Steely gray eyes stared back at me.

  "You seem to know a lot about me," I said, keeping the dagger close to his skin. "Why is that?"

  The man cleared his throat, "If I may?" His hand motioned behind him, toward the desk.

  "If you try anything, I will kill you. I mean that."

  "Of course. I much prefer my blood inside my body."

  I slid the dagger away from his neck slightly, bringing one of my hands to his shoulder. I twisted him around in one fluid motion, bringing the dagger point beside his neck so that I could jab it in with a [Swift Strike] if needed. He moved slowly, taking his time, and reached down toward a drawer in the desk.

  Pulling it open, he took out a rolled piece of parchment and offered it to me.

  "Sit down," I said, releasing his shoulder and taking the parchment.

  He obeyed, not saying a word. Instead, he folded his hands in his lap and simply watched me.

  I unrolled the parchment and quickly skimmed over its contents.

  Woldroff,

  There is a woman in the city. I do not know her name, but I hear she has big plans. Plans that may align with what you want. I would suggest befriending her and making yourself a valuable ally. Those who do not may very well regret it.

  She can be found at The Slumbering Drake. Look for the one stirring up trouble.

  — A

  I looked from the letter to the man. "Woldroff?"

  He nodded slightly.

  "And who is 'A'?"

  "A business partner. 'A' is the only name I know for them."

  Did that really work? Just telling people a letter as your name? Apparently it did. Could it be Aurelion, maybe? One way to find out.

  "What does this person look like?" I asked.

  Woldroff raised his shoulders slightly, shrugging. "I have never seen their face. They do not speak to me directly—they speak through an intermediary. A young woman with blonde hair and yellow eyes. Very cat-like demeanor."

  I narrowed my gaze at him. Cat-like, huh? That spun the suspicion steeply toward Aurelion, though I supposed it wasn't wholly impossible that there might be another cat-like individual in the empire at this very moment. The System—or Systems, I guess—did seem to be having fun with all the people it was putting in my path.

  "What's so special about you?"

  The man looked somewhat offended at that.

  "Why does this 'A' care so much about you and I becoming allies? And why do you care about it so much that you were willing to threaten one of the few people you thought I might protect? That's why you did it, isn't it? I assume your people watched me. Figured out who I was based on the message from A?"

  It was all very underworld-like, figuring out who someone was despite only having a vague idea of who they were.

  Again, the man shrugged. "I cannot speak as to why 'A' has put such a great influence on being your ally. However, if what he says is true and your plans might align with mine, then it is in my best interest to make a deal with you."

  A deal. That was why I'd come here. Though, truth be told, I'd mostly figured the deal would be me killing a bunch of them and then sneaking away. Probably a bit too hasty to expect given I still wasn't very well trained in my abilities. But, it had been the plan.

  I scoffed. "There's absolutely nothing stopping me from gutting you right now."

  "Ah," he said softly. "Ah, but there is." He kept his hands situated in his lap, his eyes still boring into mine.

  "And what's that?"

  "I can help you take care of your problem at the inn."

  I raised an eyebrow. "What problem do you think I have at the inn? It's a perfectly respectable place." I had to bite back the sarcasm that threatened to lace my words.

  Woldroff chuckled, a low sound that didn't quite fit his face. "We both know that place has not been run respectable for quite some time. You could be the one that breaks the cycle, Aria. What would that mean to your dear friend, Irinda? She is your friend, is she not?"

  I bared my teeth at the mention of Irinda. "If you've touched her—"

  "Oh, I assure you," Woldroff said, cutting me off. "We have done nothing but watch. As for the old woman's shop, well, I must admit some extreme measures did need to be taken. But seeing as we were unable to locate you by our own means until recently, it seemed a smart way to get your attention."

  Laughing, I leaned against the desk, letting the parchment fall onto the desktop behind me. "Her fee? I'm not paying anything. Neither is she." I waved the dagger at him. If my words weren't enough to convince him, then perhaps the threat of violence might be.

  Stolen story; please report.

  His features didn't shift at all. He merely continued to stare at me, those gray eyes holding my gaze. He blinked once. Then twice. Then, a third time. "Well, no, of course you aren't. The fee was merely a…" He hesitated for a moment, the way someone might when looking for the correct word to say next. "Enticement."

  I shook my head slowly. I'd almost expected him to say threat. I'd even prepared for it in my head, the command for [Swift Strike] right on the tip of my metaphorical tongue. But I slid the words back into my thoughts.

  "An enticement?"

  "Indeed. And oh how enticing it must have been, for you wasted absolutely no time in coming here." He eyes glanced to the window behind him. "Broad daylight. Not a care in the world. I admire it. It has a very enlightening quality to it. You know, they say a lot can be learned about a man—or a woman in your case—when you watch how they react to things. Are they quick and brash, or perhaps methodical? Slow to anger?"

  "And which do you think I am?"

  He laughed, the noise loud and obnoxious. My body tensed, muscles tightening. What if his laugh was a code of some kind? Could the other man be outside waiting? I kept the dagger ready and after several breaths the laugher died down.

  "Oh, that is quite wonderful." He pulled out a small cloth and dabbed at his eyes. Ever the picture of a gentleman. “Do you hear yourself when you say these things?”

  Anger bubbled in my gut at his response. He was laughing at me. Ridiculing me, even. Before, I never would have stood for it. But he was clever. I had to admit that. In a way, it was strange to think of this man leading the brutes that I'd seen guarding the building outside. Perhaps that was the point. Maybe I could learn something from the way he operated.

  A floorboard creaked outside the door and I glanced over my shoulder. Two sharp knocks sounded and my gaze shot back to the man.

  I held up a single finger. A warning, and then slipped behind the desk as the doorknob turned. I let the dagger slip down the side of the man’s body, until I had it rest barely a hand’s length away from his stomach. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but hopefully it was enough of a threat.

  “What’s the problem?” Woldroff asked from beside me, his face staring forward.

  “The old storage room,” the gruff voice from earlier said. “Someone left the window open. There were footprints in the dust.”

  “Ah,” the man beside me said, nodding slowly. “Yes, I do believe we have a friend with us this morning.” His eyes glanced down at me.

  “Oh seven hells,” I cursed, bounding up and jabbing the dagger toward his body.

  His hand shot up, knocking it away, but the blade cut through the cloth. I saw a stripe of blood leak out of the torn fabric. He winced as I jumped back, using [Swift Strike] to put space between us.

  The big man was already halfway across the floor when Woldroff held up his hand. He lumbered to a halt, eyes dancing between the two of us, as if he couldn’t make up his mind which one to pay attention to the hardest.

  “It’s quite alright,” Woldroff said to the brute. “She can’t… oh, now that’s quite funny, isn’t it?” He looked down at his hand, his words trailing off.

  I smirked and leaped into action once more, using the momentary distraction and [Swift Strike] to bring me within striking distance of the brute, his eyes still trying to gauge where he should focus his attention. Clearly, I was the most important thing in the room. He shouldn’t have taken his eyes off me.

  But he had, and the blade of my dagger slipped into the flesh of his neck with relative ease. He let out a surprised noise and then I watched the sides of his mouth slump, as if he’d lost all muscular activity in his face.

  The paralysis effect wasted little time.

  I shoved the big man backwards, his hands trying to grab for me with the last throes of life left within his body even as he began to make choking noises.

  I twisted around him as he tried to grab for me, his fingers barely missing my shoulder. I slammed the door shut, jamming the lock closed on it, too. The brute was big and heavy, and even with the life leaking out of his neck he kept trying to get me.

  I used his growing sluggishness to my advantage, getting him to move closer to the door. I had hoped to block the entrance to the room with his body. That would at least give me a little more time with Woldroff should any others come to investigate the noise. Unfortunately, people don’t always do what you want. He lasted another two or three seconds, his hands finally fumbling toward his neck, before his knees buckled and he crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

  If the others hadn’t heard the commotion before, they would certainly know something was happening now. That meant I only had a little time left.

  I pushed back over to the desk, bringing the dagger back up so that its point was aimed directly at Woldroff.

  “That was uncalled for,” the well-manicured man responded, having regained the feeling in his arm. He was looking down at the blood that had stained his coat sleeve. He tsked his tongue and looked up at me.

  “Still interested in making a deal?”

  He scoffed. “And what makes you think I would negotiate with you now that you’ve killed one of my own?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe you’re properly scared now.” I flashed him my teeth.

  His eyes brushed past me again, to the body of his dead brute. His careful composure slipped for a moment as he let out a groan. “Few were as trustworthy as he was. You have no idea what you have cost me.”

  “It could always cost you more.” I kept my eyes on him but turned my head slightly, listening for any sounds outside the door.

  The floorboards creaked again and then another sharp knock sounded. “Everything okay in there, boss?”

  I glanced back at Woldroff.

  “Is everything okay?” I repeated the question.

  He actually rolled his eyes at me, stoking the fire that was already building in stomach. “Everything is fine,” he called to the others outside. “Leave me be.”

  I listened until the floorboards creaked again.

  “Smart choice,” I said, offering him another grin. “Now, where were we? Oh yeah, your deal. Suppose I take you up on it. What does it get me?”

  “I suppose that depends on what you need, doesn’t it.”

  "You seem to know what I need already, so you tell me." I kept my eyes on him, waiting.

  After several moments he took a breath and then opened his mouth slowly. "You want the innkeeper dead and gone, right? You want to protect Irinda and Henrietta and for some reason I have yet to come to the conclusion to, you broke into the palace. Where you went after that is beyond me, but it seems my plan to bring you into my grasp has succeeded, so who am I to balk at my goodwill.”

  “And you want to help me with all of that?”

  His lips twisted into the smile this time. “Look around you, woman. This entire district is under my thumb. I could have had dozens of men in this room the moment you set foot within it. But I did not, did I? I gave you a chance. Because, believe it or not, I do want to work with you.”

  “All because of this A?”

  “Partly. I can also admire someone willing to get their hands dirty.”

  “You know,” I said slowly, debating my next choice carefully. The options here weren’t great. Either I took him up on his offer and got into bed with the Dock Street gang and this A person—whoever they might be. Or I killed him outright and then ran like a dog with my tail tucked between my legs and hoped nobody put two and two together.

  Neither plan was exceptionally good. I hated both of them, actually. But, the prospect of having someone else that I could lean on—even if that leaning came with a steep price—was almost too good to pass up. Almost.

  “Tell you what,” I said slowly, giving the dagger a little twirl in my fingers. An annoyed look flashed across his face. “You send a couple of boys to clean up Henrietta’s shop, as well as 200 Gold for the damages you’ve caused, and I’ll think about it. Deal?”

  Woldroff took a deep breath and then nodded his head slowly.

  “Great. I suppose I’ll be off.” I moved to leave, but then remembered something. Something that had been nagging at me since Woldroff had first mentioned A. I took one more look at him and used [Insight].

  The System took a long moment to update, and then slowly the words began to appear before me, each letter shimmering into existence with the same fluidness as liquid gold.