The man’s face drained of color, sweat beading across his forehead. His eyes froze wide, unable to move an inch. Not that he would dare, considering the wicked death that lood over him. He couldn’t even blink with Maggie’s clawed fingers hovering an inch from his eyeballs.
I suppressed a satisfied grin and kept my voice casual.
"It’s alright guys, step back."
Maggie shot an annoyed look but complied, while Kassie allowed her blade to dissolve into a spray of red sparks before stepping back behind . Maggie followed, though not without a parting glare that promised we’d be having words later.
I stepped closer to the man, looming over his kneeling form.
"Not only did you enslave soone without their consent, you threatened to kill for it. Your actions are distinctly unhealthy, so I should kill you for it." I turned my head to the elf lady. "But that will not be the best option, will it?"
The elf looked at with bewildered eyes, sothing flickering beneath the confusion. Hope, maybe. Or desperation wearing hope’s mask. She nodded sadly, her gaze dropping as she spoke.
"They won’t stop coming for as long as I have this thing on." Her fingers brushed the collar at her throat. "I only managed to suppress its effect a little by straining my spirit mana, but it’s not going to last long. With it, they’ll know my location and won’t stop coming for ."
I folded my arms and turned back to the man.
"Recimiras is a criminal city. That doesn’t an it’s a lawless one. There have to be proper channels for this."
He shook his head, more frantically than before.
"You don’t understand, young man..." He glanced at Kassie and Maggie, fear naked on his face, then back to with the look of a man who’d already accepted his death and was now just negotiating the terms. "See... sir... this is way bigger than . The organization that sold her to , they’re known for their notorious work. And they have people in really high places. I’m not allowed to set her free or sell her without their consent. They have very strict rules about their business. If I try anything suspicious, they’ll kill and take her back." His voice cracked like dry wood. "They’ll kill anyone involved."
The fear radiating off him was thick enough to taste.
"If you’re so scared of them, then why do business with them?"
The man looked at the elf lady. His expression shifted, the fear giving way to sothing softer. Stupider.
"They were going to list her for auctioning. I happened to catch a glance..." He swallowed. "And I fell in love with her."
The elf winced, irritation flickering across her elegant features.
But I understood the man. Completely.
’I might be in love too, really.’
I listened as he continued, his words tumbling out with the desperate honesty of a confession.
"So I knew a friend in this organization who owed a favor. I still had to pay five hundred silver talents, so it wasn’t an easy deal. But she was worth that much, and I knew I wouldn’t have been able to afford her at auction."
As he spoke, I watched the chain around my wrist. So far, nothing. No heat, no vibration, no telltale signs of deception. So far so good. He was telling the truth.
’This is beyond . I should involve Levi.’
As I thought, a knock ca at the door.
’Right about ti.’
I turned. "Co in."
The door swung open, and my eyes went wide. Not at who it was, but at what she was wearing.
’Nisha?’
She stood there in sheer lingerie that barely contained her breasts, the fabric so transparent it might as well have been suggestion. Her panties were the sa way. I caught a glimpse of dark hair beneath the fabric before she registered the room full of people, her expression cycling from seductive to horrified in the span of a heartbeat. Her eyes went round, she stumbled backward, and the door slamd shut hard enough to rattle the fra.
’Ouchie. What the hell? Did she...’
My grin barely stayed internal.
’So... that’s how it was, huh.’
Suddenly I was feeling a lot less charitable toward the elf lady and her problems.
’Why did it have to be my window! Right now I could be getting ruthlessly laid!’
A piercing sensation prickled the back of my neck, the unmistakable weight of a hostile stare. I turned. Kassie was glaring daggers at with enough heat to lt steel, her arms crossed and her expression promising violence.
I cleared my throat.
"That was certainly not who I was expecting."
And it wasn’t. I’d been expecting Tristan or Levi. It only made sense that one of them would co check if I was settled in already. Instead, I got... that.
’Life is cruel.’
I turned back to the matter at hand, forcing my mind away from what could have been. To help this elf, I apparently had to be ready to face an entire organization.
But that wasn’t even the real problem. Facing an organization in a criminal city ant terrifying collateral and consequences. Why would I do sothing like that? Because of boobs?
’Valid reason!’
At the sa ti, this was too dangerous without proper incentive.
However, I had a better idea.
I turned to the man. "And what is the na of this organization?"
"Manhattan Trade Center." He took a breath to steady himself, then continued. "It’s not a single-man operation like others you find in the free city. In fact, they used to be six companies that put aside their differences and ca together to form a conglorate that reigns in Recimiras as the King of Companies. They operate in everything: smuggling, kill-for-hire, kidnapping, race trafficking from the Aelvirs to the Feralis, even the Durankors, Aquarais, and the sylvanii, who are incredibly rare to find."
I heaved a sigh. One hell of a sigh.
It was at that mont that Nisha burst back through the door, now fully clothed and flushed with embarrassnt.
"What is going on here?!"
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