City of Fire and Ink

The Nine Circles of Hell, Free Bones Included

Dominic Sforza was sitting at his desk, drinking a glass of fifty year old pinot noir when he found himself with a jacket flung over his face. He floundered, slashing out with his knife, those honed killer instincts twisting surprise into survival without thought. Maisie was in the path of the knife and I was more than a little peeved that she had the foresight to step out of the way. It didn't take Dominic long to realize he wasn't being attacked and he yanked the jacket off his face in feral bewilderment. 

Ha Kun stared back at him, his usually grumpy expression bright with mirth. 

"Aren't you a bit old for this sort of thing, Ha Kun?" Dominic asked, his tone caught somewhere confused between glee and suspicion. 

"It's not a trick. Check the tag." Dominic's expression fell into one of realization and he gently flipped the jacket over, running his thumb over the custom cursive lettering. He smoothed the leather, twisting the fabric so a slice under the the left breast was visible and exposed a slit of red silk.  I could have sworn I saw him smell the jacket, but I wasn't going to say anything. 

"You actually found it?!" He sound relieved and more than a little shocked. "How?"

"It was in Mirage." Orion stepped forward. "Mounted on a wall filled with other jackets and when you're that stoned, nothing looks like what it is. I was sober and even I thought it was just a mounted bird."

"And here you thought we failed," Maisie leered, unable to contain her pride. I hmphed. She might have found the jacket, but it was the rest of us who got it back safely.

"Oh I never said I thought you would fail- that was your darling Ha Kun." Dominic gushed. I'd never met someone with that much charisma who wasn't hiding something dangerous. Dominic was no exception.

Regardless, his sugary tone made me want to choke on my non existent drink. I couldn't imagine anyone calling Ha Kun darling, except for maybe his husband. I suppose that's why Dominic did it, since he was the only one who could get away with that and not get a knife to the gut. Ha Kun's face contorted in a way that would suggest he had recently been forced to eat an entire yuzu-raw.

"Oh don't look so upset," Dominic tittered. "I have a nickname for your husband too. No need to get jealous."

"Do I even want to know?" Ha Kun sighed. I was partially debating pouring him a glass of that fancy pants wine Dominic had been drinking; he looked like he needed it. 

"I'll tell you anyways. You returned my jacket. I'm in a generous mood. I'm a generous man too. Generous man in a generous mood." God save us from a tipsy Dominic. "Young Soo is Bojogae. Darling and Dimples. Isn't that adorable?"

Owen took a not so subtle swig from Dominic's abandoned bottle of wine, but Dominic didn't catch it. At the rate we were going- I'd be asking him to hand over the bottle soon. 

Dominic slouched back in his chair, the happy drunk gone.  "Well congratulations on finding the jacket trainees. I had my doubts. Nina always did say that my anger was clouding my vision. Now I see she meant it literally." His dark look tipped me off that whatever happened between him and Nina, he clearly wasn't over it. He returned his gaze to us, individuals, and I felt whatever traitorous, thoroughly unreliable bonds that bound us together snap into place. This was it. We were in this for the long run. 

"I think these trainees are going to be extraordinary. I mean, to do what no other set has been able to do for years." He chuckled. "That takes a special brand of dysfunction. But that might be what it takes to finish what we started." He paused for a moment, contemplating. 

"This group could potentially be our key to what we've been fighting for since the dawn of the cities. We could topple the Nostras, take our rightful place as kings of this city." I wasn't sure if Dominic's eyes were starry from the allure of power or the wine he'd been drinking like it was water, but I'd be prepared to bet it was a combination of both.