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A little over two years ago, orphans from the streets of the Black Syndicate had started going missing. They would disappear in the middle of the night. At first, no one noticed one or two missing street children, but then it started happening more often. The children started roaming in packs and word spread. There was no pattern to the disappearances. There was no type or reason.

Nuri, Juliette, and Scarlett had started investigating and digging for answers, but whatever was happening left no clues, no trails to follow. They had infiltrated various districts and company to try to hear any gossip or news but had learned nothing.Not until Cassius found them one night and said he had overheard a group of castle guards discussing the “urchins in the dungeons.” They came to dead end after dead end, though. Until one day, by chance, Scarlett had befriended the Crown Prince of Windonelle. Then she had become more than friends with Callan, and, much to the dismay of several court Ladies hoping to become his bride, she began spending a lot of time with him. The girls had pushed and pushed Callan to begin asking questions in the council meetings he attended daily with his father and court. They had grown desperate as children began disappearing almost nightly. But when Callan did, when he had finally started pressing the subject in those meetings, that was when everything went to hell.

Scarlett and Nuri sat in silence, listening to the revelry going on in the tavern two stories below them. She could feel Nuri’s eyes on her. “I cannot go to Callan, Nuri. We need to come up with another option.”

“There is no other option,” Nuri snapped, ire lacing every word.

“Then you go to Callan!” Scarlett retorted, glaring into Nuri’s honey eyes.

“Fuck, Scarlett. You know that’s not an option. The second someone reports thatIhave started trailing the Prince of Windonelle, we find the king’s soldiers burning the Black Syndicate to the godsdamn ground, which is nothing compared to what Alaric will do to me.”

Scarlett knew it was true. The king was well aware of what went on in this District even though he didn’t know exactly where it was. As long as the residents kept to their own, the king let them be. He even utilized services in the District from time to time, but the minute someone from the Black Syndicate threatened him or his own? That fickle truce would snap, along with the necks of everyone in the Syndicate, and an internal war would ensue.

“And the second it is reported thatIhave started conversing with the prince again, you have a target put on your back,” Scarlett argued. “I won’t risk that.”

“My safety is not your priority,” Nuri seethed. “Me? Cassius?Our safety is not your concern. We can take care of ourselves. We’re trained to do so. Those innocent children on the streets? Those innocent lives that have no one to care for them, no one to worry about their safety?Theyare your concern. Shit, Scarlett, you’re living in a fucking noble’s household. You have access to the court on a daily basis. Do something with it!”

Scarlett placed her hands flat on the table before her. “You do not get to pin this on me, Nuri. This is not my responsibility.”

“Apparently not,” Nuri snapped back. “Apparently, when you left to go to the Elite District, your responsibility to your family was no longer your concern.” Scarlett felt as if Nuri had slapped her across the face. She reeled back, nearly knocking her ale mug over. The two squared off. “We’ve lost too many. Losing Juliette that night… We never should have let them scare us off.”

Scarlett swallowed hard. That, losing Juliette, thathadbeen her responsibility. That had been her fault. The silence was thick around them.

“What about the one that’s training you? He’s close to the soldiers, isn’t he?” Nuri finally asked.

“Ryker? He trains a special group of elite soldiers for the king’s armies. I know little more than that when it comes to his work for the king,” Scarlett answered.

“Can you ask him? Get information from him?”

“Nuri, I can’t ask him about something like this without telling him everything else. We’d have to reveal who you are, who I am, who trained us, everything.”

“We both know how persuasive you can be,” Nuri said with a smirk.

“Not an option,” Scarlett replied flatly.

Nuri chewed on her bottom lip, contemplating. “Do you trust him?”

“What?” Scarlett asked in surprise.

“Do you trust him?” Nuri repeated.

“You would have me bring him into this?”

“If it will save even one of those children, yes. I would have him know me and my own,”Nuri answered, fire and determination ringing in her voice.

Scarlett was quiet a long moment, then said, “It’s not that I don’t trust him, but…”

“Have you told him about that night?” Nuri asked quietly.

“No.”

“Would you?” Nuri pressed.

“No,” Scarlett sighed. “No, I do not trust him enough to tell him that story. Besides, I’m not sure how much I will be seeing him any more.”

“Then we are back to Callan,” Nuri replied simply.

Scarlett turned to the window. The sky was cloudy, blocking out the sun and casting the streets in shadows. “So we are.” She stood, pulling her hood back up.