Oath Bound (Unbound) - By Rachel Vincent Page 0,55
shrug, and I glanced at him in surprise.
“Good. But to be clear, in a legitimate conversation, both sides get to ask questions and no one monitors the truth in their answers.” I shot a pointed glance at Anne, who shrugged, and I wondered if her ability was impossible to turn off, like mine. If so, was it even realistic of me to expect her to keep a perfect stranger’s secrets?
“I think we can all respect that,” Kris said. “What do you want to know?”
“What are you all doing here? Why are you hiding out in a house locked up from the inside? What is the ‘higher purpose’ you mentioned earlier? Why does Julia Tower need your sister?” I hadn’t realized I had so many questions for them, until the words tumbled from my mouth.
“Okay.” Kris took a deep breath. “Every one of those questions has a complicated answer, and when you put them together...the explanation is pretty involved. But the short version is this—we’re trying to take the Towers down.”
“Take them down? Like, kill them?” I wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled by the prospect—considering Julia’s willingness to take me down—or horrified.
“Put them out of business,” Ian clarified. “We’re trying to end their syndicate.”
“Which will mean killing some of them,” Kori added. “Most notably, Julia.”
Olivia sank into the chair where Kris still perched on the arm. “Kenley’s an important part of the effort. Julia took her to stop her from working against the syndicate.”
“But you’re sure she won’t kill Kenley?”
Kris gave me a grim nod. “She can’t afford to, at least for the moment.”
“Okay.” I stared at the floor, still processing most of what I’d just heard. “Your turn.”
“What do you want from Julia?” Ian asked. “What could possibly be worth putting yourself on their radar?”
“I need her to do something for me. Something personal and very important, that I can’t do for myself. But you don’t have to worry about them recruiting me. She doesn’t know I’m a Jammer.” And she wants me as far away from her borrowed empire as possible. “So I think I’m safe in that respect.”
“Some people are never safe,” Vanessa whispered. “Even when they legitimately have no Skill.”
“Anyway, she’ll figure it out if you wind up working with her.” Kris shrugged. “She’s a Reader. She’ll know if you lie.”
So they knew her Skill. But they hadn’t yet realized I knew ways around the truth.
“What did you want from her?” Kori asked. But instead of answering, I stood and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans.
“That’s all I can afford to tell you, and I don’t want to insult you with a lie.” Again. Though, if they were smart, they’d search for my name online the moment I was gone, and from there it would be easy to guess what I’d wanted from Julia. But at least if they found the information themselves, I wouldn’t have to say the words. I wouldn’t have to remember it again for them, like I’d remembered it for Julia. “I need to go now. Please. That’s as nice as I’m gonna ask.”
Now that I knew Anne’s last name, I could contact her on my own. Later. Maybe she’d actually let me talk to her daughter again.
“Wait, Sera.” Kris stepped forward, and his eyes seemed to see nothing else. Nothing but me. “Please. I have a proposition for you.”
Anne’s brows rose.
“What proposition?” Kori asked, scowling, but her brother didn’t even glance at her.
“Work with us. Please. Work for us, if you need to see this as a real job. We’ll pay you. We need you.”
Olivia frowned. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t want your money,” I said before he could answer her. “I don’t want anything from you, except for an open door.” And another chat with Hadley, when I was ready. When I’d had time to prepare myself for what I might hear.
“Fine. Then let us work for you. As payment.” Kris stepped closer, and his gaze intensified. This meant something to him. “An exchange of services.”
I have to admit, I was curious. “Work for me...how?”
“However you need us. Whatever you wanted Julia to do for you. We’ll do it, and you won’t be indebted to the fucking mafia.”
“We don’t even know what she wants done,” Ian pointed out.
“We don’t have time to work for her!” Vanessa insisted. “We have to find Kenley. That’s top priority.”
“Agreed,” Kori said, and everyone else nodded.
“Of course.” Kris never even looked at them. “And Sera can help us with that.