“That I'm related to the bitch?” I scoff. “Me too. Nothing happened to me. Lyn arrived while she was packing my shit, screamed Neleda out of the house, and told her never to come back. But she did. She came back when I was fifteen, wounded by a lover who'd found her with another man. She stayed a month that time because she needed to heal up. A month, during which she swore up and down that she'd do better, be better, that we'd finally be a family." By then, I didn't believe a word out of her treacherous mouth. I'd just stayed out of her way.
The Claws Crew had let me in, so I was out most of the time anyway, trying to scavenge or steal whatever I could get my hands on. "Then, she was gone again. Neledalies. That's what she does. I can't trust a word she says, and I sure as fuck can't entrust my future to her. The only thing she cares about is what she cangetout of me."
Grandma Lyn would be proud that I managed to keep my voice even at all points, though I'm still seething. Sure, I understand her point of view, but after everything we've gone through together, Alva should trust my judgement. If I thought for one second that I could make an actual difference to our people, I'd be out of here in the blink of an eye. She must know that.
My second lowers her amber eyes to her feet. "Sorry, boss. It sounded…" She bites her lip. "It sounded good—her offer."
"Too good to be true," I agree.
She nods and returns her attention to the fragrant food.
We take turns cooking, and everyone looks forward to Alva's days. Her dad ran one of the boarding houses down by the harbor, before his death, and his cook showed her a thing or two in her youth.
Khel speaks from the entrance, gaze fixed on the tunnel."Maybe…" He hesitates. "You owe it to yourself to find out."
Khel's not one to waste words, often content to go days on end without using his voice, and I don't think I've ever heard him say anything quite this cryptic. "Find out what?"
"If your mother is lying this time." He only glances at me for one second before facing the tunnel again.
Alva likes this outlandish theory."Neleda is a street rat, whatever feathers she dons these days. She'll con and lie to survive, same as the rest of us. Now, she's made it to the top. Married into money. Shecouldbe trying to pull you out. You're her daughter, Hel."
All my instincts tell me to dismiss his opinion. Trusting Neleda Stovrj would be foolish.
"Khel has a point." Alva's quick to take his side, though they usually can't agree that water's wet. "I say we approach this as we would any job. If this was anyone else, we'd stake out the mark, check if their story adds up. Then, if everything is legitimate, we'd take the assignment."
Except there's no we. This isn't something I could do with my crew. If I ended up accepting Neleda's offer, I'll be on my own, in her territory.
I don't like this. Not even a little bit. "She doesn't live here," I remind them. "In the undercity, we're home. We can move unseen; surveillance isn't a problem. If she's uptown in a fancy house, it's way too far out of our comfort zone. There'd be guards, too. And she couldalready be back in the north, to Ravelyn, if she rushed home in a hovercraft."
"She tried to stake you out for six months," Khel reminds me. "She's still in Magnapolis."
I glance between my two friends, one hopeful, the other, as careful as ever.
They're right. We should try to work out what she really wants out of me. I'm not sure I'm interested either way, but if I'm curious as to their next move… "Fine."
Alva squeals, but I already regret giving in. With a bit of luck, we'll see what Neleda's cooking up on our stakeout, and they'll leave me alone, satisfied that her deal's a pile horseshit.
Nothing involving Neleda is good news.
CHAPTERTHREE
OUT OF THE WATER
Finding the Rhodes's place is embarrassingly easy. Never fond of e-stone tablets, I don't own one, but Alva's more than happy to contribute hers to the cause. She types "Duke Rhodes address" in the search browser and the first entry gives us all of the information I could ever wish to know about my mother's new husband and then some. Salvar Rhodes, Duke of Elandheart in Ravelyn, married to one Neleda Stovrj-Rhodes. It even lists his blood type. Have these people ever heard of privacy?
Then I realize, he doesn't need it. He has guards and high towers to protect him from his enemies.
I read the address and head to the desk where we keep our maps.
"You realize we can look up the address on the globe, right?" Alva's always amused by my dislike of electronic devices.“It’ll give us directions and everything.”
Perhaps, but e-stones just hurt my brain.
I shoot her a glare and unfold the map of high town, looking for the unfamiliar area. Their avenues are so wide we could build five rows of undercity houses in between every of their blocks.
I spot the Stateside neighborhood at the north side of town, close to Royal Lane where the kings and queens of Xhera reside when they must visit Magnapolis.
I shake my head in a mixture of contempt and disbelief. "There's nowhere to hide. The next street's too far to see or hear much, and there's a large area separating the house from the pavement—a courtyard or a garden."