Page 80 of Fragile Facade

“I want you to spy on him. I need to know more, if only to appease my curiosity. I’m not going to talk to him, but… I must know more.”

I grin. “Was that a pause in your sentence? Jesus, Facts. Never heard you pause before.”

“Temporary lapse in focus.”

Rinsing, I turn off the shower and take the towel he holds out for me. He doesn’t look anywhere but at my eyes, and I know he’s getting impatient because I’m not immediately agreeing to spy on his boyfriend.

“Talk to him.”

Facts tilts his head at me in his method of getting annoyed. “No.”

I roll my eyes and push past him, drying off as I go. He follows as I grab dark pants and a white t-shirt, covering it with a dark grey hoodie. I have a few wounds from the job, but none of them hurt too badly. “Fine. I’ll check him out, but if you wanna make a move, that’s on you.”

“Deal.” He holds his hand out, and I laugh as I shake it. “Are you dating Riot?”

My laugh fades and I feel my face flush. “No.”

“Okay. Goodbye.” He leaves my room and doesn’t look back.

When I get to the con room, Director is in a mood, but it’s not his typical ‘frustrated with us’ mood. It’s more of a ‘weight of the world on his shoulders’ mood, and it makes me feel guilty for making shit harder for him. I wasn’t exactly… sane over the past few days, especially before we got Riot out of there. Fortunately, he doesn’t make us line up in rank. He probably figures the two of us have been through enough lately and wounding our already wounded pride by making us stand at the end of the line isn’t worth the hassle it’ll cause him.

We all sit around the table, and Kyd rubs Director’s back in an attempt to ease his woes. “There there, Pops” Kyd croons, making us all grin. He tries so damn hard.

“Nice chomps, Riot.” Menace whistles.

Riot, despite being battered, beaten, and bruised, flashes his new smile at everyone. His confidence hasn’t faded, and his ego is just as mighty as ever, but I swear there was a flash of embarrassment in his eyes when I first saw him without teeth in that torture room.

“Has Lockan found anything in The Misfits?” Director asks, and it takes Monster nudging my knee to realize he’s talking to me. I rip my eyes away from Riot.

“Uh, no. Not yet.” I glance at Riot, trying not to make it obvious. “He’s looking.”

Director nods. “I want you to be the go-between. Help him find his traitor. They’ll all be in Janie’s Woods for training today, so go join in.”

Whatever. It’s a bullshit job, but I don’t care.

“Riot, you’re benched until?—”

“No,” Riot snarls. “Get fucked. I did your job, played nice with Sauder, and lived through it. Don’t you dare fucking bench me.”

No one laughs at his outburst, not even me. Because I’d react the exact same way. He put his life on the line, endured almost three days of torture, kept his wits about him, and managed to poison the research building in downtown Reaper City. If anyone deserves their time to shine, it’s him. Well, it’s me, for getting him out of there in one piece. I probably killed more people than his poison did anyway, but I get where he’s coming from. It doesn’t matter that he’s injured and healing, he won’t sit this one out because now he knows exactly what our enemy looks like. Reaper Corp is coming for Moros, and none of us will sit on the sidelines and let it happen.

Respectfully, Director nods. “Don’t you have a bargain to close up and collect on then?”

Riot grins. Willow Olenna, the cousin of the guy Riot killed by snapping his neck—the first one—still hasn’t paid up. “On it.”

Before I head out to meet up with Lockan, I leave my first calling card for Riot.

* * *

“Hey, Soren,”Cain says as he leaves The Ambient Raven for the evening. He closes the door behind him and pulls his hood up to block the rain. “You going in?”

I’m too combustible to go in. After a day of thinking and dreading and trying to work out the puzzle that is my mind, I’m not stable enough to stand in Remi’s shop and respect it like I should. “I’ll wait for him out here. He almost done?”

Cain is cute. He’s a weird mix of adorable and harsh, artsy and tough, and I know he has a kinky side because Menace has run his mouth about it. I wonder if Cain will ever know Mason is a Vile Boy or if he’ll continue to cheat on his girlfriend on the side. He’s too good for Sadie, but I don’t know if he deserves the torment Menace will put him through if he ever decides to take Cain as his own.

“He’s just locking the back door.”

“Thanks. You all set at home if anything… comes to town?”