The Shadow Court

Chapter 8 - The Rebel Lords

"We're here to talk business." The visitor said in a Russian accent.

Harley immediately recognised the owner: Quinn, one of Wills' commanders of The Crime Lords. He hadn't officially met them yet, but Kira had apparently encountered Quinn during the Stone Industries infiltration and she hadn't been able to figure out Quinn's gender. Only that they seemed to give off a dangerous vibe; had thorough knowledge of team leadership, as required for a commander, and was never seen without their brother, Vlad, at their side. Although, as Quinn stepped inside, Vlad was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Ella took his spot.

Quinn was wearing a pair of cargo shorts with a knife strapped to the side, a set of high top volleys and a t-shirt that read: "if you read this, I'm Russian and I'll kill you." Their brown hair was messy and fell just past their eyes, which were a matching colour. As far as the dangerous vibe went, Harley wasn't feeling it. Quinn was only about five feet tall.

On the other hand, Ella was dressed like a professional rally biker's daughter, with black leather pants, heeled combat boots and a white tank top that was torn in several places. Her brown locks were tied together in a low ponytail and she sported a silver chain necklace to complete the junky look.

"We should probably let them in." Harley suggested. 

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The atmosphere in the main room was slightly awkward, with everyone spread out to basically avoid being the closest to Quinn. The lucky guy was inevitably Harley, considering he still wasn't getting the vibes he was warned about. They sat at the table, while Kira made herself comfy in one of the chairs; Joel, Thea and Ruby dominated the lounge; Briannon leaned crossed armed against the wall and Ella sprawled herself on the floorboards. Tristan was a no-show, probably off doing wolf-ish things, Harley thought.

Joel decided to kick things off. "Where's Wills?"

Harley was wondering that too, but he wasn't sure if the topic was safe to cross with Ella in the room, being his ex-girlfriend and ex-head commander.

"He's busy recruiting members." Quinn waved a hand as if the idea was a waste of time. "He sends his regards."

Joel scoffed. "I highly doubt that."

"Believe what you want. Either way, his presence is not our concern. What we must discuss is his plan."

There was a slight delay after that statement, enough to trigger suspicion.

"And that is?" Thea asked.

Ella decided to reply this time. "He wants our two groups to join forces. He thinks that the only way Mr. Stone and the King are gonna be killed is if we have an army that matches their strength."

There was a very long moment of silence after Ella's proposal. The Rebel League was formed specifically because Wills had no interest in the lives of some of his comrades' families. He was fully prepared to launch a full scale invasion of the Stone Industries factory, eradicating the minimal amount of security to stand against them, then flattening the entire district and building it up again from scratch. In a new area that he dominated.

Of course, Wills would probably tell you otherwise, but one thing that Harley had definitely learned from his time in The Crime Lords was that if Wills set his mind to something, there was always a bigger picture. Last time the two teams met, it was because the rebels had learned of their plan to assassinate Anthony and stopped them. The rebels had gained Ella as a recruit in the process, but she'd shortly returned to Wills' side in order to convince him to chance his mindset.