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"I’m a bit more worried about Bellona razors"

"Worry? Is that what I saw on your face as we descended?" She lets a ht it was dread Terror All the truly unsettling things Because you know this ht eren’t fencing anyht It’s just I find you very odd Or, at least I find your choice in friends to be odd" She comes to sit in front of ed stone "You’ve always keptTactus and Roque close I understand Roque, even if he is as soft as butter But Tactus? It’s like flossing with a viper and expecting not to get bitten Is it because he was your man at the Institute that you think he’s your friend?"

"Friend?" I laugh at the idea "After Tactus told me how his brothers broke his favorite violin when he was a boy, I had Theodora spend half my bank account on a Stratovarian violin from Quicksilver’s auction house Tactus didn’t thank me It was as if I’d handed him a stone He asked what it was for I said, ‘For you to play’ He asked why ‘Because we’re friends’ He looked back down at it and walked away Teeks later, I discovered he took it and sold it and used the s He is not my friend"

"He’s what his brothersas if reluctant to share her information withwithout so in return? You made him uncomfortable"

"Why do you think I’m ith you?" I lean closer "It’s because you alant soht it s Ever since the shewolf gnawed her way out of mother’s womb and stole huht have strangled me in my crib And she’s only my half sister anyway Different fathers Mother never saw oes by Severus instead of Julii just to take a piss on Mother Cantankerous brat And I get saddled with her e Ridiculous"

Victra plays with thewith the Spartan severity of her scarred face

"Why are you talking withfor you I have no station I have no coms you value"

"Oh … I value other things too, darling But you do have a reputation, all right Pliny’s ossip Thought Tactus was just running his mouth"

"A part? Darrow, he’s been at ith you since the hs "Before then, even He counseled Augustus to kill you then and there, or at least try you for the murder of Apollo Didn’t you know?" She shakes her head atthis shows just how unequipped you are to play his ga to be killed That’s why I’ with you I’d rather you found an alternative instead of sulking in your beastly quarters Otherwise, Cassius au Bellona is going to coht here …" She caressesthe outline of ive his gestion?"

"You stop being a little bitch" She se of the thin e of the fountain, between her legs Her lips part, her tongue playing along the top as her eyes trace my face, up and up to my eyes, where they try to spark a fire But there’s none there for her I try to pull back "Stop hesitating" With a feline sigh, she lets the dataSlip go I run it over my personal datapad and an advertisement for a tavern appears on rounds," I say

"So?"

"So, if I leave, it’s open season on "

I take a step back "Howyou?"

"You think this is a setup!"

"Is it?"