Page 116 of Xerxes Ascendant
“Yes,” said Rho, playing along, and it inspired a few more murmurs of agreement, even though the Masters looked rightfully dubious at the hypothetical proposal.
Theta gave an exasperated and put-upon sigh, secure in the knowledge that their mayor would never offer the Coterie such cooperation. “Must we listen to any more of this?”
“We’ve listened toyoufor long enough,” Akira said cuttingly. “I for one much prefer the sound of Kyle’s voice.”
“You for one,” shot back Theta with a cruel sneer, “are nothing but a devious, manipulative bitch who I should have let die on the streets. Prison will do you good. You might finally have to give it up for free.”
Fuck, mouthed Kyle, horrified. Akira let out a faint, unimpressed sigh.
“Focus, gentlemen,” Nu cut in sharply. “You are among the Coterie and I expect you all to act as such. Mr. Randall, are you telling us you intend to call Mayor Mackenroth as a witness?”
“Um, no,” Kyle said. “But how about the next best thing?”
“And that would be...?”
“My cue,” chirped Mish from the corner. He slotted his runepad into the cradle on the wall, and the huge screen at the back of the room instantly lit up in a duplication of the smaller device’s display.
Miles’ surly face took up most of it, looking impatient and like he already regretted agreeing to this. His hair was once again slicked with gel to contain his curls.
“Miles Mackenroth?” Omicron said with surprise.
“So this is the famous Coterie.” Miles’ pale eyes tracked between each of them, and he heaved out an irritated breath. “Let’s get this over with.”
It was Kyle who had thought to enlist Miles’ testimony on the drive up to Level C, but it was Misha who had doggedly continued to redial their absent employee’s runepad long after the others had given up, insisting thatNo. 2 just needs to know his voicemail ain’t gonna stop us.
“He wasn’t even there that night!” Theta growled in fervent protest, and then when Akira gave a soft hum that echoed meaningfully around the room, quickly backtracked. “I mean, you’ve never mentioned him. You never said he was there.”
“I wasn’t,” said Miles. “But Iwasthere when you had a conference call with my brother a few hours before.”
The whole room fell silent.
“You offered Randall to us,” Miles continued, not looking at Kyle. “Said you’d hand him over for whatever the fuck we wanted to do with him, if Benny promised not to escalate matters with the Coterie.” The Upper flashed a vicious smile full of teeth. “Benny accused you of being a coward.”
Theta bristled.
“You made a deal. My brother would give you men so you didn’t have to get your hands dirty, and by the end of the night I’d have Randall and you’d have your precious Epsilon...ifhe was willing to bow to Benny.” Miles’ eyes tracked to Akira, and his jaw ticked. “Should have known that would never happen, and perhaps my brother did too, because he had no intention of letting it play out that way. He was planning to blow you all to pieces along with the rest of the lower levels.”
Then Miles angled his head down to Misha in the corner. “Can I go now?”
Without waiting for an answer, the call ended and the screen on the wall went dark.
Everybody wants you
Everybody wants your love
I'd just like to make you mine, all mine
-Notes scrawled messily over Master Epsilon's work diary.
In response to the repeated pleas to 'give it up, baby give it up' in the chorus, Master Epsilon has responded "anytime you like, sweetheart. Now stop desecrating my diary."
CHAPTER 35
Akira
It didn’t take long for the Coterie to reach consensus. Omicron’s protests swiftly evaporated now he’d been faced with evidence of Theta’s treachery by a third-party witness – from Mayor Mackenroth’s own family, no less – and the furious little glances he kept sending Theta’s way made it clear he felt personally slighted by the underhanded enlisting of his help in disgracing Akira.
Just like they had with Epsilon minutes before, it was Master Nu who delivered sentence on Theta. Hearing his old Master stripped of his title and remaining assets should have felt good, but Akira was too emotionally drained from the night’s events to take enjoyment from it.
