Page 51 of City of the Lost
“Trust me, I won’t. They’ve been trying to recruit me forever. I’m not about to cave now.”
“Good.” She backed up, gnawing on her bottom lip.
She was mulling something over. “What is it? Something’s bothering you.”
She swept her tongue over her teeth. “Look, I don’t know if it means anything, and I’m not saying you should do anything about it. But I overheard Rowan talking about the clean-up of the Underground ...” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think they’re planning on actually cleaning up.”
“What do you mean? They’re just going to seal them back up?”
She shrugged. “Rowan used the word extraction.”
Huh? No. That couldn’t be right.
“Just a heads up. We may be forced to work with the Arcana in this world from time to time, but they’re a shady bunch.”
My mind was whirring. If Loraine was planning on moving the Lost, then I needed to know where and why. I needed to make sure they weren’t going to be a threat. “Thanks for letting me know. Do you know when they’re planning on doing this extraction?”
“They’re headed there now.”
I looked to Azren. “Not our problem.”
Hon chuckled. “I’ll leave you two to duke it out. I better jet. It was nice meeting you, and if you ever change your mind and fancy a job in the stars, then give me a call.” She threw a flat disc at me.
I caught it and turned it over. “What’s this?”
“High-tech shit. Activate it with the switch on the side and it’s a direct line to me.”
I pocketed the tech. “And if you ever fancy a drink in a pretty cool bar on a shitty rock, come look me up.”
With a mock salute she backed up, turned, and headed back into the stadium.
Azren pushed off the van and headed toward his bike. I guess normal was over.
Hound nudged my shoulder.
“Okay, boy, you head off home. I’ll be there in a bit.”
Hound turned and sped off into the night, and I made my way to Mini. Azren started his engine but waited for me to get into my car. My hand hovered on the handle. On the one hand, it wasn’t really my concern what The Collective did about The Lost as long as they contained them, but on the other, I needed to know for peace of mind.
I spun on my heel and headed back into the stadium. Rowan was rounding up his team; weapons were being holstered and debris packed into huge metal boxes.
“Hey!” I jogged up to him.
His lips turned down. “What is it, Miss Bastion?”
“What are your orders regarding the Lost?”
He frowned. “That’s classified.”
“Well, as of twenty-four hours ago I have clearance, so spill.”
He smiled, but there was no amusement in it. “That clearance was for an altogether different issue, Miss Bastion.”
Fuck. “Look, you can either tell me or I’ll just follow you and see for myself.”
His jaw locked, and his steely gray eyes bore into me. “You’ve been extremely lucky, Miss Bastion. Don’t push that luck.”
A shiver of foreboding skittered down my spine. I sighed. “Look, I just need to know they won’t be hurting anyone else ever again.”
