ravaged hearts

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN,

RAVAGED HEARTS | CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  LOOKING BACK, IO sometimes wondered if her stubbornness had been a good thing: if she'd been a bit more determined, she might have gone through the rest of the operation alone instead of letting her mind be half-dominated by Louis and Miss Estay Olan. Even the slightest bit more rationality and common sense then might have saved her friendship with Louis from being severed, for her to fall into a spiral.

  But she hadn't known that then. She wished she had.

  Louis wriggled his way back into her good graces within a day—by the next they were once again working side by side as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

  That had been her first mistake. The first of many, but she hadn't realised that either. Hadn't noticed that step by step, she was going into a trap set by fate. A trap that changed her life forever.

  They looked over the list she'd composed of everyone who'd been around Marquell the day prior. It was a rather long list, she must admit. She crossed off the names of anyone who could not under any circumstances be involved, or were confirmed spies from other countries.

  It left around a dozen names left.

  "Interesting," he mused, tilting his head as he regarded the list. "A curious collection of names you've got here, Io dear."

  Io let out a snort but gave no verbal reply. Louis redirected his attention to the paper. He picked up the quill and crossed two more names out. "Not those two either."

  She frowned. "Why?" They were both fairly suspicious figures, one of those people who'd popped out of nowhere but had done nothing that needed looking into. They'd probably changed their names, running away from some past. They could very well be spies in Banderin's ring.

  "Caershire's looked into both of them before. They gain nothing from being spies. They have money and power, the only thing they're lacking is mercy from the Dumahian government."

  "Ah. Dumahian exiles."

  "No. They were both prosecuted for an extreme amount of corruption and bribery, right when their government was cracking down on them they fled. They've been here for a little while, and they have enough money with them to last multiple generations. They do a bit of smuggling, but that's all, nothing that's a cause for concern in my opinion."

  "Right." Io gave those two a few extra crosses on the name for good measure. Thirteen names. "They'll have different roles, probably. These names are in charge of extracting information from their respective social circles. Banderin probably had people in charge of the more field and physical aspect too. But there's no easy way to intercept those, it would take too long and use up time we don't have to spend."

  "We get these people and then carry on from there," Louis promised. "That's the most logical way, yeah?"

  "A long ladder of spies we need to uncover here. Many layers. Like an onion, peeling it off one by one. Maybe we'll cry as we do so."

  He blinked, nonplussed by the out-of-place and unexpected analogy. Truth be told, Io had no idea what she was saying either. She was just babbling. He was one of the few people in the world she dared do that around. Everyone else was just...

  They'd judge her for it, look down on her. But he didn't. He never did. Somehow he could look at someone and make them feel good about themselves, confident. While many agents had been reduced to a patronising presence, a walking menace, a husk and a shell of who they were, should have been, could have been, he remained the same.