hearts of metal

xxv. well, fuck you too

"Why are we here?" Aelin asked. She sat in a chair in her father's office and waited for Rhoe to actually show up.

"How should I know?" Lorcan grumbled. He was standing a few paces behind her with a scowl.

She sent him a glare, but her mind continued to whir. Why would Rhoe call her and Lorcan together?

"You know you could sit instead of standing there like a statue," she snapped, feeling on edge about the situation.

Lorcan rolled his eyes and strode over. He took the seat beside her, and the two waited in silence.

Finally, the door opened, and Rhoe entered. He made his way to his desk and sat down across from them.

"Great, you're both here. I have a request for you two."

"Okay," Aelin said slowly. "What request?"

Rhoe shifted uneasily in his chair as he glanced at his daughter. "It's more of a job...that the others don't know about."

When Aelin sent him a puzzled glance, he sighed and said, "you remember the men who attacked us?"

"No," she said sarcastically. "I don't."

He sent her an exasperated look and continued, "one of the men escaped. I've sent people after him and they followed him to a hideout. The only problem is that it's a bit elite and hard to get into."

"What do you mean elite?" Lorcan asked.

"It's a fighting ring. For the best of the best. Which means I need you two to infiltrate it," he said.

"Him?" Aelin asked.

"Her?" Lorcan said at the same time.

They exchanged alarmed glances.

Rhoe sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do this, but Adarlan's Assassin and Hellas' Hound are widely known names in the underground fighting world."

Aelin turned to Lorcan with wide eyes. "You? Hellas' Hound?" she laughed, earning her a harsh glare from the tall man.

A memory flashed into her mind, of the day she'd found Lorcan in their kitchen, nursing bruised knuckles. That must have been from the fighting.

"Shut up," he murmured darkly.

Rhoe watched them with concerned eyes. "Can I trust you two with this? You have to look out for each other, not kill each other before the enemy can."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," she said flippantly.

He only seemed more worried after that, but he briefed them nonetheless. After explaining their job, he said, "you'll leave tonight. If that's enough time."

"It's plenty," Lorcan answered for them both. Aelin didn't argue.

They spent another half hour in his office, planning out everything down to the last detail. Aelin glanced over the floor map of the hideout, making up escape plans and backup ideas as she went along. Only fools banked on their plans going perfectly, and Aelin was far from a fool.

When they were nearly finished, Rhoe bade them goodbye. He pressed a swift kiss to Aelin's forehead and made her promise to be careful.

To Lorcan, he said, "don't let her do anything stupid."

She protested, but Lorcan nodded and sent her a subtle smirk. "Yes, sir," he said to Rhoe and strolled out of the office.

Aelin followed.

She spent the rest of the day going over the plan in her head. Lorcan didn't show his face, except for during dinner. The two ate silently across from each other, ignoring the chatter of the cadre.

According to Rhoe, he'd tell them about the plan afterwards, so they can't argue against it. She knew Aedion would be pissed about it, so she kept her mouth shut. Rhoe would handle her overprotective cousin.

Right after dinner, Aelin slipped into her room and donned a short black dress. She slipped daggers onto their sheaths, and tightened her hair into a ponytail. Then she waited.

Lorcan arrived at her room precisely on time. Silently, the two snuck downstairs and out the front gate. The guards nodded at them as they left and climbed into the car Rhoe had let them borrow.

"I'm driving," Lorcan said.

Aelin shrugged and slid into the passenger's seat. "Fine by me. So long as you drive better than Vaughan."

His lips twitched as he started the car and began driving.

In the silence, Aelin pondered Lorcan's fighting name. Hellas' Hound. The man had a reputation nearly as ominous as her own.

"Do the others know you fight?" she asked, disrupting the silence.

"Yes," he said shortly.

"How'd you get into it?" she pressed. She realized Lorcan was the most distant to her out of all Aedion's friends. Fenrys and Connal were like brothers, Vaughan was like some crazy cousin, and Rowan...she cut off the thought there. But Lorcan remained a mystery, and she began to wonder how much she didn't know about him.

He didn't answer, so she sighed and stared out the window.

After a few moments, he said coldly, "we're working together for a mission. That's all. We're not friends, and I don't owe you anything."

She turned her head to examine his profile. His jaw was clenched, hands tightened around the wheel. "Well, fuck you too," she said lightly and turned away from him once more.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence.

They pulled up to a series of buildings in an abandoned sector of the city. The streets were mostly empty, with occasionally stragglers. Most stumbling over their own feet.

Lorcan stopped in front of one brick building, in better condition than the rest.

Aelin clambered out of the car and examined the place, before glancing over her shoulder. Lorcan got out next to her.

The two of them made their way to an iron door and knocked. A rectangular slit opened up, a pair of eyes peering out.

"What brings you here?" a voice asked.

"I hear there are goods for sale in the market," she remarked, using their code phrase.

The eyes disappeared, then the door opened. Lorcan and Aelin stepped in, examining the grimy inside of the building.

The man who let them had his eyes wide in recognition. He gestured for them to follow him down a hall and to a winding stairwell. They ventured into the dark, sounds growing in the distance. As they got closer to the bottom, another metal door appeared.

He opened the door for the two of them, revealing a large underground arena.

Aelin whistled lowly as she entered, Lorcan behind her. In the large ring at the center, two men were busy beating each other into a pulp.

"I don't suppose we can fight while we're here?" Aelin said.

Lorcan grabbed her elbow and tugged her through the crowd. They brushed past people, keeping their faces turned down to avoid being recognized by more people.

Past the arena, was another large room. This one with a bar and thrumming music. Most importantly, it had their target for the night.

Aelin examined the people nearest to her and noted the weapons they had on them. Nearly everyone was armed here, which could pose a problem later on.

She then scanned the crowd for the man Rhoe had described to him.

"There," Lorcan murmured into her ear.

She followed his gaze to a man in a booth. He had dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes. His grin was fixed in place as he laughed at something a girl beside him said.

"Ready?" she asked.

He nodded.

Time for phase 1. Aelin dove into the crowd.