Hovem clutched his mangled hand to his chest as he stumbled through a narrow, fetid alleyway. Moonlight barely penetrated the cramped passage, casting just enough light to reveal the kingpin's battered face. A nasty collection of swollen bruises bloomed across his features like rotten fruit, while several deep cuts had crusted over with dried blood. His right eye had nearly disappeared behind puffy, discolored flesh—clear proof of the thorough ‘questioning’ he'd endured.

  But it wasn’t his battered face that spoke of the suffering he had endured. Instead, the hand that Indi had initially stabbed now had bloody bandages clumsily wrapped around raw, throbbing stumps where his fingers should have been. Each heartbeat sent fresh waves of agony shooting up Hovem’s arm, forcing him to cradle the mutilated appendage against his chest as he shuffled forward.

  Behind him walked the very freelancer he had hired to ‘handle’ Azeline—the duelist who had oh so spectacularly failed in his duty. Now, the man's loyalties had shifted with the wind, his hand firmly planted on the back of someone else's neck. The prisoner was of smaller stature, dressed in a rather fancy Imperial uniform but now soiled with grime and blood. A rough burlap hood covered their head, and their hands were tightly bound behind their back with coarse metal wire that had already worn the skin raw.

  Hovem looked over his shoulder, his face contorting with hatred as he spat, "Orin, yer a back-stabbing rat-fuck, ye know that?"

  The duelist barely acknowledged the insult, merely glancing at Hovem before roughly shoving his prisoner forward. The sudden push elicited a muffled feminine yelp from beneath the hood as the captive stumbled and tripped over an uneven cobblestone. Unable to catch herself with her hands bound, the prisoner landed face-first on the filthy road and grunted.

  "I’m a Freelancer, not one of ye goons, ye cheap fuck. Besides…" Orin drawled with complete indifference, "Ye shouldn't be expectin’ any loyalty when ye go around pissin' on basilisks." He made no move to help the prisoner up, simply waiting as she struggled to right herself with her face still shrouded in darkness. "That cat-lady would've gutted me like a fish if I hadn't switched sides. Can't say the same for poor Dalen. Bastard didn’t even get the chance to cross a piece of shite like you." A hint of genuine regret colored his voice as he mentioned his fallen comrade, the only sign that anything human remained beneath his mercenary exterior.

  Hovem turned his head over his shoulder with a bitter and scalding remark ready to spill from his lips, but before he could utter a word, Orin shoved him forward just as roughly as he had done with the prisoner.

  "Shut ye mouth," the Freelancer growled as Hovem stumbled forward, using his only good hand to catch himself. "The lady said I'm to split yer throat open with me eatin' knife if ye give me any problems." The threat wasn't delivered with any particular menace—just the flat, matter-of-fact tone of a man stating terms of employment.

  Orin then reached down and grabbed his Imperial captive by her small ceremonial cape and hauled her up like a sack of potatoes before planting her unceremoniously on her feet. Once she was steady, Orin gave her another shove forward, though this one was noticeably lighter—just enough force to keep her moving without sending her sprawling again.

  Hovem glared at Orin with undisguised hatred as his teeth ground together so hard they threatened to crack. Just before they entered a juncture where several alleyways converged, he growled out one final threat.

  "When this is all said and done, I'm gonna enjoy puttin' ye in the fight pit with me brute." He snarled in a voice dripping with venom. "Gonna make sure he squashes that ugly little mug of yers nice and slow. Gonna watch every bone break, one by—"

  "Oh? Is that so?" A well-known giggle echoed through one of the narrow corridors. "Threatening the help now, are you?"

  Indi's face emerged from the darkness around the bend at the junction. The moonlight caught her cream-colored hair, illuminating her silhouette and creating a soft glow that resembled an ethereal halo around her feline features. Her blue eyes seemed to absorb the little light available, reflecting it back with a predatory intensity.

  A look of pure horror crossed Hovem’s face as he clutched his mutilated hand and instinctively backed up several steps. Indi came to a stop just as that blonde Azeline came into view with lips curled into a cruel smirk that screamed the Kingpin had just made a mistake.

  But then a third figure appeared that made Hovem's blood run cold—a petite human woman in a dark gray dress and practical brown boots. Her vibrant red hair was tied into two braided pigtails that hung over her shoulders like twin flames as she fixed Hovem with an irritated glare. With her arms folded across her chest, she regarded Hovem as if he were some kind of vermin scurrying past her, something to be exterminated rather than acknowledged.

  Recognition dawned over Hovem as his mind raced a thousand miles a second. This was the very redhead he had been trying to flush out for weeks, and the irony of his current predicament did not escape him. In the span of a single day, he had transitioned from hunter to prey. The realization that his carefully crafted plans had crumbled so spectacularly drove him to take a few more desperate steps backward, driven by pure survival instinct. However, the kingpin’s attempted retreat was cut short by a rough press of Orin's hand against his back, shoving him forward once more.

  "Orin," Indi said, her voice carrying the same disdain one might use when ordering a servant to dispose of trash. “Your eating knife, if you would please." She extended a slender hand as she continued her approach with seductively swaying hips.

  Hovem's eyes widened to saucers as panic truly set in. "No, no, no—" he pleaded, raising his hands in a desperate attempt to ward off the inevitable. His words came out as little more than strangled whimpers and his earlier bravado he showed to Orin completely evaporated in the face of genuine fear.

  Orin smirked at the kingpin's terror, clearly savoring this reversal of fortune. With deliberate slowness, he unsheathed his eating knife from a small leather holster at his belt. Unlike Indi's ornate dining implements, his was rather plain. In his hand Orin held the wooden handle that was worn smooth from years of use, and dramatically showed off the unremarkable and worn blade for the meticulous edge the freelancer maintained on it. It was a utilitarian and unadorned commoner's tool, yet somehow that made it all the more menacing as in Indi’s hand.

  Indi approached Hovem with languid, predatory grace, the eating knife held delicately between her fingers. "I do recall saying I'd punish any..." she purred, tapping the flat of the blade against Hovem's throat before continuing, "...any undue behavior. Did I not?"

  Hovem's entire body began to tremble as true terror took hold. "Please, please, I—I'm sorry!" he stammered out in a desperate rush. "Won't happen again! I swear on me mother's grave, I swear it!" Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead despite the cool night air, and his one good eye darted frantically between the knife and Indi's merciless gaze.

  The feline narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits as her pupils dilated in the darkness. "I know you won't," she agreed in a silken tone that was more soothing than anything.

  Just as tension reached its peak, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down another connecting alleyway. Indi spun around with a fluid grace and twirled the knife between her fingers as she faced the newcomers.

  Eventually, Elijah emerged from the shadows, with Ferei close behind. However, just behind him were several other individuals in typical peasant or freelancer garb, but they also wore large, baggy tops that concealed what Indi was sure were those strange weapons she'd glimpsed during previous encounters. Their faces remained half-hidden behind rags used as masks, but their eyes tracked her every movement with a distinct paranoia.

  "Oh?" Indi's ears perked up with genuine surprise. "Acting without your master?"

  Elijah contorted his face into an expression of genuine confusion. "What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He glanced back at his team before returning his bewildered gaze to Indi. "I have no master. I bow before no man."

  This seemed to catch Indi completely off guard. Her typically composed features gave way to momentary surprise as her eyes widened and her lips parted. "Really now?" she recovered, though a hint of genuine interest as her ears flicked forward in an unconscious display of feline curiosity. "I believed you to be that fae's thrall."

  A huff of genuine amusement escaped Elijah’s lips as he glanced back at his team, considering how utterly absurd that was. "I mean, she'd like to think so," he replied with a casual dismissiveness that hinted at a complicated history.

  Indi grew more intrigued as she approached Elijah, holding the eating knife loosely in her hand. Her approach caused several members of Elijah's escort to shift uncomfortably, adjusting their grips on their concealed weapons and adopting a more defensive posture.

  She seemed to notice this subtle change and curled her lips into a knowing smirk as her gaze swept over the masked men. "Oh, do relax!" she chided playfully. "I'm simply... curious."

  Leaning toward Elijah, Indi tilted her head up to look at him and examined his face with an undeniably feline grace. She then began to circle around him, her head shifting from side to side as her tail swished languidly behind her. The gesture was both predatory and strangely intimate, like a cat inspecting something that had unexpectedly piqued its interest.

  "Besides," she added casually, "I'm not so keen on dying by..." Her gaze suddenly shifted upward, focusing on a rooftop far down the alley—exactly where Elijah's team had positioned a sniper for overwatch. Without breaking her stride, she then turned her head toward another alley, eyes locking onto a second rooftop where the second team was located.

  Elijah’s gaze hardened as he grew increasingly uncomfortable around this feline. Even the other operators had become restless when they realized their supposedly hidden assets had been completely compromised. It was clear that this cat girl was far more problematic than they had initially assumed, especially as Indi's gaze lingered knowingly on one spot while she completed her circle around Elijah.

  "What did you call them again, Azeline darling? Boom sticks?" she asked with feigned innocence as she turned back to Elijah with a twinkle in her eye. “I know better than to pick a fight I can’t win.”

  An awkward silence enveloped the conjoining alleys as the two groups fell into a tense quasi-standoff. Elijah’s jaw clenched as he looked over his shoulder at Indi as she continued her predatory circling. He came to the realization that this woman was going to be a major complication in the future. Everything about her screamed that she was already several moves ahead, playing a game whose rules only she fully understood.

  They were either going to have to take her out or start playing this game. But for now, Elijah realized this feline was the key that would unlock this entire world and open doors to horizons he couldn’t even imagine.

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  "Indi," Auri suddenly spoke up with clear exasperation, "I don't have time for your nonsense." She stood there with crossed arms, tapping her foot impatiently as she fixed the feline with an irritated glare.

  Peeking around Elijah's shoulder, Indi shot Auri a withering look before offering a dramatic sigh. "Very well..." she conceded, reluctantly pulling away from her inspection of Elijah.

  As Indi walked away, her attention shifted to the hooded captive who stood breathing heavily with Orin's powerful hand on the back of her neck. With an elegant flick of her wrist, Indigrabbed the burlap sack and yanked it off, revealing a battered and bruised woman with jet black hair cut into a short pragmatic style. One of her eyes was swollen nearly shut, and dirty rags had been stuffed into her mouth as a makeshift gag. Raw terror filled the Imperial’s eyes as she frantically scanned each face in the gathering before her gaze finally settled on Auri.

  Recognition dawned instantly—the captive’s eyes widened with shock and newfound horror as Auri glowered at her with undisguised contempt.

  "It's very pleasant to see you again, Jayda," Auri remarked in a tone that suggested it was anything but. "We have much to discuss..." Each word dripped with barely contained anger as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  Azeline stepped forward and roughly pulled the gag from Jayda's mouth.

  The Imperial officer immediately gasped for air before words tumbled out in a frantic, stuttering rush. "D-do you have any idea who I am? D-do you think you'll get away with this?!" Despite her obvious terror, she attempted to summon some semblance of authority, but her voice cracked with panic as she continued, "I'm an Imperial! Not one of those auxiliaries that you could—"

  Before she could finish, Azeline shoved the filthy rag back into her mouth with such force that Jayda gagged. The blonde turned back toward Indi, who watched the entire exchange with undisguised amusement, her tail lazily swishing behind her.

  An angry harrumph left Auri's mouth as she twirled her finger in a lasso-like pattern and threw it toward the captive. Out of nowhere, a burning rope-like spell manifested, twisting and writhing like it was alive before suddenly wrapping around Jayda's neck. The Imperial officer's eyes bulged in terror as a muffled scream escaped around her gag while the magical binding seared into her flesh with a sickening hiss.

  Auri tightened the magical rope with a simple yank of her wrist, causing the spell to illuminate the entire alleyway with an eerie orange glow. "Perhaps I should just incinerate you right here and now for your betrayal," She snarled as the fire-like glow highlighted the twist of her lips as she glowered at her captive.

  Jayda dropped to her knees, desperately pulling at her bindings as her muffled screams grew more frantic.

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" Elijah ducked under the spell and raised his hands as he faced Auri. "Relax, relax! Look, we need her too." He emphasized each word carefully as his eyes shifted to the magical noose. "And we need her alive."

  Shooting Elijah a scalding glare, Auri kept one hand perpetuating the spell while using the other to jab an accusatory finger at him. "You!" she spat venomously. "Why should I honor anything you request?! You... you…! You liar!"

  Elijah recoiled his head in genuine confusion as he looked at Azeline, who raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "What? What the hell did I lie about?"

  "Oh?! Forgotten already?!" Auri tightened the noose around Jayda's neck, causing the Imperial to thrash wildly as choking sounds emerged from behind her gag. The redhead's face contorted with indignation as she planted her free hand on her hip. "Mr. Out-of-Town Specialist! You lied about your connection to Indi!"

  A chuckle escaped Azeline’s mouth as she ran a hand through her hair. “Oh, I thought you fucked her and left her high and dry like that peasant girl.”

  Elijah mouthed the words ‘what the f-’ at the blonde’s insane assumption before focusing back on the task at hand. His eyes drifted to the side with an incredulous yet contemplative look, mentally retracing their previous interactions until recognition finally dawned. "No. No, I never said I knew Indi," he countered firmly. "I said I knew Azeline, which is true!"

  Auri's mouth flapped open and closed several times in angry confusion. Her brow furrowed as she mentally revisited their conversation back in that ruined office, trying to recall his exact words. Finally, she turned to Azeline with a questioning look.

  “I mean… he’s not exactly wrong. I’ve been travelling with him for a while now.” Azeline shrugged as she watched Auri's face undergo a fascinating transformation—indignation gave way to uncertainty, then embarrassment, before settling into stubborn annoyance.

  Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson that nearly matched her hair as she realized her mistake. The magical rope around Jayda's neck loosened slightly, though it remained firmly in place as Auri struggled to find words that would save face.

  The more Auri thought about this insufferable man, the more irritated she grew. As she flicked an agitated gaze toward Indi, Auri couldn’t help but realize how similar he was to that gods damned cat especially as the feline watched the entire exchange with that same infuriating smirk. It was clear the two were cut from the same cloth—both possessed a way with words that completely befuddled Auri with their ability to twist conversations and facts until she couldn't keep track of who had said what.

  Unable to cope with the growing headache, Auri noticed that her magical binding had all but simmered down to a warm glow around Jayda's neck, allowing the Imperial officer to take a breath. The spell left an angry and agonizing red brand that would likely scar her neck if left untreated, as tears streamed down the woman's face while she looked up at her captors.

  Seeing the muffled sobs, Elijah cringed, especially when the woman looked up at him, silently pleading for mercy. "Look," Elijah said in a measured and reasonable tone, "don't we want to confirm whatever it is you're angry about before we go around killing people?" He glanced back at Jayda and saw her head nodding frantically, her eyes wide with desperate hope and muffled sounds of agreement escaping behind her gag.

  Auri responded with a haughty scoff, tossing one of her red braids over her shoulder. "I'm more than certain she was the one who turned Simol in," she declared with absolute conviction. "No one else knew of our smuggling routes other than her and Einar’s filth." She said, waving a hand in Hovem's general direction.

  “Let’s at least try to hear what she has to say,” Elijah said, glancing back at Jayda. “If she attempts to say or do anything foolish, you can just…” He paused, noticing the nasty burns on her neck. “Light her on fire or something…”

  The Imperial officer nodded her head so fervently that her movements became a blur, her entire body trembling as she struggled to communicate her innocence. However, it wasn’t long before she found her voice when Azeline plucked the gag from her mouth.

  "I had absolutely nothing to do with Simol getting caught! Nothing! I swear on the Emperor's crown!" she gasped, her voice raw and cracking. "If I were ever caught fraternizing and aiding and abetting criminals, they'd hang me in the central square as an example!" Her eyes darted wildly from person to person, seeking any hint of belief. "You have to understand, we’re at war—my career, my life, everything would be forfeit! Why would I risk all that with some gambit to arrest him? Why?!"

  "Please, you have to believe me! I didn’t leak anything!" Jayda continued to plead for her innocence, her words spilling from her lips faster than she could form them. "If I were behind Simol's capture, he would have sung like a bird, exposing me as a key contact! They'd have come for me too!" Her voice broke as fresh tears welled in her eyes. "Please, please believe me," she begged, her gaze darting desperately between each face surrounding her. "I've done nothing wrong! Nothing!"

  Elijah glanced at Jayda with a peculiar, scrutinizing glance as he scratched his bearded jawline. His eyes narrowed in contemplation before shifting toward Auri, who held onto her skeptical expression. She didn’t want to believe the Imperial’s confession, but she wasn’t entirely sure her suspicions were correct.

  However, it ultimately didn’t matter to Auri. She didn’t want to leave anything to chance so her eyes hardened and looked back to Jayda, "I don't see any reason for anyone else to leak information about the smuggling route," Auri said, her voice hardening with renewed conviction. "Einar's own operations flow through there, so why would he destroy his own cash flow?!" The magical infused rope began to glow with increasing intensity as her anger mounted, casting a harsh orange light across her face.

  Jayda's eyes went wide as saucers at the sight of the brightening spell, staring at it as if she were facing the hells themselves. Her breathing became rapid and shallow as she saw unimaginable suffering before her.

  "What if that's what he wanted?" Elijah's voice chimed in, cutting through the tension and catching everyone's attention.

  Feeling the weight of each piercing gaze, Elijah cleared his throat and elaborated. "I mean, it just sounds like a takeover to me. Remove key players and put your own guys in." He gestured vaguely with his hands as he spoke as if he were sketching the concept in the air. "Classic power play."

  As the words left his mouth, Indi's eyebrows shot up and her smirk widened into something almost joyful as she shifted her gaze from Elijah to Hovem. The man had remained eerily quiet throughout the exchange. There was not even a peep about the mangled hand he clutched protectively to his chest.

  "Hmm," Indi hummed with her own thoughts starting to churn and her tail curling like a question mark behind her. "A fascinating theory, isn't it?"

  A profound silence reigned as everyone followed Indi's line of sight to Hovem. The kingpin shifted uncomfortably under their collective stare as he tightened his grip around his mutilated hand.

  "Humor me, man from a strange and far away land," Indi’s voice carried a dangerous playfulness.

  Jayda's frantic breathing abruptly stopped as she looked up at Elijah with stupefaction crossing her battered face. The Imperial officer's gaze darted between him and Indi, trying to make sure she wasn’t reading too far into what she had just heard.

  "What is it your people would do," a hint of anger entered Indi’s voice as her eyes never leaft Hovem "If you have rats in your home trying to drive you out?"

  Elijah remained quiet for a beat longer than was comfortable after trying to reconcile being so overtly outed for what he really was. Everyone in the alleyway stared at him, awaiting his response while the operators behind him tensed subtly as their hands itched to rip out their concealed weapons.

  Finally, he answered anyway, his voice dropping into a grim, ominous tone. "You flip the board. Bring the entire house down on top of everyone's heads." His eyes locked with Indi's as he finished, "And cause absolute chaos."

  Indi turned back to face him fully, her lips parting in a genuine smile that revealed her sharp canines. "A man after my own heart!" she declared with delighted approval before pivoting back toward Hovem in one fluid motion.

  Before anyone could react, she swiped Orin's eating knife through the air with a casual flick of her wrist. The blade caught the moonlight for a fraction of a second before finding its mark.

  Hovem's eyes went wide with shock as he clutched at his throat as a terrible croaking sound escaped his lips. The man stumbled backwards and took off into a desperate run as his hands clutched at his throat to stem the flow of his blood, but his feet eventually tangled beneath him. Hovem rolled, kicked, and thrashed, but it was already far too late.

  Ignoring the dying man, Indi turned to face Elijah and Azeline, wiping the blade clean on a handkerchief she produced from nowhere. Her smile remained, but her eyes had taken on a serious, calculating quality that sent a chill down the spines of those watching.

  "I'm sure you won't mind participating in... removing a few rodents in town, would you?" she asked with a delicate tilt of her head, as if inquiring about something as mundane as the weather. The bloody scene behind her created a macabre backdrop for her casual proposition as everyone tried to process what in the hell was happening.

  Everything was moving too fast for anyone to keep up, yet strangely, Ferei was the first to have clarity flash across her face as she connected the dots. "You're creating a power vacuum," she suddenly said, her brow furrowing deeply. "You're looking to start as much infighting among the gangs as possible."

  Indi's response was to throw her head back and laugh—a melodic sound that seemed jarringly out of place amid the blood and violence. "Creating?" she corrected with theatrical offense. "My dear, I'm merely... accelerating what was already inevitable." Her tail swished with pleased satisfaction as she gestured to the alleyway around them. "Einar already had all the pieces in motion!"

  She then looked down at Jayda, who was staring at Hovem's dying form with horror etched across her features.

  "Congratulations," Indi purred, crouching down to Jayda's level with feline grace. "You're now a traitor to the Empire! Don't worry, your secret is safe with us." She winked conspiratorially, as if sharing a private joke. "We’re all in the same boat after all."