhere with trees in the background. Perhaps a park? Kass had been handed enough photos of unknown people in her life to guess at what Baelfyre had in mind but she hoped she was wrong.

“What’s this?”

“Another freebie. This is Mya Pierce. She lives in the Emerald city. She’s one of the key leaders for the vamp group who’s responsible for nearly all of the recent protests this side of the Dragon Mountains. You take her out, you severely damage their leadership structure, maybe even put an end to this little war.”

She handed it back to him. “I don’t hate the vampires anymore.”

He didn’t take it. “Neither do I, and you’ll be surprised to find, I’m actually working for one. That’s not the problem. The problem is the protests have been disrupting trade. There’s multiple people who would like a stop to be put to them one way or the other.”

“Why don’t you do it yourself then?”

“Because there are some agreements that prevent me from acting. A third party however... And I’m sure if others knew Coal was the one who could end the protests for them, they’d be more than willing to pay. Why don’t you present him with the choice? The chance to take or protect a key piece as he chooses. I’m sure he’ll be very thankful for the information.”

“Or I could just tell him about you? I’m sure it wouldn’t take much to figure out who you’re working for.”

“Probably not, but it wouldn’t be as useful for you as it would be for us, I assure you. Well, It’s up to you I suppose. Call me if you’d like to discuss this arrangement any further, or even if you’d just like to catch up. I’ve missed you, Kass.”

He didn’t turn away though. Was he waiting for her to leave first? For her to turn her back?

“I don’t get involved in wars anymore," she told him.

“We’re always at war. Not every fight is won or lost on a battlefield.”

“I know that better than anyone.”

He stepped closer, barely blinking, his eyes studied her intently from less than half a metre away. “I’m sure you do. You might look like a fox and think like a fox but on the inside you’re as snake-like as the rest of us. You can’t deny your nature. You know, I always wondered whose side you were really on. At least until they killed Sparrow and Mark. Then I knew you were ours.”

“I’m nobody’s.” At least, not anymore.

“I’m sorry about what happened to them, by the way. I truly am.” When she didn’t answer he added, “You know they say everyone has two wolves inside them fighting for dominance. I wonder, what’s more likely? A snake eating a fox or a fox eating a snake?”

And just like that she found her new nickname fit in a way she hadn’t expected, like a glove she’d grown into.

"Perhaps a mouse ate them both."

"A mouse?” He managed to look surprised for the first time.

“A mouse is like a tiny rat. You remember the rats don’t you? Well, a mouse is like that. It’ll eat through anything when it’s cornered.” She turned her back to him and walked away, half expecting a bullet between the shoulder blades, but none ever came.