Knix and Marv's gaze both shot to me. Texas looked over as well, setting his phone to the side while Bellamy let his slice of pizza slide back to his plate. I guess I had all of theirattentions.
"I mean," I said, "you've told me a little more about Iris than I knew before, like the different sections and the team colors and what each team specializes in. I know that you're a black team which means that you don't have a specialization and I know that red teams are for communication specializations and blue is for tech specializations and a few more, but whatarethe rules? Is there a set somewhere or is it just like a common sense set of rules? I don't even know why Alex seems to be yourboss."
I scooped Cleo closer to my chest, even when she meowed her irritation at me, and waited for an answer. At this point, I would take any answer. They didn't even have to answer my stupid questions as long as they told me something more about Iris. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal – the secrecy – especially since I had already agreed to sign their nondisclosure agreement andwhatnot.
"A lot of the rules are common sense," Knix started. Marv glanced over to him before turning back to me, meeting my gaze once more. "There are plenty ofteams–"
"Where?" I interrupted. "Are they only here in Charleston? Or are they in every major city? Is it just inAmerica?"
Bellamy hid a chuckle by coughing into his hand and picking his pizza back up. Knix sighed. "There are about twelve teams in the Charleston area," Knix continued. "Some are older, some are our age, some are younger and in trainingtogether."
"How do teams form?" I found myselfasking.
Texas scrunched up his nose and leaned forward. "Well," he paused, looking to Knix. Knix nodded and sat back. "Teams can form in different ways. Sometimes a team comes in whole, a group of friends who have talents in common and work well together. Sometimes teams are created from various Iris members already in theorganization."
"Does Alex have ateam?"
Texas nodded. "He does, but they're more or less retired from fieldwork."
"Field work?" I asked as Cleo meowed in my face and batted at my chin, making me wince, before she jumped down and took off for places unknown. I sighed and moved closer to the table, crossing my arms over theedge.
"Going out," Texas replied. "Taking jobs that require us to be seen, act, dress up – the job we did for Sweratt would be considered fieldwork."
I nodded. That made sense. "How did this teamform?"
"Alex," Marv spoke up. My eyes drifted back to him. "Alex used to work with Knix's dad and he knew my family as well. He introduced me and Knix and I already knew Bellamy pretty well, and Bellamy knew Texas. We've been working together for a few years. We trained together fairly early and then..." he trailed off, looking me over meaningfully, "you camealong."
"Oh." I didn't know what to say to that, but I didn't need to say anything, thankfully, because Knix took over the conversationagain.
"Alex runs his own businesses and he takes a backseat role in Iris. He manages the younger teams, advises them, and directs them to increase their potential. His team is technically still in contact, but they no longer take on cases. They don't count as one of the twelve. Alex is in charge of our team because he has experience working with a blackteam–"
"–so, you have to have experience working with a certain team?" I ask, "in order to be able to advisethem?"
Knix shook his head. "Not exactly. Black teams aren't...well, they're not as common as red or blue teams. They're more common than whiteteams–"
"What are white teams?" I blurted, my mind reeling from all of theinformation.
Knix froze, and I can practically see the shutters coming down over his eyes. "They aren't up for discussion," he saidquietly.
"But–"
"Not tonight,Harlow."
I closed my mouth. Knix so rarely ever said my actual name that when he did, it was good enough to shock me into silence. I knew he wasn’t upset with me, but that I should change thesubject.
"It's getting late," Bellamy announced, standing from thetable.
I glanced down as my pocket vibrated. I hadn't realized how long we had all been sitting at the table. Usually Bellamy was the last one to get up because he was such a sloweater.
"I'll clean up," he said, turning to Texas and hauling him up. "You canhelp."
"Aww, man, comeon!"
I smirked as Texas whined at Bellamy, though he dutifully started stacking plates. Marv stood from the table and then skirted the edge, heading for the hallway that led to the stairs. Knix sat next to me, quiet for several moments while I pulled out my phone and checked my messages. It wasErika.
Erika:Hey! I'm coming back into town for the weekend tomorrow. We need to gettogether.
Harlow:Sure, do you want to comeover?